Hugo Wolf – Graham Johnson and his Song Guild at Milton Court – Barbican

ChristopherAxworthyMusicCommentary

Hugo Philipp Jacob Wolf 13 March 1860 – 22 February 1903 was born in Windischgratz in the Duchy of Styria  (now Sloveni Gradec,Slovenia ), then a part of the Austrian Empire . Herbert von Karajan  was related to him on his maternal side.He spent most of his life in Vienna , becoming a representative of a “New German” trend in Lieder , a trend which followed from the expressive, chromatic  and dramatic musical innovations of Richard Wagner .Though he had several bursts of extraordinary productivity, particularly in 1888 and 1889, depression  frequently interrupted his creative periods, and his last composition was written in 1898, before he suffered a mental collapse caused by syphilis.

A wonderful voyage of discovery into the world of Hugo Wolf
Graham Johnson recounting in his inimitable way the many phases of a genius who was to produce such wonders in the span of only 13 years

Friday 8 March 2024
6pm
Milton Court Concert Hall
Graham Johnson Song Guild
Graham Johnson director

A Tribute to Hugo Wolf (1860 –1903)

https://tr.ee/Y4V4207Jcb


Harriet Cameron soprano
Manon Ogwen Parry soprano
Gabriella Noble mezzo-soprano
Sebastian Hill tenor
Jacob Cole tenor
Zheng Tu baritone
Sooyeon Baik piano
Toby Stanford piano
Valentina Wang piano
Charlie Woof-Byrne piano

The Paul Hamburger Prize presented by his son on the 20th Anniversary of his death .The prize awarded annually is for Voice and Piano and was awarded to Manon Ogwen Parry and Charlie Woof-Byrne

Paul Hamburger 3 September 1920, Vienna  – 11 April 2004, London ) was
born in Vienna in 1920, and studied at the Vienna State Academy before emigrating to England in 1939. In 1941, he received a scholarship to attend the Royal College of Music , London, studying with Frank Merrick,Gordon Jacob and Vaughan Williams . From 1945, he started on a career as an accompanist, chamber musician and teacher, and was associated in concerts and on disc with many distinguished singers and instrumentalists, including Dame Janet Baker,Elisabeth Söderström,Max Postal and Pierre Fournier. He performed both in Britain and abroad, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, France and Belgium. Malcom Arnold dedicated his Concerto for Piano Duet and Strings, op. 32 of 1951 to Hamburger and his piano duet partner, the composer pianist Helen Pyke .
He taught singers and accompanists at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, and gave masterclasses and annual seminars in England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Sweden and Finland. His literary works include an edition of Mozart Lieder (Oxford University Press), contributions to books on Mozart songs, Mahler’s Wunderhorn  songs, Chopin and Britten, and translations, notably of bruno Walter  and Alfred Brendel .
He was a Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy , London, and was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art in 1991 ,upgraded to 1st class  in 2000.

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