Anton Reicha Experimental; As a Composition Teacher He Was As Independent As He Was Progressive
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Reicha, Anton Profile Not only as composer was Anton Reicha experimental; as a composition teacher he was as independent as he was progressive. This forward-thinking attitude may also be reflected in Reicha’s work as composition teacher and music theorist. Contrary to social norms, Reicha took on numerous women in his private composition classes. For his theory of composition, he worked out a sophisti- cated representation of the sonata form, in which he me- taphorically labelled both main themes of the sonata “idées mères” (mother ideas), without subjecting them to the hierarchy we, since A.B. Marx until today, have be- come familiar with and without addressing the specifical- ly female role of the mother as bearer/carer. He supported female musicians such as Marianne Kirch- gessner by composing pieces for them. Porträt von Anton Reicha (1815). Stich von Claude-Marie- Cities an countries François Dien (1787-1865) Anton Reicha’s life had been marked by travel and reloca- tion since early childhood. Born in Prague, he grew up in Anton Reicha Wallerstein and Bonn and lived in Hamburg, Paris and Variants: Anton Rejcha, Antonín Reicha, Antonín Vienna before finally settling down in Paris in 1808. Rejcha, Antoine-Joseph Reicha, Antoine-Joseph Rejcha Biography * 26 February 1770 in Prague, Czech Republic, Bohemia Since early childhood, Anton Reicha’s life was marked by † 28 May 1836 in Paris, France travel and relocation. He was born in 1770 in Prague, the son of a baker. He left his mother and step-father at the Composer, Composition Teacher, Musical Theorist age of 10 in order to live with his grandfather. However he was as unhappy here with his education and training « M. Reicha, quoique professeur au Conservatoire, plai- as he had been at home and moved on in 1780 or 1781 to de chaudement la cause du progrès; ses élèves le savent, Wallerstein, to live with his uncle, the cellist and compo- beaucoup de ses confrères n’en sont pas convaincus, ser Josef Reicha. The young nephew was adopted by his mais le fait est que l’Académie se trouve avoir, à son in- uncle who gave him a comprehensive education and mu- su, introduit dans son sein un véritable révolutionnaire. sical training. In 1785, Anton Reicha and his uncle mo- » ved to Bonn, where the latter had been awarded the post (“Although he is a professor at the Conservatoire, M. of orchestra director to Maximilian Franz, Elector of Co- Reicha is a passionate advocate of progress; his students logne. Anton Reicha played violin and flute in the court know this although many of his colleagues are not convin- Orchestra, continuing to educate himself in composition, ced. Nonetheless, the Académie has unwittingly introdu- against his uncle’s will, by studying works by Handel, Mo- ced a true revolutionary into its ranks.”) zart and Haydn. He attended Bonn University with Lud- Hector Berlioz, Critique musicale, ed. and annotated by wig van Beethoven, who was also a member of the orches- M.-H. Coudroy-Saghai, Vol. 2, Paris 1998, p171: Feuille- tra, and with whom he became close friends. Whether or ton, 7th June 1835 (Herbert Schneider: Der junge Anton not Reicha, like Beethoven, took composition lessons wi- Reicha als visionärer Theoretiker der Romantik. In: Fest- th Gottlob Neefe is unknown. schrift Hellmut Federhofer zum 100. Geburtstag. Axel In 1794 Reicha fled the French Revolution troops and Beer, Gernot Gruber, Herbert Schneider (Ed.). Tutzing: went to Hamburg where he was able to earn a living as Hans Schneider 2011, p. 449–470, p. 452) teacher of theory, composition and piano. He continued to study privately, reading texts on philosophy and the – 1 – Reicha, Anton natural sciences. He became more experimental in his Until well into the second half of the nineteenth century, compositions and worked systematically on composition women were allowed to take part in preparatory composi- and methods of teaching composition theory. In Ham- tion courses in harmony and practical cccompaniment at burg Reicha moved in the same circles as French refu- the Paris Conservatory. However they were not allowed gees who encouraged him to go to Paris as a composer of to attend the more advanced subjects, like counterpoint opera. and fugue, for which Anton Reicha held the profes- In 1799 Reicha followed this advice and enjoyed some sorship. Nevertheless, Anton Reicha taught several fema- success with his instrumental works (symphonies and le composition students privately in all subjects and at overtures) and “Scènes italiennes”. However he was not all levels; from 1819 Louise Farrenc, his elder daughter able to get any his stage works performed in a Paris theat- Antoinette Virginie Reicha between 1834 and 1836 and re. Disappointed with this failure, he left Paris in 1802 possibly also Pauline Viardot (this is suggested in nume- and arrived penniless in Vienna where he rekindled his rous