The Violin Music of East Germany Part VII: Günter Raphael

Günter Raphael (1903-1906) is a musical treasure I only recently discovered. He was born into a musical family; his father was Georg Raphael (1865-1904), and mother Maria Becker (1878-1952) were both musicians. The Raphael family was Jewish but assimilated to the protestant faith, which was in keeping with the spirit of the time. Georg Raphael, a lover of J.S.Bach’s music, began studying medicine and then music and was employed as a church musician at the Luther Kirche and later became the music director at St. Matthäuskirche in Berlin. Günter’s mother was a violinist and the daughter of Albert Becker, an important composer in Berlin in the 19th century. 

According to the Günter Raphael website, Raphael was a promising young composer with great potential and received many accolades for his early work. Wilhelm Furtwängler conducted the premiere of his first symphony in 1926 in Leipzig. From 1926 to 1934, he taught in Leipzig but the Nazis declared Raphael a "half-Jew,” forbidding all professional endeavors and the performance of his music.

After losing his teaching position at the Leipzig Conservatory, he married his Danish student, pianist Pauline Jessen. They move to Meiningen (Thuringia), where Jessen already held a teaching position. They have two daughters Dagmar and Christine, born eight years apart. Christine Raphael (1943 - 2008) became a solo violinist and performer, and champion of her father's violin compositions. There is also a foundation in her name that promotes performances of her father’s music. 

Throughout 1934, Raphael contracted tuberculosis forcing him to undergo numerous operations and spend extended periods in sanatoriums. Nevertheless, according to his website, he continued to compose and was often protected from the Nazis by his doctors.

Although after WWII, he wasn’t able to reclaim the musical prominence he once had, in 1948, he was awarded the Franz-Liszt-Award for composition, and radio stations played his music again. He also toured as a piano duo with his wife.

From 1949-1953, He taught at the Duisburg Conservatory of Music (this is about as far away from East Germany as you can get without leaving Germany. Duisburg is very near the Germany/Netherlands border). 

In 1956, he was offered the position of Thomaskantor in Leipzig, but he declined, not wishing to lose his artistic freedom by relocating back to Leipzig, in East Germany. He became a lecturer at the Peter Cornelius Conservatory of Music in Mainz.

In 1957 He was appointed Professor at the Cologne University of Music.

Sadly, in 1960, he died in an ambulance en route to Herford due to his long-standing illness. 

In 1968, Günter Raphael was posthumously awarded the title "Senator of Honour” at the Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy University of Music in Leipzig.

Throughout his career, Günter Raphael also worked as an editor of classical and baroque scores for Breitkopf and Härtel.

I’m surprised it took me as long as it did to come across his name. He straddles several complex and iconic eras and political issues and comes from a prominent musical family. I found his Dialogue Duette for Zwei Violinen book one on Abebooks.com and bought it impulsively. After getting to know some of his music and then reading about him (usually, I do this in the opposite order), I thought he deserved much more attention.

I found several more of his pieces for violin listed on publisher websites, and they are currently en route from Germany, but several are back-ordered due to lack of available parts.

Music I’m Looking for:

Konzert C-Dur für Violine und Orchester op.21 (1928)

Symphonische Fantasie für konzertierende Violine und Streichorchester op.59 (1940)

Konzert für Violine und Orchester op.87 (1960)

Sonate a-moll op.46 Nr. 1 für Solovioline (1940) ACQUIRED but back-ordered by publisher

Sonate E-Dur op.46 Nr. 2 für Solovioline (1940) ACQUIRED but back-ordered by publisher

Sonate E-Dur op.12 Nr. 1 für Violine und Klavier (1925) ACQUIRED en route

Sonate G-Dur op.12 Nr. 2 für Violine und Klavier (1925)

Sonate C-Dur op.43 für Violine und Klavier (1936)

Sonatine in h-moll op.52 für Violine und Klavier (1944) ACQUIRED

"Jabonah" op.66a bearbeitet für Violine und Klavier (1951)

Duo g-moll für 2 Geigen op.47 Nr. 1 (1940) ACQUIRED but back-ordered by publisher 

Duo c-moll für Geige und Bratsche op.47 Nr. 2 (1940)

Duo e-moll für Geige und Violoncello op.47 Nr. 3 (1940)

Dialoge Duette für 2 Violinen Heft 1 25 Duette (1951) ACQUIRED

Dialoge Duette für 2 Violinen Heft 2 20 Duette (1957)

I recorded several of his violin duets to get a feel for his musical language and style. Here is one, but there are several more available on my YouTube channel. 

