Dr. Sanna Pederson, University of Oklahoma
My purpose in documenting all the musical events of 1907 in the main Berlin concert halls is to gather concrete data so that the perception of a saturation of the market can be analyzed. Newspaper Advertisements, Notices, and Reviews This process of documenting has involved many different sources. More and more concert programs are being put … Read more
Robert Hausmann’s Piano Trio with his Hochschule colleagues Heinrich Barth (piano) and Heinrich de Ahna (violin) began giving concerts in 1875 and started a subscription series in 1878. They lasted for thirty years, with only one change in personnel, when Emanuel Wirth took over after de Ahna died in 1892. In contrast to the Joachim Quartet … Read more
What made Berlin so special as a city for music? Was it true that art music was appreciated more or better than in other cities? Are there material circumstances that account for it, or was it a self-fulfilling prophecy, part of an ideology of German identity? One aspect of Berlin’s concert life was remarked upon … Read more
In 1907, Berlin was the fourth biggest city in the world: Iconic Berlin Two legendary institutions, the Adlon Hotel close to the Brandenburg Gate, and the “KaDeWe” (short for the Kaufhaus des Westens department store), opened their doors for the first time. Traffic at Potsdamer Platz was acknowledged to be a problem; by the 1920s it would be … Read more
When Brahms composed his last orchestral work, the Double Concerto for Violin and Cello, Op. 102, he wrote the solo parts specifically for Hausmann and Joachim, which he sent to them before they first tried it out together. The October 18, 1887 premiere in Cologne was followed by performances in Wiesbaden on November 17th, Frankfurt … Read more
On the occasion of the London premiere of the Brahms Double Concerto, Op. 102 on February 14, 1888, The Times newspaper wrote: No one but Brahms among living masters could have written this work, which shows all the earnestness of purpose, all the freedom from mere clap-trap, to which this composer owes his leading position. … Read more
English music critics were mainly negative about Brahms until at least the 1880s. As far as I can surmise, the abiding strong preference for Mendelssohn was a precipitating factor, which made them see even Schumann as too romantic. Therefore it was not a good thing that Brahms was a protegé of Schumann. In 1871 a … Read more