Four Songs, Op. 29 (Pfitzner)
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| Four Songs | |
|---|---|
| after Poems by Hölderlin, Rückert, Goethe, and Dehmel, for voice and piano | |
| by Hans Pfitzner | |
| Native name | Vier Lieder nach Gedichten von Hölderlin, Rückert, Goethe, Dehmel, für eine Singstimme mit Klavier |
| Opus | 29 |
| Language | German |
| Composed | 1921 |
| Published | 1922 - Berlin |
| Publisher | Adolph Fürstner |
| Movements | 4 |
| Scoring | Voice and piano |
Four Songs after Poems by Hölderlin, Rückert, Goethe, and Dehmel, for Voice and Piano, Op. 29 (German: Vier Lieder nach Gedichten von Hölderlin, Rückert, Goethe, Dehmel, für eine Singstimme mit Klavier), commonly referred to as Four Songs for consistency, is a song cycle written by German composer Hans Pfitzner. Dedicated to the composer's family, it was finished in 1921.
This cycle was created when Pfitzner was already in his fifties, in 1921. In it, Pfitzner set homonymous poems by Friedrich Hölderlin (Abbitte, composed on 11 November), Friedrich Rückert (Herbsthauch, composed on 8 October), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Willkommen und Abschied, composed on 3 November), and Richard Dehmel (Die stille Stadt, composed on 7 October).[1] Each song in the set was dedicated to a different family member, the dedication being referenced by their first name and not mentioning their last name: No. 1 was dedicated to "Mimí", née Mimi Kwast, Pfitzner's wife, who married him in 1899 and died five years after writing the set, in 1926; No. 2 was dedicated to "Pauli", Hans and Mimi's son Paul Pfitzner;[2] No. 3 was dedicated to "Peti", Hans and Mimi's second son Peter Pfitzner, who was killed during World War II in 1944; and No. 4 was dedicated to "Agi", Hans and Mimi's daughter.[3] None of the dedicatees survived the composer.
Four Songs was published in 1922 in Berlin by Adolph Fürstner.[1] Many years later, Pfitzner recorded Abbitte in a performance with baritone Gerhard Hüsch and the composer himself at the piano, at Electrola Studios on February 10, 1939, in Cologne.[4]
