Unsung Composers

Very little to be found about this composer. He was a pupil of Friedrich Kiel and lived/worked most of his life in Magdeburg, Germany. His cello concerto (1899) won considerable recognition.

Any help with his biography would be much appreciated.

Here is my rendition of his Symphony (1886)

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kdf9dqKoV_g

Thanks! (What I've seen of his music on IMSLP intrigues me, and there seems to be more out there in libraries.) Also: "The conductor and composer Fritz Kauffmann  (1855-1934) [a student of Friedrich Kiel...] was significantly involved in the founding of today's Magdeburg Philharmonic in 1897, of which he became its first general music director." from Startnext.com-Kauffmann Piano Trio (https://www.startnext.com/en/klaviertrio-kauffmann/blog) (page of an abortive Kickstarter-ish project to record Kauffmann's 2 piano trios.) (He wrote concertos for piano, violin (2), and cello and an early string quartet (Op.14, and variations for quartet Op.8... edit: Abendmusik Op.51 pub. 1910 for string quartet also.) among other works too, but his only commercially- ...er, well, hrm. Available on YouTube in a live performance or two?- recorded work that I know of offhand- at this time- is his wind quintet Op.40. I believe...)

Also, this brief-at-present Wikipedia biography in Swedish (https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Kauffmann_(musiker)).

Toskey has entries on Kauffmann's two Violin Concertos: No.1 in D minor, Op.27 (1894) and No.2 in B minor, Op.50 (1909). No.1 is described as being in the tradition of Brahms' VC and, although melodious, features 'modern-style' chromatics', so I imagine we're dealing here with a composer something like, say, Wilhelm Berger.

Now to give the Symphony a listen...

...and I'm glad I did, because (unless I'm very much mistaken), this is identical with what we have known up to now as the Symphony No.6 in A minor, Op.790, by Hans Franke. They're both in the same key.

So: what's going on here? Is 'Hans Franke' in reality a fiction? After all, we have been led to believe that his oeuvre consisted of 869 opus numbers, most of which were supposed to have been destroyed in the bombing of Dresden on 14th February 1945. Have we been well and truly hoodwinked?

I smell a rat of Joyce Hatto proportions...

I had coincidentally just gone through the Franke symphony last week, so I recognized it immediately from its (fine but rather obscure) recording by the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester, Frankfurt/Oder under Christian Hammer.

It'd be interesting to know (Martin?) who originally published the music. If it was Peters or Breitkopf, if I remember correctly most of their material was lost WW2 bombings. One could easily see a scenario where Franke (who appears to have been real enough) passed off a rare copy of an unplayed symphony as his own - similar to how Brazilian "composer" José Alberto Kaplan used only marginally modified versions of concertos by Shostakovich and Bartók.

However, this sounds note-for-note the same, albeit with somewhat modified movement indications (Kauffmann's finale is titled "Allegro energico", while Franke's is "Allegro risoluto", and the middle movements are swapped around) - which doesn't make Franke look much better and seems to argue against a possible mixup at the recording (but who knows?). This discovery might explain why Franke's other works sound very different from this one - and start an investigation of how much actual Franke there is in his "Piano Concerto in F major, Op. 796" on the same disc. That work sounds like it's been composed by Ferdinand Ries's brother.

I've just written an email to conductor Christian Hammer to ask for his opinion on the matter. But in short, if the provenance of Martin's score is solid we can re-assign at least Franke's "Sixth" to Kauffmann.

Quote from: Ilja on Monday 01 January 2024, 09:17Franke (who appears to have been real enough)

I think more investigation is needed. I mean, 869 opus numbers?

Here's the (German) Wikipedia article on the composer:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Franke_(Komponist)

Anyway, I'm with Ilja: the Symphony in A minor is by Kauffmann, not Franke! And from Reverie's video it can be established that the publisher was Carl Paez - info here:
https://imslp.org/wiki/Paez
Now this information on the publisher mentions Fritz Kauffmann, Emilie Mayer, Taubert and Raff! So is the Piano Concerto claimed by Franke actually by, say, Emilie Mayer? (Edit: this is not the case - Mayer's PC is a totally different piece - which leaves that particular mystery as yet unsolved.)

Frankes Werkverzeichnis (http://www.komponistenarchiv.de/franke-hans/) contains 87 works; the alleged loss of about 800 others in Dresden may or may not be true. His works are archived in the German composers' archive in Hellerau (right beneath the approach path to Dresden airport) so some sleuthing there might be in order.

