The Violin Music of East Germany Part VII: Günter Raphael
This post highlights Günter Raphael (1903-1960), a composer who battled many obstacles during his relatively short life and career including the Nazi Regime, and Tuberculosis. He wrote quite a bit for violin and it has been a delight to get to know him and his music. I’ve been exploring his violin duets (by myself) and have included one here for you to enjoy as well.
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.
GDR Music Research - A little extra History
The music of East Germany is particularly fascinating because of the rich history full of notable and significant composers and performers. The divide that occurred after World War II did not foster wide-spread acclaim or acceptance of musicians living and working behind the wall even though plenty of music was written and performed. You can learn more about the region and political climate of East Germany in my most recent blog post.
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."