PROGRAMME NOTES

Sigfrid Karg Elert

Sigfrid Karg Elert (1877 - 1933)

Symphonic Canzona

When Siegfried Theodor Karg, the youngest of 12 children, was born in Oberndorf am Neckar (Germany) in 1877, his father was already in poor health and having difficulty supporting the family. When his father died in 1889, the family was destitute, and Siegfried's sister Anna, who was ten years older, took over the family's financial responsibilities. A wealthy patron gave an old square piano to Karg’s family, and Professor Bruno Röthig, cantor of the Johanniskirche, gave Siegfried piano lessons. Siegfried began to compose his first works without any theoretical training. He wrote sacred works for choir, motets, and a Christmas cantata, and so impressed Professor Röthig that the professor programmed a part of Siegfried's choral work.

Although Siegfried visited the Leipzig Conservatory, the church director decided to send him to Grimma to study to be a schoolteacher. The boy, was distraught and restless and at the age of sixteen he abruptly broke contact with his benefactors and set out on his own. After two days' walk he found some meagre employment in Markranstädt, where he resided for three years. Becoming disenchanted with his surroundings, he headed on foot to Magdeburg. He soon found work playing oboe, clarinet, and horn, but that did not last long, since he was arrested and sent back to Markranstädt. He was then told to return to Leipzig, where he earned a living as an orchestral musician and bar pianist. He dressed up with a fake beard and wig in order to remain incognito, since he was studying at the Leipzig Conservatory, and performing dance music was not approved.

In 1900, Siegfried's piano concerto was premiered under the auspices of the Leipzig Conservatory. In 1902 he took the position of piano masterclass instructor at the conservatory at Magdeburg, changing his last name to "Karg-Elert" (adding his mother's maiden name). At the age of 25, Karg-Elert became engaged to Maria Oelze, a fine keyboard player. Her father persuaded her to break off the engagement, however, leaving them both miserable. Karg-Elert experienced an emotional collapse and lived as a recluse, composing constantly..

Karg-Elert made the acquaintance of Edvard Grieg, who encouraged him as a composer, awakened his affinity for classicism, and suggested publishers and performance opportunities. At Grieg's recommendation, Karg-Elert again changed his name, this time to "Sigfrid." In 1910, Karg-Elert married Minna Louise Kretschmar, but the marriage was not a happy one.

Karg-Elert was already known as a composer in England, America, and Australia prior to the outbreak of the first world war. At war's onset, he enlisted in the 107th infantry regiment and was placed in the regimental band, playing oboe, horn, saxophone, and even the lyre. During this time, he wrote many important works for wind, including most of his solo flute repertoire.

At this point, his works were stylistically akin to the music of Webern and Schoenberg, but influenced by Brahms, Franck, Scriabin, and Debussy as well. After what Karg-Elert described as an artistic crisis, his writing took a new direction. He distanced himself from the radical left camp of musical composition in favor of the Impressionists, late Romanticists, and Neo-Classicists. Describing his new style, he wrote, "I began again in C major and prayed to the muse of melody." All this time, his life's wish was to become organist at the church at Vorstadt or Heiland, but his some five attempts to secure these positions came to nothing. His association with the avant-garde, his improvisatory virtuosity, and his repugnance to authority may have been contributing factors.

In 1930, Karg-Elert took part in a Karg-Elert Festival in London, and a year later he was asked to perform in the USA, where he presented more than twenty organ concerts. He was offered the position of organ teacher at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, but due to his failing health, he declined. He died on September 4, 1933, and was buried in the Leipzig Südfriedhof.