Robert Kahn (composer)

Robert Kahn ( born July 21, 1865 in Mannheim, † May 29 1951 in Biddenden, Kent ) was a German composer and music educator.

Life

Robert Kahn was one of nine children of a rich and respected Jewish merchant and banking family in Mannheim. His father was Bernhard Kahn ( * May 23, 1827 in Stebbach, died March 8, 1905 in Heidelberg), his mother Emma Eberstadt (* October 29, 1840 Worms, died June 25, 1906 Heidelberg ), daughter of by of Worms Mannheim warped Ferdinand Eberstadt and his wife Sara Zelie, born Seligmann from Kreuznach.

His seven surviving siblings were Otto Hermann Kahn (1867-1934), banker and partner in the banking house of Kuhn, Loeb & Co.; Paul Kahn (1870-1947), private secretary of Gerhart Hauptmann, AEG director in Athens; Elisabeth " Lilli" Kahn (1869-1940 missing), married to Felix German, co-founder of AEG; Clara Kahn (1863-1922), married to the General Counsel of AEG Paul Jonas; Hedwig Kahn (1867 - after 1950 ), married Meyer, later Pollock in England; Franz Kahn (1861-1904), lawyer; Felix Kahn (1873-1950), violinist.

The personal encounter with Johannes Brahms in 1886 was formative for him.

Kahn studied from 1882 to 1885 Music at the Royal Academy of Music in Berlin and others with Friedrich Kiel and 1885/86 with Josef Rheinberger in Munich.

After his military service Kahn lived until 1890 as a freelance composer and chamber musician in Berlin. In 1890 to 1893 he was accompanist at the Stadttheater in Leipzig.

In 1894, Kahn was a lecturer at the Royal Academy of Music in Berlin. Among his most famous students include the pianist Wilhelm Kempff, he taught in composition from 1904, the conductor Ferdinand Leitner, the composer Günter Raphael ( 1922 ) and Nikos Skalkottas and the violinist Karl Klingler. Arthur Rubinstein visited his music theory courses.

Practically all of his time in Berlin, he was active as a chamber musician and accompanist of the leading performers of his time, by Joseph Joachim and Mühlfeld to Adolf Busch, John Messchaert to Ilona Durigo and Emmy Destinn.

Kahn was in 1916 appointed a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts, where he remained until 1934.

As a Jew, Kahn was forced by the Nazis to emigrate. When he emigrated to England in December 1938, where he was to spend the rest of his life, he was already known in Germany as a composer and had published numerous works. After the war he came, however, in the wider musical public almost completely forgotten, but moved in recent years, again and again the attention of various artists on itself. Thus, after a slightly older record of early piano pieces Kahn ( and Others Op 11) of the young Donald Runnicles, and a recording of the First Piano Quartet with Triendl, Shaham et al. now a substantial collection of his songs - including the complete Fountain of Youth, Op 46 cycle for voice and piano trio - by Martin Dillon recorded on several CDs. His first cello sonata op 37 took R. Rust and F. Schwinghammer on, Clarinet Trio, Op 45 played the trio Paideia and most recently the trio Bornalie (2005 ) on CD and the Serenade op 73 is now in a recording of the Trio de Vries, Janssen, Guittart ago ( 2002).

Robert Kahn lived up to his expulsion from Germany a house in Feldberg (Mecklenburg- Vorpommern), which is now used as a youth hostel. There is a memorial plaque commemorating him on the west side of the house.

Works

Kahn composed chamber music, including 1 piano quintet, two string quartets, three piano quartets, five piano trios, three violin sonatas and cello sonatas 2, over 200 songs and numerous choirs. His only orchestral works are a Concert Piece for Piano and Orchestra in E flat minor op.74 and his Orchestra Serenade From youth. Stylistically his work of romance is to be assigned. At the time of his inner emigration in Feldberg / Mecklenburg (1933-1938) and during his time in exile in England the piano cycle was "Diary in tones " with 1160 ( with second versions 1168 ) piano pieces, probably represents by far the largest ever composed piano cycle at all. Reprises " attacca " statements harmonic or motivic connections between pieces and statements about intention or order of a cohesive performance of these pieces prove the character of a coherent cycle. (for more details, please see " tradition of naturalness among other things p.39 -44, as well as on the website of Steffen Fahl below)

His first violin sonata dedicated to the violinist Joseph Joachim Kahn. His first string quartet was premiered by Joachim Quartet. The world premiere of his orchestral serenade by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Berlin took place under the direction of Hans von Bülow.

Most notes are printed and are located in the newly established Robert Kahn Archive in the Academy of Arts in Berlin. Even in the online library IMSLP / Petrucci there are some works. The work of Robert Kahn is not represented by GEMA and therefore all the performers freely accessible. The heirs have Kahn 's work explicitly released. The successors of the publishers who Kahn published during his lifetime works, but there are still GEMA rights.

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