Cantata di chiesa (alla Bach) Op. 101, No. 6 (33 Musical Portraits)

Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933) was born Siegfried Theodor Karg in Oberndorf am Neckar, Germany, the youngest of twelve children. The family finally settled in Leipzig in 1882, where he received his first musical training and private piano instruction. At a gathering of composers in Leipzig, he presented his first attempts at composition to the composer Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek, who arranged a three-year tuition-free scholarship at the Leipzig Conservatory, where he studied with Jadassohn, Reinecke, Reisenauer and Teichmüller.

Having returned to Leipzig, he started devoting himself to composition, primarily for the piano (encouraged by Edvard Grieg, whom he greatly admired).

Shunned and neglected in Germany, he accepted an invitation for an organ concert tour of America in the spring of 1932. The tour proved to be a disastrous mistake. He was suffering from the diabetes which would soon kill him, and his limited powers as an organist compared unfavorably to the virtuoso standard of organ performance to which American audiences had grown accustomed.

After his return to Leipzig, his health started deteriorating rapidly. He died there in April 1933, only 55 years old.

This piece, like the previous one comes from the "33 Musical Portraits". This time, the composer by depicted is Edward Alexander MacDowell (December 18, 1860 – January 23, 1908), the American pianist composer.

The brief sketch paints the scene of a brief three movement cantata in the Bach style.

The opening, "Sinfonia a tre voci" is a sort of slow and formal overture. The second movement, "Aria" is a dialogue between 2 oboes and a bassoon (played here on the Klarinette). Also interjected are some flauto traverso solos. The final movement, "Corale" has the chorale, played in hymn-style, alternating with an echo chorus of flutes, and all over a gently pulsing bass.

The score is attached below, as well as two photos of Sigfrid Karg-Elert.

If you print the score, do so at around 150% size. :-)