contemporary press articles and secondary sources, relationship with Beethoven and also with Haydn, whom however no authentic evidence has yet been found confir- he had met in 1790 in Bonn and again in 1795 in Ham- ming this). It is possible that the pianist Hélène de Mont- burg. There is no evidence to suggest that Reicha studied geroult and the composer Louise Bertin also numbered counterpoint with Haydn or Johann Georg Albrechtsber- among Reicha’s students (see Audéon, Ramaut, Schnei- ger during this time. Success as an opera composer also der 2011, p 48 &. Fn. 47). escaped Reicha in Vienna and he chose instead to concen- Within the pages of Anton Reicha’s treatise on advanced trate henceforth on instrumental music. Despite not ha- musical composition (published 1824-1826), Reicha’s ving a regular income, Reicha turned down the offer in conception of sonata form is particularly interesting in a 1802 of a position as the composition teacher and music gender-focused context, due to the metaphorical terms director to Louis Ferdinand Prince of Prussia at the Prus- he coined to refer to the different sonata themes. Within sian Court in order to remain independent. the sonata movement (“grande coupe binaire”), Reicha Due to the military preparations in Vienna against Napo- differentiated between two main themes ("idées mères”) leon in 1808, Reicha returned to Paris and settled there to which any number of additional themes could be ad- permanently, establishing himself – initially at least – as ded (“idées accessoires”). Both “idées mères” figure in a successful freelance composition teacher, author and the “grande coupe binaire” as primary and secondary the- composer. Of particular note are his wind quintets mes and again in the exposition in the tonic and modula- which he wrote for a particular ensemble between 1811 ted keys. However, as the common term for both main and about 1820. They not only secured Reicha’s reputati- themes suggests, there is no further distinction, no dicho- on as a serious composer but also set the standard for tomy or hierarchy between primary and secondary sona- wind quintet writing for future generations. ta theme and no specific characteristics. This is where In 1818 Reicha was appointed professor of counterpoint Reicha’s view contradicts a central aspect of German so- and fugue at the Paris Conservatory and in the same year nata form theory, valid since Adolf Bernhard Marx who married Virginie Enaust, with whom he later had two promoted the contrast of character between the sonata daughters. After his appointment as professor, the influ- topics as an essential feature and as impetus for the deve- ence of his theoretical writings steadily grew. In 1829 lopment of sonata form. Reicha became a French citizen and two institutional ho- Within Reicha's terminology it is significant that, even nours confirm his prominent position in Parisian musi- though both theme names are chosen metaphorically, cal life: in 1831 he was named Chevalier of the Légion they are accorded a strictly musical alignment and are re- d’Honneur and in 1835 welcomed as a member of the lated purely to the structural function of “idées mères” Académie de Beaux-Arts. His compositional output after and “idées accessoires” within the sonata. This means 1826 appears negligible but nonetheless he left behind that the “idée mère” is not presented characteristically an extensive œuvre compiling works in a variety of gen- opposing an “idée père” and at no other point are male at- res. He died after an eight year-long illness and is buried tributes or images of masculinity used as descriptors. in the cemetery Père-Lachaise in Paris. Reicha's concept of “idée mère” does allude metaphorical- ly to the role of mother and thus to the female body and Appreciation its ability to give birth and bring forth, however not to the socially defined female role or even to differences in – 2 – Reicha, Anton gender. sed at great length in Christin Heitmann’s dissertation Also, the differences between “idées mères” and “idées ac- on Louise Farrenc’s orchestral and chamber works cessoires” are not described in terms of content, charac- (2004). The theory also serves as a basis for the structu- ter or even metaphorically, but in purely functional and ral analysis of sonata movements, in evidence in Far- structural terms based on the movement and its themes. renc’s compositions. “Idées mères” are complete, self-contained and solid sec- In it, Reicha’s terminology, the views of the compositio- tions whereas “idées accessoires” are more loosely joined nal elements referred to therein, as well as the musical and often have an incomplete, bridging character. themes lead us to a chronologically appropriate form of (Compare as a contrast the teachings of A.B. Marx, who expression and interpretation of music which, with the designated the main theme of sonata form as ‘male’ and so-called “school-scheme” of sonata form, cannot be the characteristically opposing secondary theme as ‘fema- achieved.