 Below, is his second violin concerto, published in 1959/60 and performed by his daughter Christine. It is a fascinating and beautiful piece, made even more touching by the family ties between composer and performer.

Sources:

https://www.guenter-raphael.de/seiten_engl/biographie_fs.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Günter_Raphael

https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Raphael-Gunter.htm

Yoga + Music Series: Dharma and Duty for Musicians

I've been thinking a lot about the yogic concept of Dharma recently. It was something we discussed in my yoga teacher training in the Fall with Noah Mazé and Rocky Heron, and it landed on me like a snowflake that just wouldn't blow away. 

It is a tricky term to define precisely, and many people interpret it to mean a variety of different things, so I’ll draw on a few sources to narrow it down to what I've been pondering. 

(Also, I use these blog posts are an opportunity to discuss my relationship with music and yoga, so bear that in mind as you read this post). 

Definition of Dharma in Merriam Webster

1 Hinduism: an individual's duty fulfilled by observance of custom or law

2Hinduism and Buddhism 

a: the basic principles of cosmic or individual existence: divine law

b: conformity to one's duty and nature

In the Bhagavad-gītā, Dharma is used in place of the word duty. It comes up in regards to Arjuna's moral quandary – battle or no battle. Krishna tells him he must fight because it is his duty, his Dharma. 

It is an interesting question to ponder; what is my duty? In the context of Arjuna's life, it is his duty based on his class – meaning, he was born into the warrior class, therefore he has no choice but to go to battle. But technically, this type of class system doesn’t exist anymore. Or if it does, it isn’t nearly as strict. So what does one make of Dharma in the modern context? What about as a musician? Is being a musician in the present day some sort of chosen “class” or is it simply a profession?

I often think that creating a life in music begins as a higher calling. You might not know why you enjoy it, but you do. Music, regardless of genre, era, instrumentation, etc., can be so compelling as a listener, creator, collaborator, or performer that it might be challenging to articulate what first drew you to the sound or instrument, but there is a power to it that holds your attention. Being a musician often becomes something of a duty, it can feel like our nature. 

In my case, I felt compelled to play the violin when I was four or five years old. From that point on, it became an indelible part of who I am as a person. I didn’t know at that age what kind of violinist I wanted to be; I just loved the sound. But as I pursued a life in music, the path grew narrower as my interests seemed to grow broader. Is my Dharma simply to play violin? Or is it to play violin in a specific ensemble or genre? Is it my duty to be a violin teacher? How did my calling get so intricately bound to a job description?

With the added time to ponder and reflect during Coronavirus and social distancing, I've been wrestling with these questions. I'm finally awakening to the realization that music takes up a bigger space than just a job in my life, and while being a musician might be my duty, it might not always be my job (and sometimes my musical job, is not my dharma). When I admitted that last part to myself, it was terrifying. How could I be a musician and not make music for a living? 

I've been sitting with that question daily and have come to this conclusion: collecting payment for work isn’t the same as having a mission or a purpose. If I don't like my musical job, but I am a working musician, am I fulfilling my Dharma? I don’t think so.

So what's missing?

 The Why

The why drives everything. 

We start everything with the WHY.

Return to the WHY

When I was a kid, I loved playing the violin. I loved the way it sounded, and I loved the repertoire. I loved my teacher, and I was unaware of the mind games or the weird politics of gig life. I wasn’t aware of the total devastation of losing countless auditions and questioning my self-worth. I simply did what I loved. 

