Hugo Kauder (9 June 1888 – 22 July 1972) was anAustrian-Jewish[1] composer,music theorist, and teacher. He composed in a relatively traditional,Brahmsiancontrapuntal–harmonic manner with substantialmodal mixture.[2]
Kauder sought a synthesis of sound and word in hisvocal music and was attentive to texts, praising theword painting of Schoenberg'sOp. 15Stefan George settings.[3] He was close toRudolph Pannwitz, who wroteaphorisms and was influenced by George andFriedrich Nietzsche.[2]
He wrote over 300 works.[4] A society (2002) and performance competition (2003) were founded in his name.[citation needed]
Kauder was born inTovačov. His father Ignaz wasOberlehrer (principal) of the localGerman languageprimary school. The localviolin teacher gave the boy Kauder lessons. This was his only formal training in music.
In 1905, Kauder moved toVienna to study engineering. He often skipped school withEgon Lustgarten [de] to study scores in theImperial Court Library. Several volumes ofGuido Adler'sDenkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich, a compendium of music including that of theFranco-Flemish School, especially interested him. He citedJosquin des Prez as a "teacher".[5]
From 1911 to 1917, Kauder playedviolin in theWiener Tonkünstler-Orchester[6] underFerdinand Loewe,Franz Schalk,Arthur Nikisch, andRichard Strauss. So began a lifelong friendship with Dutch hornistWillem Valkenier [de] (1887–1986), which inspired manyhorn compositions. From 1917 to 1922, Kauder was theviolist of the Gottesmann Quartet.
He was a member of Arnold Schoenberg'sSociety for Private Musical Performances, to which he referred (perhaps skeptically) as "our club" in a 1918 letter toAlban Berg. He mentioned practicingKarl Weigl's String Quartet No. 1 onviola d'amore for a Feb. 1919 concert. At a Nov. 1919 concert, he played in Igor Stravinsky'sPribaoutki, Schoenberg conducting.[7]
Kauder met poet and philosopherRudolph Pannwitz atBad Gastein in Dec. 1919,[8] who he came to regard as a mentor. Pannwitz did not play an instrument but composed settings of classic poems. He believed, somewhat unconventionally, that composers should find and reveal the music latent in texts rather than creating the musical setting at will. Kauder took and expanded this approach in his vocal music.
At the first"Internationalen Kammermusiktage"[a] inSalzburg (1922), Kauder stood photographed with Lustgarten and many of their contemporaries.[b] ThereCésar Saerchinger advocated for"Weltmusiktage", andRudolf Réti andEgon Wellesz founded theInternationalen Gesellschaft für Neue Musik at theCafé Bazar [de].[9] Kauder's 1916Nachts, threemovements for viola, cello, and piano, was performed as part of aconcert program on the topic ofnight. InAnbruch [de], Lustgarten highlighted Kauder's independence of any school of composition.[10]
In 1923 Kauder married Lustgarten's cousin Helene Guttman (1898–1949), a linguist, archeologist, andbible scholar.
For the rest of his life, inVienna and later inNew York City, Kauder composed and privately taughtviolin,music theory, andcomposition. He conducted a chorus and a chamber ensemble of friends and students, including his son Otto. They studied and performed classics as well as Kauder's own music.Karin Wagner [de] emphasized the influence ofBeethoven, Brahms, andMahler on Kauder's music.[3]
Many notable musicians appreciated and performed Kauder's music in pre-Anschluss (and to some extent post-World War II)Vienna. Conductors included Viktor Bermeiser, Siegmund Levarie,Josef Mertin [de],Karl Ristenpart, andAlexander Zemlinsky. Amongstring quartets were theGottesmann Quartet, Kolbe Quartet,[c]Rosé Quartet, andSedlak [de]-Winkler Quartet. Pianists included Adolf Baller andFriedrich Wührer. Various others did also, among them Alphons Jansen (cello),Ernst Paul (horn), andAlexander Wunderer (oboe).[12]
The Hugo Kauder Society was founded (2002) inNew Haven. Itsmission is to foster awareness and appreciation of the composer, and to provide opportunities to emerging musicians to perform (and sometimes premiere) his music. In 2003, the society established an international music competition in Kauder's name.[13] Among the winners were the Euclid Quartet (2004) and oboist Ivan Danko (2009).[14]
TheEuclid Quartet recorded his four string quartets forCentaur Records (Cat. No. 2840, released 2007). ASlovakia-based trio in Kauder's name recorded his 1916 trio and others' chamber music for oboe (Ivan Danko), viola (Robert Lakatos), and piano (Ladislav Fanzowitz) for Pavlik Records in 2010.[15]