Addition: from the Illustriertes Tageblatt, sächsische Heimatzeitung of 7 October 1940:

QuoteThe 6th Symphony in A minor by the Dresden composer Hans Franke was accepted by music director Bruno C. Schestak, Teplitz-Schönau, for performance, and will be premiered alongside Brucker's 4th Symphony on October 11th in the Teplitz [near Königsberg] Opera House.

Of course, the interesting question is whether this was the same work.

Quote from: Alan Howe on Monday 01 January 2024, 09:59Anyway, I'm with Ilja: the Symphony in A minor is by Kauffmann, not Franke! And from Reverie's video it can be established that the publisher was Carl Paez

Both the violin and cello concertos are also published by Carl Paez

Interesting!

Having just chatted with Mark Thomas, I'd say the most likely scenario is that Franke was a real person who passed off certain works as his own. Whether there were actually close to 900 pieces of music or whether Franke made this up following the bombing of Dresden, who knows? But that would be my suspicion, i.e. that Franke was a deceiver who claimed authorship of a number of works that weren't his own and probably made up a fictitious list of works that conveniently disappeared during the fire-bombing of February 1945.

First, my commiserations to Martin, whose diligence seems to have been partly for naught. On the other hand, we'd never have found out about Franke's handiwork without him.

A bit more background information on Kauffmann and his oeuvre, from Sonneck, Oscar (1912). Orchestral music (Class M1000-1268) catalogue. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. Music Division.

• Sinfonie in A-moll für grosses orchester componirt von Fritz Kaufmann. Op. 18. Orchester partitur. Berlin, Carl Paez (D. Charton), [1886]. Publ. no. 211a. 1 p.l., 104 p. fol. M1001.K22
• Dramatische ouverture für grosses orchester componiert von Fritz Kaufmann. Op. 23. Partitur Berlin, Carl Paez (D. Charton), 1893. Publ. no. C. P. 605. 43 p. fol. M1004.K27
• Concert (C-moll) für pianoforte und orchester componirt von Fritz Kaufmann. Op. 25. Partitur Berlin, Carl Paez (D. Charton), [1892]. Publ. no. C.P.590. 131 p. fol. M1010.K24 Op. 25
• Concert (D-moll) für violine und orchester von Fritz Kaufmann. Op. 27. Orchester-partitur . • Berlin, Carl Paez (D. Charton), 1894. Publ. no. C. P. 732. 82 p. fol. M1012.K23 Op. 27
• Concert (C-moll) für violoncello und orchester von Fritz Kauffmann. Op. 29. Orchester-partitur Berlin, Carl Paez (D. Charton), [1899]. Publ. no. C. P. 979. 51 p. fol. M1016.K22 Op. 29
• Zweites violonkonzert (in H moll) von Fritz Kaufmann. Op. 50. Orchester-partitur . Magdeburg, Heinrichshofen's verlag, 1909. Publ. no. H. V. 9614. 73 p. fol. M1012.K23 Op. 50

Also, I found this detailed review of Kauffmann's Violin Concerto No. 1 in the Musical Courier of 1 November, 1893 (Vol 27, Iss 712):

QuoteFor those who are tired of the eternal repetition of the Mendelssohn and Bruch G minor violin concertos, and their number, beautiful as these two works are, is legion, Felix Berber's first concert this season brought a novelty which they will hail with pleasure. The fiery, young, handsome and talented Magdeburg concertmaster last Friday night at the Singakademie played to a good sized and friendly audience for the first time a new violin concerto, yet in manuscript, by Kauffmann the musikdirector of Magdeburg. The composer conducted his work in person, and with the executant shared the applause of the public, though not unanimously that of the press. The score was in my hands some six or eight weeks ago, and upon only cursory examination I found it to be the work of an excellent musician. Now, after hearing the concerto, I deem it an important augmentation to the not overburdened violin literature of the concerto genre. Kauffmann is already favorably known through his symphony and his piano concerto, but his op. 27, the D minor violin concerto will do more for him in this respect than both these preceding works. So much I am prone to predict. The first movement, though a trifle too long drawn out and a little prolix generally, is of considerable musical importance, finely conceived and masterly carried out, both as to the treatment of the solo instrument and the symphonic mold, which also permeates the orchestral accompaniment. The slow movement in B major is a lovely romanza, with a beautiful cantilene theme and an ethereal Tristan ending, while the last movement is fresh and unflagging. The second theme in A major especially is very taking. The solo part of course is extremely difficult, but in the hands of a technically so skilled and musically so gifted artist as Felix Berber, it is a work worth hearing. I recommend it to the attention of Mr. Brodski, Berber's teacher, as well as Kneisel, Miss Powell, and a very few others. Second rate violinists, however, should not touch it.

