Heinrich Picot de Peccaduc, Freiherr von Herzogenberg
(1843 – 1900) was an Austrian composer and conductor
descended from a French aristocratic family. He was
born in Graz and was educated at a Jesuit school in
Feldkirch and also in Munich, Dresden and Graz before
studying law, philosophy and political science at the
university of Vienna. He soon turned his energies to
music and attended the composition classes of Felix
Otto Dessoff until 1864. Early on he was attracted to
the music of Richard...(+)
Heinrich Picot de Peccaduc, Freiherr von Herzogenberg
(1843 – 1900) was an Austrian composer and conductor
descended from a French aristocratic family. He was
born in Graz and was educated at a Jesuit school in
Feldkirch and also in Munich, Dresden and Graz before
studying law, philosophy and political science at the
university of Vienna. He soon turned his energies to
music and attended the composition classes of Felix
Otto Dessoff until 1864. Early on he was attracted to
the music of Richard Wagner, but after studying J. S.
Bach's works he became an adherent of the classical
tradition and an advocate for the music of Brahms. In
1866 he married Elisabet von Stockhausen, who had been
a piano pupil of Brahms; Brahms's letters to and from
both Herzogenbergs form one of the most delightful
sections of his correspondence. They lived in Graz
until 1872, when they moved to Leipzig. In 1874, with
the Bach scholar Philipp Spitta, Herzogenberg founded
the Leipzig Bach-Verein, which concerned itself with
the revival of Bach’s cantatas. Herzogenberg was its
artistic director for ten years, during which time
Ethel Smyth was one of his composition pupils. From
1885 he was Professor of Composition at the Hochschule
für Musik in Berlin. It was in this capacity that he
advised the young Ralph Vaughan Williams to study with
Max Bruch. He died suddenly in Wiesbaden, aged 57; in
his last years he used a wheelchair due to necrosis of
the joints.
Herzogenberg was a well-schooled composer of definite
gifts. In 1876 he wrote a set of Variations on a theme
of Brahms (his op.23, for piano four hands, on the
Brahms song, Die Trauernde, op.7 no.5), but despite
Elisabet’s cajoling Brahms almost never expressed
approval of his works. It has been suggested that
Brahms was piqued that Herzogenberg had married
Elisabet, of whom he was himself extremely fond. Toward
the end of his life, Brahms grudgingly relented
somewhat, writing “Herzogenberg is able to do more
than any of the others.”
While Herzogenberg has been characterized as a mere
epigone of Brahms, many of his compositions show little
or no overt Brahmsian influence. For example his two
string trios Op.27 Nos. 1 & 2, while some early
compositions pre-dating his acquaintance with Brahms
have features in common with the older composer.
Towards the end of his life he concentrated on
providing music for communal worship in the Lutheran
Evangelical Church in Strasbourg, under the influence
of Friedrich Spitta, brother of Philipp Spitta, who was
professor of theology there, though Herzogenberg
himself remained Roman Catholic. His models in these
pieces were the Bach oratorios and passions, with
chorales designed to be sung by the congregation and
played by only a small instrumental ensemble. He also
wrote a large-scale Mass in memory of Philipp Spitta,
for which Friedrich Spitta selected the text. Several
of Herzogenberg’s major works were thought to have
been destroyed during World War II but resurfaced
during the 1990s.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_von_Herzogenber
g).
Although originally composed for Chorus (SATB), I
created this Interpretation of the "Siehe, um Trost war
mir sehr bange" (Behold, I was very anxious for
comfort) for Pipe Organ (2 Manuals w/Pedals).
PARTITION