Heinrich Zöllner (1854-1941)

[Wheesht]

I wonder if anyone here has come across Heinrich Zöllner, a name that was totally unknown to me until I stumbled across it yesterday. His output was quite substantial, but apart from one piece from Die versunkene Glocke – played by himself in a Welte Mignon recording on Tacet – nothing seems to have been recorded.

Here is the beginning of the list of his works (from his German wikipedia entry):

Operas:
-Frithjof. 1884 Köln u. 1910 Lyrisch Vlaamsch Tooneel Antwerpen (niederländisch). Nach der Erzählung von Esaias Tegnér (mit Benutzung der Zoller'schen Übersetzung).
-Die lustigen Chinesinnen. 1886 Köln Stadttheater. Text u. Musik von Heinrich Zöllner. Komische Oper in 1 Akte.
-Matteo Falcone. 1884 New York Metropolitan Opera
-Der Überfall. 7. September 1895 Hofoper Dresden. Oper in 2 Akten mit Benutzung der Novelle ,,Die Danaide" von Ernst von Wildenbruch. Berlin: Schlesinger; Wien; Haslinger, [nach 1896]
-Das hölzerne Schwert. 1897 Kassel Hoftheater
-Die versunkene Glocke. 8. Juli 1899 Theater des Westens Berlin. Musikdrama in 5 Aufzügen nach der Märchendichtung Gerhart Hauptmanns. Op. 80
-Faust. 19. Oktober 1887 München Nationaltheater. Musikdrama in einem Vorspiel und vier Akten nach Goethe's ,,Faust" (I. Theil) von Heinrich Zöllner.
-Bei Sedan. 1895 Leipzig Neues Theater. Oper in 2 Akten. (Text mit Benutzung einer Episode aus Zolas ,,La débacle" vom Componisten).
-Der Schützenkönig. 1903 Leipzig. Spieloper in 3 Acten von Julius Kulenkampf. Musik Heinrich Zöllner.
-Zigeuner. 1912 Stuttgart. Oper in 2 Akten nach Maxim Gorkis Erzählung von Heinrich Zöllner. Op. 110.

Symphonies:
-Sinfonie in Es-Dur Op. 20
-Sinfonie in F-Dur Nr. 2 für großes Orchester. Op. 100 (veröff. 1912. HMB)
-Sinfonie in d-moll Nr. 3 für großes Orchester. Op. 130

Six works are on IMSLP.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Fleisher has score and parts of the Op. 20 symphony (though these are described as "brittle") as well as those for Sommerfahrt Op. 15, Serenade for flute and orchestra, Op. 95,  Elegie for violin and orchestra, Op. 46, Prelude to the Church Scene in "Faust", the Op. 91 String Quartet and the Overture for Grand Orchestra, Op. 88 "Under the Star Spangled Banner". The British Library has the Full Score of the Op. 100 symphony.

[Mark Thomas]

Wow! Zöllner seems to have been very productive. Hofmeister lists 115 entries for his published works up to 1900 alone. I've taken a quick look at the Berlin Library card index and there are many, maybe 100s, more. It'll take some time to get a feel for his catalogue....

[Alan Howe]

Yet another buried master?

[Mark Thomas]

Buried more deeply certainly, beneath a huge pile of music.

[Double-A]

This may be the place for a more general observation:  Many of the unsungs have very large lists of works.  Just off the top of my head:  Raff > 200 op., Rheinberger almost 200 op plus 100 WoO, Wüerst came up lately on this forum, Max Reger (I believe he must count as unsung nowadays) also has an unbelievably long list of works, Spohr, especially if you consider that he was also working as a top flight soloist, a conductor, an organizer of music festivals and in other managerial capacities (as we would say nowadays).

Sung composers tend to top out somewhere above 100 op. if memory serves.

The question would be:  Does being very or extremely prolific have an impact on the probability of a composer's becoming unsung?

Before Beethoven all this would be moot.  That era has almost only prolific composers, often unimaginably so. 

[Mark Thomas]

Yes, I do think so, because it laid them open, justifiably or not, to the charge of being insufficiently self-critical. I believe the the German word is a Vielschreiber. Of course Liszt, who constantly warned Raff of the dangers of being a Vielschreiber, was over-productive even by 18th century standards! I haven't yet had chance to fully get to grips with Zöllner's catalogue, but he had forty works published in the 10 years up to 1887 alone, by which time he was only 33, and quite a few of them are large scale pieces for vocal forces and orchestra. He clearly was a music machine.

[Wheesht]

It might be interesting to try and find out what contemporary reviewers had to say about the music Zöllner appears to have been churning out.