Several of those works by Kauffmann are already in some form at IMSLP, if it matters- the 2 violin concertos, the cello concerto, etc.

And Fleisher has scores and parts of all the works listed above, apart from the symphony.

Now that we have the whole Franke thing out of the way, we can assess Kauffmann's symphony in its natural habitat, and I have to say that it doesn't cut a bad figure at all compared to contemporaneous German works such as Draeseke's Tragica, Bruch's Third and Fuchs's Second. It's an attractive, tuneful and somewhat muscular symphony that doesn't outstay its welcome and is neither particularly advanced nor backward-looking. A work that I will return to with some regularity.

It's certainly 'of its time', although Draeseke really belongs with the more progressive symphonists such as Bruckner, Franck, etc. I'd prefer to group him with more conservative figures such as, say, Bruch, Gernsheim and Reinecke.

All in all, it's great to have discovered where it belongs chronologically and, most importantly, who actually wrote it. Prosit, Fritz Kauffmann!

GV: Kauffmann's symphony is at ÖNB, just misfiled, as I think I remarked at the IMSLP wishlist.

Yes, here it is:
https://search.onb.ac.at/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=ONB_alma21322685300003338&context=L&vid=ONB&lang=de_DE&search_scope=ONB_gesamtbestand&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=default_tab&query=any,contains,Fritz%20Kauffmann%20Symphonie&offset=0

The only oddity is that Kauffmann is described as 'Komponistin', i.e. a female composer!

Also, a Worldcat search finds a piano-duet reduction by R. Keller - https://www.worldcat.org/title/497412724 (https://www.worldcat.org/title/497412724) - which I hadn't noticed previously (at the British Library, maybe elsewhere.) (See https://www.worldcat.org/title/1074860123 for another copy of that reduction at Münster.)

I remembered it being more badly misfiled at the time, I think, even if I don't remember in what way now- maybe they had it under the Baroque composer Georg Friedrich Kauffmann, or something (a nice --big-- Baroque symphony if so! :) )

Quote from: Alan Howe on Monday 01 January 2024, 09:59I think more investigation is needed. I mean, 869 opus numbers?

Well, Czerny had 861 so it's doable.

And at least Czerny's included very many substantial works (and many without opus number - some of his symphonies, concertos string quartets, chamber works, masses, etc. have opp., some don't, etc. ...) for many different instrumentations, unlike, say, Arnoldo Sartorio (1853-1936)  whose _almost-1300_ opus numbers were largely for piano/piano duet/2 pianos with a few for violin and piano and, as far as I know, almost entirely brief dances, character pieces, and so on and so forth.

And then there are the weirdly large opus numbers (https://imslp.org/wiki/List_of_works_by_Charles_Grobe) of Charles Grobe (1817?-79), if the big ones aren't just composerly jokes. Which at least are somewhat larger (huge sets of variations, fantasies, etc. are potentially more interesting than reams of brief dances, imho --- marginally.)

Quote from: Alan Howe on Monday 01 January 2024, 22:50Yes, here it is:
https://search.onb.ac.at/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=ONB_alma21322685300003338&context=L&vid=ONB&lang=de_DE&search_scope=ONB_gesamtbestand&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=default_tab&query=any,contains,Fritz%20Kauffmann%20Symphonie&offset=0

The only oddity is that Kauffmann is described as 'Komponistin', i.e. a female composer!

In German, the spelling with a capital 'I' has become standard practice when referring to both the male and female form in one word. Another, more recently adopted, option is 'Komponist:in'.

Thanks for that explanation. I'm still learning...

So am I, and I'm a native speaker...

I actually misread the 'l' as an 'i'. How the eye deceives when one isn't being too careful...

It's easy to misread 'I' as 'i', our brains are good at recognising patterns, otherwise we would have to decipher each letter individually. One does have to be careful, true.

