Friedrich Gernsheim - Biography

Friedrich Gernsheim (July 17, 1839 – September 10, 1916) was a German composer, conductor and pianist.

Gernsheim was born in Worms. He was given his first musical training at home under his mother's care, then starting from the age of seven under Worms' musical director, Louis Liebe, a former pupil of Louis Spohr. His father, a prominent Jewish physician, moved the family to Frankfurt am Main in the aftermath of the year of revolutions, 1848, where he studied with Edward Rosenhain, brother of Jakob Rosenhain. He made his first public appearance as a concert pianist in 1850 and toured for two seasons, then settled with his family in Leipzig, where he studied piano with Ignaz Moscheles from 1852. He spent the years 1855–1860 in Paris, meeting Gioacchino Rossini, Édouard Lalo and Camille Saint-Saëns.

His travels afterwards took him to Saarbrücken, where in 1861 he took the conductor post vacated by Hermann Levi; to Cologne, where in 1865 Ferdinand Hiller appointed him to the staff of the Conservatory (one of his pupils was Engelbert Humperdinck); he then served as musical director of the Philharmonic Society of Rotterdam, 1874-1890. In the latter year he became a teacher at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin, and in 1897 moved there to teach at the Academy of Arts, where he was elected to the senate in 1897.

Gernsheim was a prolific composer, especially of orchestral, chamber and instrumental music, and songs. Some of his works tend to Jewish subject-matter, notably the Third Symphony on the legend of the Song of Miriam. His earlier works show the influence of Schumann, and from 1868, when he first became friendly with Brahms, a Brahmsian influence is very palpable. Gernsheim's four symphonies (the first of which was written before the publication of Brahms' First Symphony) are an interesting example of the reception of Brahmsian style by a sympathetic and talented contemporary. Gernsheim's last works, most notably his Zu einem Drama (1902), show him moving away from that into something more personal. He died in Berlin.

Selected works (excerpted from worklist)

• Orchestral works
  • Symphonies
    • Symphony no. 1 in G minor, op. 32, 1875
    • Symphony no. 2 in E major, op. 46, 1882
    • Symphony no. 3 in C minor ('Miriam' or 'Mirjam'), op. 54, 1887
    • Symphony no. 4 in B major, op. 62, 1895
  • Piano Concertos
    • Piano Concerto in C minor, op. 16
  • Violin Concertos
    • Violin Concerto no. 1 in D major, op. 42
    • Violin Concerto no. 2 in F, op. 86
    • Fantasy Piece for violin with orchestra, op. 33
  • Cello Concertos
    • Cello Concerto in E minor, op. 78 (fairly popular in the early 20th century with many mentions in the Neue Zeitschrift as evidence, and played on SWR2 radio on January 31, 2005 by cellist Alexander Hülshoff, the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, directed by Ari Rasilainen. Recorded and released by the British label Hyperion in its 'Romantic Cello Concerto' series, played by the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, conducted by Hannu Lintu, with Alban Gerhardt as soloist).)
  • Zu einem drama, op. 82 (given a radio recording by Klaus Arp and the SWR Radio Orch.)
  • Divertimento, op. 53
• Chamber music
  • String Quartets
    • String Quartet no. 1 in C minor, op. 25
    • String Quartet no. 2 in A minor, op. 31, 1875 (recorded on Audite)
    • String Quartet no. 3 in F major, op. 51, 1886
    • String Quartet no. 4 in E minor, op. 66
    • String Quartet no. 5 in A major, op. 83 (Republished recently by Walter Wollenweber-Verlag, pub. originally ca 1911.)
  • Piano Quartets
    • Piano Quartet no. 1 in E, op. 6
    • Piano Quartet no. 2 in C minor, op. 20 (performed in 2003. Pub. ca. 1870.)
    • Piano Quartet no. 3 in F major, op. 47, 1883
  • Piano Quintets
    • Piano Quintet no. 1 in D minor, op. 35
    • Piano Quintet no. 2 in B minor, op. 63, pub. ca. 1897 (definitely by 1898 - see review )
  • String Quintets
    • String Quintet no. 1 in D major, op. 9
    • String Quintet no. 2 in E major, op. 89 (premiered in Feb. 1916 and mentioned in the Neue Zeitschrift that year. Two-cello quintet. Given its modern premiere in 2003 along with his string trio op. 74.)
  • Violin sonatas
    • Violin sonata no. 1 in C minor, op. 4, pub. ca. 1864
    • Violin sonata no. 2 in C, op. 50, pub. ca. 1885
    • Violin sonata no. 3 in F, op. 64, pub. ca. 1898
    • Violin sonata no. 4 in G, op. 85
  • Piano trios
    • Piano trio no. 1 in F, op. 28
    • Piano trio no. 2 in B, op. 37
    • Two other piano trios, in manuscript (search at the Altenberg Trio site. #2 in B is in their repertoire.)
  • Cello sonatas
    • Cello sonata no. 1 in D minor, op. 12
    • Cello sonata no. 2 in E minor, op. 87
  • Piano sonata
    • Piano sonata in F minor, op. 1
  • Organ
    • Fantasy and Fugue for Organ, op. 76
  • Other chamber music
    • Introduction and Allegro appassionato, op. 38
• Choral works and orchestral works
  • Salamis, for men's chorus and orchestra op. 10
  • Nibelungen wiederfahrt, op. 73
  • Nornen wiegenlied, op. 65
  • Agrippina, op. 77

Of these works, the symphonies, the cello concerto, the first cello sonata, the piano trios, two of the piano quartets, the two piano quintets, and the second string quartet have to date been recorded.

External links

• Friedrich Gernsheim’s String Quartet No. 2 , Piano Trio No.2 & Piano Quintet No.1 sound-bites with discussion of works
• Detailed biography and worklist on the page of an association for Jewish culture in his hometown (in German, cf. #2 there)
• Biography

Literature

• Koch, Dr. Hans-Oskar. Notes to the recording on Arte-Nova of the Complete Symphonies of Friedrich Gernsheim.
• Ringer, Alexander. Friedrich Gernsheim (1839-1916) and the Lost Generation, Music Judaica, 3.1, 5741/1980-1. pp. 1–13.
• Green, Janet M. and Josephine Thrall. The American History and Encyclopedia of Music 908, s.v. "Friedrich Gernsheim".