[Wheesht]

In a 1914 review of a new production of Zöllner's 1895 opera "Der Ueberfall" Julius Korngold calls him a post-wagnerian eclectic, but has some (faint) praise for the opera, saying that Zöllner learned from the verists, and he expresses some hope that with the right libretto Zöllner might well be able to write an opera that would be effective on stage.

[Alan Howe]

Wikipedia has this:

The son of composer Carl Friedrich Zöllner, Heinrich Zöllner was born in Leipzig. From 1875 to 1877 he attended the Leipzig Conservatory where he studied music under Carl Reinecke, Salomon Jadassohn, and Ernst Friedrich Richter. In 1878 Zöllner became the director of music at the University of Dorpat (now Tartu) in Estonia where he stayed for almost seven years. In 1885 he joined the faculty at the Cologne Conservatory and while there he conducted the Cologne Male Voice Choir.

Zöllner moved to the United States in 1890 to become the conductor and director of the Deutscher Liederkranz in New York. He remained in that position for eight years and achieved a considerable amount of success. His cantata, Die neue Welt (The New World), won a prize at the 1892 Cleveland Sängerfest.

Zöllner returned to Leipzig in 1898 to replace Hermann Kretzschmar as director of music at Leipzig University, taking over the Paulus male choir. Four year later he was appointed professor of composition at the university as a replacement for his mentor, E.F. Reinecke. From 1903 to 1906 he was the editor of the Leipzig Tageblatt. He was conductor of the Flemish Opera in Antwerp from 1907 until his retirement in 1914. He retired to Freiburg and worked part-time as an opera critic for the Breisgauer Zeitung.

Zöllner's compositions include 10 operas, five symphonies, several large-scale works for chorus and orchestra, five string quartets, overtures, works for solo and four-hand piano, choral music, lieder, and numerous smaller vocal pieces. Like his father, Zöllner composed a significant amount of pieces for men's chorus. However, unlike his father, he showed a preference for large scale works with full orchestral accompaniment. He is probably best remembered for his 1899 opera Die versunkene Glocke, which enjoyed frequent revivals up until the outbreak of World War II.

[Mark Thomas]

Here (at last) is my attempt at a Work List for Heinrich Zöllner, who was clearly a highly industrious fellow. He was primarily a composer for the voice, and in particular for men's choirs. On the assumption that most readers won't be too interested in his unaccompanied choral works, or his songs, I've only summarised them in this post, but you can download the full work list in PDF format here. There are some inconsistences and probable errors, but it's at least a start.There are almost 200 works listed, of which many are large scale pieces involving orchestra, although mainly as accompaniment in operas or choral works. Of the purely orchestral works, there are four symphonies that exist, although the English language Wikipedia page on Zöllner says there are five and the German one only three. There are also more stage works than either mentions. His output for both chamber music and the piano is meagre. Although Op.139 was published as his String Quartet No.5, there seems to have been only one earlier un-numbered one published, and no records online of the other three. I haven't been able to track down any unpublished manuscripts and there are gaps in his published opus numbers amounting to 30 opuses, but some of these may include the 22 works in the catalogue which I've listed as WoO, as their library catalogue entries don't include an opus number. Dates are generally those of publication, sometimes of performance, but not of composition. Apologies to German speakers for my rough and ready translations.

Heinrich Zöllner
(1854-1941)

WORK LIST

Operas & Dramatic Works:
WoO. Romantic Opera in 2 Acts: Frithjof (1884)
WoO. Opera: The Merry Chinese Women [Die lustigen Chinesinnen] A Musical Farce (1886)
Op.40 Music Drama in 1 Prelude & 4 Acts: Faust (1887)
WoO. Comic Opera in 3 Acts: The Bride [Die Braut] (1892)
Op.64 Opera in 2 Acts: In Sedan [Bei Sedan] (1896). Also titled Sivine. Part I of In The Year 1870.
Op.65 Opera in 2 Acts: The Attack [Der Überfall] Part II of In The Year 1870.
Op.70 Opera in 1 Act: Mateo Falcone the Corsican [der Corse] (1894)
Op.76 Musical Comedy in Two Pictures: The Wooden Sword [Das hölzerne Schwert] (1897)
WoO. Schubertiade. Schauspiel in 1 Act for the Commemoration of the 100th Birthday of Franz Schubert (1897)
Op.80 Music Drama in 5 Acts: The Sunken Bell [Die versunkene Glocke] (1899)
WoO. Spiel-Opera in 3 Acts: The Champion Shooter [Der Schützenkönig] (1903)
Op.110 Opera in 2 Acts: Gipsy [Zigeuner] (1911)
WoO. Brahms in Cologne [Brahms in Köln] A Memorial Play with Music in 4 Pictures on the 100th Birthday of Johannes Brahms (1933)