The «Deutsches Musiker-Lexikon» by Erich H. Müller, copyright 1929, was compiled based on information provided (in part) by the people listed themselves. The works by Kauffmann that are listed there are as follows:
-Choral
-Lieder (manuscript)
-two piano sonatas
-piano pieces
-Abendmusik for string quartet
-Opera: Die Herzkrankheit (libretto by Julius Jost) > the libretto only is at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
-Piano Trio op. 9
-String Quartet op. 14
-Symphony in a op. 18
-Piano Trio op. 20
-Dramatic Overture for orchestra op. 23
-Piano Concerto op. 25
-Violin Concerto op. 27
-Cello Concerto op. 29
-Violin Concerto op. 51

Quote from: eschiss1 on Monday 01 January 2024, 22:28GV: Kauffmann's symphony is at ÖNB, just misfiled, as I think I remarked at the IMSLP wishlist.

Thanks, Eric. I did note your information on IMSLP - very helpful. I only wanted to show that, apart from the symphony, readily accessible complete performance materials are available for his other major orchestral works, whereas someone would have had to produce parts for the symphony since ONB has only the full score.

I may be completely muddled by now, but wouldn't the parts for the alleged sixth by Franke, which has now been established as Kauffmann's symphony, have been used for that recording? That does not mean they are easily accessible, of course.

I'm assuming that new parts had to be created for the recording from whatever material (originating from Hans Franke) was made available to Vogt & Fritz/Amphion. Again, I'm assuming that this material was either a Kauffmann original that had been 'doctored' or a copy that Franke himself had created.

Interestingly, I note that the score is missing from the publisher's website. I wonder whether it has been 'pulled'...

Just because ÖNB only has the score doesn't mean someone doesn't have the Kauffmann parts - what became of Paez? Hopefully not destroyed in WW2 like Junne and other publishers :( (but yes, someone might have, but who? :) ) (Btw LoC has an ambiguous - "unk" - entry for Kauffmann's symphony (https://lccn.loc.gov/unk84083626) also.)

Again, I'm assuming from what conductor Christian Hammer told Ilja that the current publisher (Vogt & Fritz) supplied the parts and the score for the recording. How/In what form the music reached the publisher in the first place is unknown.

QuoteHow/In what form the music reached the publisher in the first place is unknown.

And there's the rub, of course. One would be interested to know.

Quote from: eschiss1 on Tuesday 02 January 2024, 16:41Just because ÖNB only has the score doesn't mean someone doesn't have the Kauffmann parts - what became of Paez? Hopefully not destroyed in WW2 like Junne and other publishers :( (but yes, someone might have, but who? :) ) (Btw LoC has an ambiguous - "unk" - entry for Kauffmann's symphony (https://lccn.loc.gov/unk84083626) also.)

Well, yes - but they are not, at present at least, obviously available. One presumes Vogt&Fritz made parts from whatever score they had, but that may have been doctored somewhat by Franke. We just don't know without comparing the score at ONB with that produced by Vogt&Fritz.
I don't like that "unk" at LoC!

Trouble is, I can't locate a Vogt & Fritz score anywhere for comparison purposes. I'm suspicious that it's been pulled.

Quote from: eschiss1 on Monday 01 January 2024, 00:00page of an abortive Kickstarter-ish project to record Kauffmann's 2 piano trios

There are some excerpts intertwined with an interview (in German only) of the Piano Trio op. 9 on YouTube, featuring the same performers:

Thanks so much, Simon. What a shame it never took off - perhaps the music was too obscure for the project to succeed. The music itself sounds extremely attractive.

Very often the final movements in symphonies can be a let down I feel. However in this symphony the Finale is a powerful conclusion thanks to that wonderful development section where you are transported to another world for a few minutes!

Little did I know when I stuck that link to my rendition of Fritz's symphony that there would be such a commotion. It will be interesting to see how things develop?

By the way the cello concerto is a fine work too. I have only dealt with the first movement so far.

I'm so glad you did the work, Martin. You have in effect returned a very fine symphony to its true creator, restored his reputation and righted a historic wrong.

Very well done!

Quite so, Alan. Many thanks, Martin.

Hear, hear!

In exposing the plagiarist, we now have evidence of a fine composer hitherto unknown to us. That's a major achievement.
  The fact that we recognised the Symphony's worth in the first place and wanted to listen to it on repeated occasions means that we were able to recognise it when Martin posted his computer realisation on YouTube. It's a testament to Kauffmann's craft and to Martin's skill in realising it.

