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Artist
Walter Braunfels
12+ albums
composerClassicalgermaninstrumentalgermany
about
Walter Braunfels (German pronunciation: [ˈvaltɐ ˈbʁaʊnfɛls]; 19 December 1882 – 19 March 1954) was a German composer, pianist, and music educator. Walter Braunfels was born in Frankfurt am Main. His first music teacher was his mother, the great-niece of the composer Louis Spohr (Levi 2001). He continued his piano studies in Frankfurt at the Hoch Conservatory with James Kwast. Braunfels studied law and economics at the university in Munich until after a performance of Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde he decided on music. He went to Vienna in 1902 to study with the pianist and teacher Theodor Leschetizky. He then returned to Munich to study composition with Felix Mottl and Ludwig Thuille. In February 1918 he was wounded at the front and in June 1918 on his return to Frankfurt converted from Protestantism to Catholicism, composing his Te Deum of 1920–21 "not as music for musicians but as a personal expression of faith." He achieved early success with the melodious opera Die Vögel (The Birds, 1920), such that Adolf Hitler, not realising that Braunfels was half-Jewish, in 1923 invited Braunfels to write an anthem for the Nazi Party, which Braunfels "indignantly turned down". Braunfels was invited by Konrad Adenauer, then mayor of Cologne, to serve as the first director (and founder together with Hermann Abendroth) of the Cologne Academy of Music (Hochschule für Musik Köln) from 1925 to 1933, and again from 1945 to 1950. Walter Braunfels was well known as a composer between the
top songs
1
Die Vögel / Act 2: So ist dies alles denn gewesen, wie?
982String Quintet in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 63: IV. Finale - Rondo
783Die Vögel / Vorspiel und Prolog: Vorspiel (Langsam und zart)
664Die Vögel / Vorspiel und Prolog: Ach, ach, ach! Liebwerte Freunde, gegrüßt
545Verkündigung, Op. 50: Verkundigung, Op. 50, Act III: Verwandlung
446Phantastische Erscheinungen eines Themas von Hector Berlioz, Op. 25: No. 9, Sehr schnell
437Die Vögel / Act 1: Graden Weges meinst du, wo die Bäume stehn?
288Die Vögel / Act 1: Dich zu ehren, wohl erbötig
279Die Vögel / Act 1: Wie tut ihr Vöglein mir leid
2710Die Vögel / Act 1: Wer ist denn da? Ruft hier jemand nach meinem Herrn?
26albums
Braunfels: Die Vögel
BRAUNFELS: Prinzessin Brambilla
Braunfels: Phantastische Ersheinungen eines Themas von Berlioz, Op. 25 & Sinfonia brevis, Op. 69
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Two Roads to Exile (Braunfels: String Quintet & Busch: String Sextet)
Braunfels: Piano Music
Braunfels: Orchestral Works
Braunfels: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2
Braunfels: String Quintet, Op. 63 & Sinfonia concertante, Op. 68
Braunfels: Lieder
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Jeanne d'Arc - Szenen aus dem Leben der heiligen Johanna
Braunfels: Konzert und andere Welt-Ersteinspielungen
Walter Braunfels: Große Messe, Op. 37