Other Works for Soloist, Choir & Orchestra:
Op.12 The Battle of the Huns [Die Hunnenschlacht] for soprano, baritone, men's choir & orchestra (1881)
Op.24 Oratorio: Luther for alto, baritone, solo quartet, mixed choir, boys' choir and orchestra (1885)
Op.30 Cantata: Columbus for men's choir, soloists & orchestra
Op.38 The 90 year-old Kaiser [Dem neunzigjährigen Kaiser]. Festival Hymn for 22 March 1887, for solo quartet (or small choir), men's choir, boys' choir ad lib and brass band with organ ad lib (1887)
Op.38b Funeral Ode on the Death of Kaiser Wilhelm I [Trauerode auf den Tod des Kaisers Wilhelm] for men's choir, boys' choir ad lib and brass band with organ ad lib (1888)
Op.38d The Young Kaiser [Dem jungen Kaiser]. Festival Hymn for solo quartet (or small choir), men's choir, boys' choir ad lib and brass band with organ ad lib (1888)
WoO. Festival Cantata: The New World [Die neue Welt] for soprano & baritone, men's choir & orchestra (1892)
Op.49 Ode to Music for soprano & alto, women's choir & small Orch.(1896)
Op.50 Hymn of Love [Hymnus der Liebe] for baritone, mixed choir & orchestra (1890)
Op.61 The Sea Riders [Die Meerfahrer] A Cycle of Songs & Poems for soprano, men's choir & orchestra
Op.62 Heroes' Requiem [Helden-Requiem] on the 25th Anniversary of the fallen in the years 1870 & 1871 for soprano, men's choir & orchestra (1895)
Op.90 Bonifacius for soprano, baritone, men's choir & orchestra (1904)
Op.134 Black Forest Concert [Schwarzwald-Concert] for a soloist, men's choir (optionally also with boys' choir) & piano
Op.145 Babylon for tenor, baritone, men's choir & orchestra (1925)
Op.157 To the Fatherland [An das Vaterland] for men's choir, boys' choir & orchestra

Works for Men's Choir & Orchestra, or other accompaniment:
Op.5 Lied from Schmied's Pied Piper of Hamelin [Rattenfänger von Hameln] for men's choir & orchestra (1877)
Op.13 Wartime Morning Song (Norse) [Morgengesang im Kriege (Skaldisch)] for men's choir & orchestra (1881)
Op.14 The Festival of Rebenblüthe [Das Fest der Rebenblüthe] for solo quartet, men's choir & orchestra; No.2. Young Siegfried for men's choir & orchestra using motifs from Richard Wagner's Siegfried (1881)
Op.23 Wanderer's Song in a Storm [Wanderers Sturmlied] for solo quartet, men's choir & orchestra (1885)
Op.29 Night-Time Song for men's choir, 2 horns, 3 trombones and harp or piano (1886)
Op.34 Hohenzollern Song for men's choir & wind/brass band (1886)
Op.39 Two Lieder for men's choir & orchestra (1887)
Op.52 The German Music Award [Preis der deutschen Musik]. Hymn for men's choir & brass band (1891)
Op.53 King Sigurd Ring's Journey to his Bride [König Sigurd Ring's Brautfahrt] for men's choir & orchestra (1895)
Op.55 Indian Love Song [Indianischer Liebesgesang] "Onaway! awake, beloved!" for men's choir & orchestra(1892)
Op.71 King's Ode [Königs-Ode] for four-voice male choir and orchestra
Op.75 Two Proverbs [Sprüche] for men's choir & orchestra (1897)
Op.77 Muster Station [Heerschau] for men's choir and orchestra (1900)
Op.84 Praise The Lord [Das Lob des Herrn] for four-part men's choir, wind instruments and double bass (1903)
Op.86 To the Schiller Festival [Zur Schillerfeier] on 9 May 1905 for men's choir & wind orchestra
Op.89 During the Silent Night [In schweigender Nacht] for men's choir & string orchestra with harp ad lib (1907)
Op.97 German Michael [Der deutsche Michel], a battle song for men's choir & orch (1908)
Op.101 Adventure: Guiding the Seas [Adventiure: Die Meere durchsleiten] for men's choir & orchestra
Op.107 Two Songs for men's choir & orchestra (1911)
Op.111 Fahnenschnour for men's choir & orchestra (1911)
Op.113 Two Ballads for men's choir & orchestra (1911)
Op.114 Talismans [Talismane] for double men's choir, orchestra & organ ad lib (1911)
Op.115 Angelus. Ballad for men's choir & orchestra (1911)
Op.117 Father's Crypt [Die Vätergruft] for men's choir & orchestra
Op.123 Let There Be Light! [Es werde Licht!] for men's choir & orchestra (1914)
Op.125 The Battle of Leipzig [Die Leipziger Schlacht] for men's choir & orchestra (1913)
Op.131 From the War of Liberation [Aus den Freiheitskriegen] 1813/1814, A Cycle of Seven Songs for men's choir & orchestra
Op.133 Germany & Her Children [Deutschland an seine Kinder] for men's choir & orchestra
Op.159 The Song of Speyer's Bell [Das Glockenlied von Speyer] for men's choir & orchestra (1930)
WoO. Hymn to the 450th Anniversary of the Invention of Printing [Hymne zum 450 jahrigen Jubiläum des Erfingdung des Buchdruckerkunst] for large male choir with wind and brass orchestra