Often, the journey makes the WHY less clear. We get caught up in the present, in whatever is happening in our environment or how we feel about a specific gig, job, student, or employer. We get distracted by our immediate needs and wants. Often, we question our worth and credibility because we are trying to force our existence into a culture that doesn't care about our individual nature. We forget why we started on this path to begin with, and sometimes we get blown off course. What WAS our duty, is now our occupation but it no longer aligns with our intrinsic nature. Does that make sense?

So how do you reconnect to the WHY?

I don’t have the answer for this but I see glimmers of it all the time. 

In a lesson taught with an attentive and engaged five-year-old.

On tour in Europe with non-classical musicians.

In a practice session when nobody is listening but the music seems to come from somewhere deep inside.

While focused on a project I am deeply passionate about.

While I cannot explicitly articulate my duty, I realize that my nature is to be a musician. You may think those are the same thing (see definitions above) but I think there is nuance.

My nature is to be a musician but the HOW is my duty.

HOW I make music and exist as a musician comes from having a clear WHY. Working with a clear vision and path forward is what I believe the essence of Dharma really is in our modern-day society.

I used to wish my Dharma was to be the best violinist; To win. To be the soloist everyone adores or the teacher everyone wants to study with, but I've come to realize my Dharma lives in the shared spaces that surround music. In the friends you make, the joy you bring to others, the transformation you provide to students, the collaborations you share, the community you create, and the stories you tell that create a shared experience through music. 

My Dharma has no job description.

So, where is the job market for Dharma that lives in the cracks around a vocation? If music is my nature, and I feel most called to inhabit unspecified spaces, what does my authentic path forward look like, and how do I define success?

How do all of my interests and passions converge to create my duty? How does my nature shape my life? 

This is what I’m pondering.

Stay tuned.

GDR Music Research - A little extra History

The Brandenburg Gate, Berlin

Hi Friends,

Now that I've shared my goals and resolutions for the new year, I'm diving back into my Violin Music of East Germany project and research. It occurred to me that I need to back up a little bit and dive into some of the general history and facts about East Germany before and after World War II. This land has been the home to some of Classical Music's most beloved composers and performers throughout history, so it is crucial to understand this project's context beyond the forgotten composers of an era.

I've compiled a few YouTube videos that highlight different elements of East Germany, including Rick Steve's overview of some important monuments and history in Leipzig and Dresden, to a walking music tour of Berlin. It also includes a playlist of East German Music, a discussion of the Wall, propaganda footage, and historical documentation of life on the "other" side. All this to paint a picture of the musical climate that has captured my attention. 

I've begun exploring music from decades before East Germany became the GDR (or DDR) and will be weaving together programs that intertwine the vast and immense history of a region with the voices of forgotten musical creators. 

Enjoy! I hope you find this both interesting and informative.

1.     As much as his cheesiness makes me want to roll my eyes sometimes, Rick Steves points out some of the reasons why two of my favorite cities in Germany are so culturally significant, iconic, and beloved throughout time. These cities and their musical significance were the impetus for me to start wondering why there were no famous and iconic composers from this region after World War II 

2.     Check out this Musical walking Tour of Berlin. This film was recorded at the beginning of coronavirus and geographically organized musically significant city locations. It is incredible how close together some of these important places and musical performances happened to one another. Fascinating and worthwhile. There isn't much about East Germany specifically, but you learn so much about the city and Germany's music and geopolitical environment at large.

 3.     A brief animated history of Life in East Germany 

4.     Fascinating footage of East Germany, propaganda, and more 

 5.     The rise and fall of the Wall 

 I love this quote, "Any barriers we put up to impede freedom, we can also take down."

6.     A fascinating cultural documentary about life in East Germany with historical footage 

 7.     Life Behind the Berlin Wall, from The Economist 

8.     I've been to this place on the Wall. The Berlin Wall Museum is now housed there on the West Berlin side.  We also walked through the cemetery and into the Church of Reconciliation (which looks very different now). Can you imagine seeing this every day? This is haunting and eye-opening

 9.     Last but not least, an hour of East German (GDR/DDR) Music – but NOT violin music…because that's the project I'm working on right now.