Hans Pfistner—
Looking Back on a Musical Oddity

by Bill Breakstone, Somers, New York, September 16, 2009


After attending several Mahler concerts at Carnegie Hall in may with the Berlin Staatskapelle under Boulez and Barenboim, I made a commitment to read the entire four-volume biography of Mahler written by Henri-Louis de la Grange. I’m about halfway through this daunting project, which I have found totally riveting. I’ll have more to write on Mahler and his times when the project is complete.

One of the more enlightening aspects of these biographies are the mention of Maher’s contemporary conductors and composers, and the many details that de la Grange brings to light about them. One such artist is Hans Pfistner, and his history and music is fascinating, especially for a composer who has fallen into relative obscurity.

Pfistner was born in Moscow on May 5, 1869 to German-born parents and was brought up and educated in Frankfurt. He composed four operas, beginning in 1895 with Der arme Heinrich. That was followed by Die Rose vom Liebesgarten (“Die Rose) in 1905, Das Christelflein in 1906, and, finally, Palestrina in [Die Rose)
1917. The first three were failures in Berlin, the last, first performed in Munich, was hailed was hailed by critics as the embodiment of German national art. In 1944, Pfitzner settled in Vienna, where he lived out his remaining years there and in Salzburg, where he died on May 22, 1949, just five months prior to his slightly older colleague, Richard Strauss.

Pfitzner found two champions within Mahler’s circle, his protégée Bruno Walter, and his wife Alma. Pfitzner brought his score for “Die Rose” to the attention of the Vienna Hofoper and its director Mahler in 1901. After reading the libretto, Mahler rejected the work saying “Where on Earth did you dig up this text.” Then in December of 1902, Walter brought the score for Pfitzner’s String Quartet in D Major, Op. 13, to Mahler and performed it in a piano transcription. Mahler was impressed. ”Die Rose” was premiered in Germany in 1904. Then Mahler had a change of heart about the opera. Highly impressed by the Op. 13 Quartet, and taking note of Bruno Walter’s enthusiasm for this German composer, and by Alma’s constant support of Pfistner (the two had quite a lot to do with each other, both in Mahler’s presence and in his apartment when she was alone), Mahler decided to put on the work in Vienna, where it premiered on April 6, 1905. Despite the fact that he had earlier publicly disdained the work, Mahler threw 101% of his efforts into the production, determined that it be seen by the Viennese audience in the beat possible light, and cast the roles to the top rung of Hofoper singers. Nevertheless, the Viennese critics lambasted the work, but that was to be expected; the majority of them castigated anything that Mahler had his hands on. That did not deter Mahler, who went on to schedule 17 additional performances during 1905 and 1906.

Pfitzner also composed many other chamber works, mostly of a one-of-a-kind nature. A look through the currently available Pfitzner discography reveals recordings of 3 Cello Concerti, the Oratorio “Von deutscher Seele,” the operas “Palestrina” and “Die Christelflein,” the Violin Concerto, the Piano Trio, a Duo for Violin, Cello & Orchestra, a Scherzo for Orchestra, Lieder, the Symphonies Op. 36A, 44 and 46, a String Quintet and a String Sextet. In addition to his Op. 13 Quartet (1903) cited above, he also wrote two others—C-Sharp Minor, Op. 36 (1925), and C Minor, Op. 50 (1949).

There is a rather famous photographic portrait of Pfitzner dating from 1912, and a quick inspection of it shows a rather handsome 46-year-old man, with sharp features and a demonic look. He was never a happy man, an ultra-German nationalist and Nazi-sympathizer who offended most of his associates, and even his friends. He had what could be called a persecution complex, and eventually insanity took over his final years.

Somewhere, in the deep, dark recesses of my memory, is a live performance I heard of one of the Quartets, but a search through the last 18 music season programs failed to locate it. It must have been way too long ago to recall anything of it, thus I listed with great attention to the recording I acquired some three weeks ago of the two Quartets, Op. 13 and Op. 50. I’ve been through them twice, and will need at least one more hearing for fuller understanding. I totally agree with Gustav Mahler that the earlier quartet [interestingly dedicated to Alma Mahler] is a wonderfully conceived work, appropriate to its post Romantic cousins of that period, and with signs of real individuality. The Op. 50 Quartet is another matter. Here, in 1949, all signs of individuality are gone, and what remains could easily have been written by Brahms [first, third and fourth movements] and Beethoven [second movement]. It is so at variance with music that had been written in the 1940s (Bartok, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, etc.) as to seem totally out of place. At the same time, it is highly melodic and totally listenable, what makes me think of it as a freak in a time warp.

I would love to hear “Die Rose,” for if Mahler could put forth such an effort on it’s behalf, it has to have more that a little bit of merit. But, alas, no recording is currently available. Perhaps a trip to the Julliard Library will cure that interest.