Symphonies:
Op.20 Symphony No.1 in E flat major (1883)
Op.100 Symphony No.2 in F major (1912)
Op.130 Symphony No.3 in D minor In The High Mountains [Im Hochgebirge] (1913)
Op.140 Symphony No.4 in E minor Tragic [Tragische] (1930)

Other Works for Orchestra:
Op.15 Summer Journey [Sommerfahrt], Episode for string orchestra (1882)
Op.46 Elegie for violin & small orchestra (1889)
Op.83 Forest Fantasy [Waldpahantasie] for orchestra (1903)
Op.88 Under the Star Spangled Banner for orchestra (1906)
Op.95 Serenade in C major for flute & string orchestra (1908)
Op.160 Frau Holle or Goldmarie & Pechliese: Christmas Fairy Tales in Six Pictures for small orchestra

Works for Men's Choir:
57 opuses/Woo containing 115 songs for unaccompanied men's choir.

Other Choral Works:
11 opuses/Woo containing 20 other choral works.

Chamber Works:
Op.3 Six Small Pieces for violin and piano (1877)
Op.91 String Quartet in C minor (1906)
Op.121 Suite for violin & piano (1920)
Op.139 String Quartet No.5 in G major Pastorale (1925)

Songs:
28 opuses/WoO containing 91 songs.

Works for Piano:
WoO. Two Waltzes for Piano
Op.17 Four Elegies for piano (1881)
Op.27 On Lake Constance [Am Bodensee] A Country Story in 12 Waltzes for piano four-hands (1886)
Op.41 Farewell to the Homeland [Abschied von der Heimat] for voice and piano
Op.118 Serenade for piano

30 unidentified Opus numbers.

[Double-A]

Sorry to pick out a detail, but this may be of interest:

Op. 64 and 65 are two operas called "Bei Sedan" und "Der Überfall" and subtitled Part One and Two respectively of the year 1870.  This refers to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.  Sedan was the location of a crucial battle which was often quoted later as a glorious achievement of the German military--I have no idea what "Der Überfall" is about.  Interesting choice of subject!  And stretched over two evenings, half of the "Ring"!

I just non Germanic/French people might not immediately guess this.

BTW your German translations seem fine to me.

[Wheesht]

"Der Überfall" is based on the novella "Die Danaide" by the German writer Ernst von Wildenbruch. When it was translated into English in 1902, the subtitle " An episode from the Franco-Prussian War" was added so that it would be easier to sell the book to English readers. Since it was privately published at the translators' expense in just 250 copies I am not sure how successful that ploy was.
I have not read the novella yet - looking for it in a library catalogue made me stumble across Zöllner though...

[Mark Thomas]

Zöllner's Op.62, the Heroes' Requiem, also commemorates the Franco-Prussian war of course, and then there are several patriotic songs published during and after WWI.

Another interesting episode from history is Germany's "Year of the Three Emperors", 1888, which is illuminated by his Op.38 pieces. The original Op.38 (for men's choir, boys' choir ad lib and brass band with organ ad lib) was published the year before to celebrate the 90th birthday of Kaiser Wilhem I. Then the old boy passed away in March the next year, so Zöllner wrote a sequel, Op.38b for the same forces, which is a Funeral Ode for the dead monarch. Wilhelm's son Frederick III was already suffering from throat cancer when he became emperor and lived just 99 days. He was succeeded by his son the young Kaiser Willhelm II, on whose accession Zöllner wrote Op.38d, the Festival Hymn "The Young Kaiser", again for the same forces. I can find no trace of an Op.38c, but presumably it exists or existed and was probably a commemoration of Frederick III's accession or his death. I suppose that it remained unpublished as it was overtaken by events, and abandoned  in favour of something more positive celebrating Wilhelm II ascending the imperial throne.

All of which is musicologically fascinating, but I'd really like to hear something of Zöllner's music, and not a note seems to have been recorded.

[Wheesht]

Well, one piece – from The Sunken Bell – has been recorded on Tacet (Welte Mignon) here