Robert Kahn (composer)

Robert Kahn (b. Mannheim, July 21, 1865; d. Biddenden, Kent, May 29, 1951) was a German composer, pianist, and music teacher.

Life

Kahn was 2nd. son of Bernhard Kahn and Emma Eberstadt, and had seven siblings. The parents belonged to distinguished families of bankers and merchants. In 1882, Kahn entered the Königlichen Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where he studied for the next three years. Between 1885 and 1886, he continued his musical education under the tutelage of Josef Rheinberger in Munich. On a visit to Vienna the following year, Kahn met and befriended the composer Johannes Brahms, who reputedly offered to make Kahn his pupil. Although Kahn declined the invitation out of diffidence, Brahms' music would exert a profound influence on his compositional style throughout his career.

After finishing military service, Kahn worked as a freelance composer in Berlin until 1890. For the next three years, he was employed as a Korrepetitor (rehearsal pianist) at the Stadttheater in Leipzig. Appointed lecturer in composition at his alma mater in 1894, Kahn was responsible for the training of some of the leading luminaries of 20th century classical music. His famous students included the pianist Wilhelm Kempff, the conductor Ferdinand Leitner, the composer Günter Raphael, and the violinist Karl Klinger.

In 1916, Kahn was elected to the Prussian Academy of Arts, a membership he held until 1934 when the Nazi regime ordered him to resign because he was a Jew. The government also prohibited the publication and performance of his music. This drove him in 1936 to leave Germany for England, where he spent the last fifteen years of his life in relative obscurity. Kahn and his music have been almost entirely forgotten since World War II, but are slowly being rediscovered by musicians and audiences, like the case of many other composers of "degenerate music" persecuted by the Nazis.

Works

Kahn composed prolifically for the chamber repertoire, writing in an intimate, lyrical style that is reminiscent of Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms. Like his hero Brahms, Kahn eschewed the emotional extravagance of the late Romantics. His output included 2 string quartets, 3 piano quartets, 5 piano trios, 2 violin sonatas, 2 cello sonatas, several choral pieces, and numerous lieder. His only orchestral works were a serenade "Aus der Jugendzeit" ("From Youth") (1890) and a Konzertstück for piano and orchestra in E-flat minor, Op. 74 (1920).

Kahn was often engaged to create works for some of the finest musicians who flourished during the early decades of the 20th century. His Violin Sonata in A minor, Op. 26 (1897) was dedicated to the violinist Joseph Joachim, while the String Quartet No. 1 in A minor, Op. 60 (1914) was first performed by the Joachim Quartet. Hans von Bülow conducted the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in the world premiere of Kahn's orchestral serenade.

References

Erwin, Charlotte, and Levi, Eric "Robert Kahn", The New "Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians", ed. S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell (London: Macmillan, 2001)

External links

* [http://ur.rutgers.edu/medrel/viewArticle.html?ArticleID=3646 Biography of Kahn and notes on the premiere recording of Kahn's lieder performed] by Martin Dillon
* [http://ur.rutgers.edu/medrel/viewArticle.html?ArticleID=4320 Notes on a second series of songs recorded] by Martin Dillon
* [http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/k/rokahn_opcat.html Lyrics of selected songs]
* [http://www.editionsilvertrust.com/music-books-h-to-m.htm Robert Kahn's Chamber Music Soundbites and discussion of several works]