What I'd like to see is a re-release of the recording of the Symphony with the inner movements in the intended order and the correct attribution. This might be embarrassing to Vogt & Fritz, but might prove attractive to the conductor and orchestra involved. Or am I just being naive?

I was really taken by this fine symphony when I first heard it,and have listened to it again and again. I  received no reply from the record label when I suggested that a copy of the CD should be sent to Musicweb International for review, but I concur with everything Alan has said.  Was Kauffmann one of those Jewish composers erased from knowledge by the Nazis?   An injustice needs to be righted.

As Franke's appropriation of Kauffmann's Symphony occurred in the 1930s, very shortly after Kauffmann's death, it's tempting to assume that Franke may have found it easier or more excusable to do so because Kauffmann was Jewish and therefore his music would be expunged by the Nazis after 1933. However, I can find no evidence that Kauffmann was Jewish and both Woelfl and Hill, whose compositions Franke also stole, were buried in Christian cemeteries and so clearly not of the faith. So, even in that time of twisted morality, Franke's thefts couldn't have been more blatant or inexcusable.

Kauffmann was not Jewish. I have of scan of his death entry from the registry office in Magdeburg. Will provide details later today.

Thanks for clearing that up!

I have now had a look at the relevant files, it was not Kauffmann's death entry but the marriage record from 1889 that gives his religion as Protestant (Evangelisch in German).

This, at least, is a relief. It seems that Franke was merely an opportunistic plagiarist rather than an antisemitic one. His association with a conductor who was a Nazi Party member may well have been simple opportunism too. Maybe he was intelligent enough not to plagiarise compositions by Jewish composers as, if discovered, it may have put him in danger.

Anyway, back to Kauffmann - who becomes more interesting with every post!

Thanks, Thomas. Good to get it confirmed.

What this whole saga has done for me is to re-evaluate Kauffmann's superb symphony.

That mirrors my own experience. I find it remarkable how much – for me, at least – the change of context from Franke's work to Kauffmann's, from pastiche to artistic earnestness (if that is the word), and from the Nazi years to the Imperial period makes the same music more enjoyable for me, and also more meaningful. I gave the work another spin from beginning to end this morning and my experience was very different from previous ones.

Kauffmann now has a Wikipedia article in English all to himself, including mention of the Franke plagiarism:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Kauffmann

the sort key needed fixing, as it placed the composer under Fesca rather than Kauffmann for some heckknows reason.

That's all 'Greek' to me. Let's hope someone can put it right.

Looks like you fixed it Eric, thank you, and thank you Ilja for posting it.

Thanks, Eric. And thanks to Ilja for posting about Kauffmann.

Yes. It's a really splendid work (and nice to know it is by a real composer, not a Nazi stooge - well, we don't know he was that exactly, but he was certainly a charlatan). Now I would like to hear some of those Kauffmann concertos which Fleisher has.

The Symphony is a fine work, and I too am glad that this Wikipedia article gives him his due.

Yes: it is indeed right and proper that, thanks to Reverie's work on synthesising Kauffmann's Symphony, we are now in a position to accord the composer some (albeit belated) recognition. And I agree with Gareth: we also need to hear some of his other compositions.

And at least the recording of the Symphony is a good one. It could certainly do with being re-issued with the correct attribution.

Eric, thanks for the sorting correction. I had used the Fesca entry as a template since he shared quite a few categories with Kauffmann and thought I'd removed all the residue, but apparently not.

The last point you make, Alan, is very important. It is essential that this shameful misattribution be corrected.

Two of the concertos are in full score at imslp; Fleisher has the parts but they could be extracted without Fleisher...

I don't get into Wikipedia editing, but I think the last sentence of the plagiarism section of the Kauffmann entry should be changed from:

"The recognition of Kauffmann's symphony as plagiarism by Franke led to various similar identifications."

to

"The recognition of Franke's symphony as a plagiarism of Kauffmann led to various similar identifications."

Yes, John  that is clearer and better English.

After some absence from UC I have finally caught up with the Franke affair and with this thread on Kauffmann. May I say, most sincerely, heartfelt congratulations to all involved in exposing the abominable behaviour of the former and asserting the artistic rights and merits of the latter. What wonderful and talented people we have on UC. I am in awe!