Page 384 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2017. Glasbene migracije: stičišče evropske glasbene raznolikosti - Musical Migrations: Crossroads of European Musical Diversity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 1
P. 384
glasbene migracije: stičišče evropske glasbene raznolikosti
it, in the event refused. Only in later life did he gain anything like the repu-
tation as a composer that he deserved, although he was always esteemed as
an orchestral conductor.4 The fifth composer was the Hungarian-born Má-
tyás Seiber who was a versatile and adaptable composer.5 His tastes were ec-
lectic, making it possible to accommodate himself musically in England.
The departure from Spain in 1939, however, of the Catalan composer
Roberto Gerhard (1896–1970), was emphatically political. He had supported
the Republican cause in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and, with the
victory of General Franco, he was very vulnerable. He escaped from Barce-
lona via Paris to safety in Cambridge in England on the recommendation
of the Professor of Music at Cambridge, Edward J. Dent. The consequenc-
es for Gerhard himself were fundamental. Despite regular but often subtle
references to his native folk music, he was determined to forge a new mu-
sical language that went beyond the boundaries of nationalism. The devel-
opment of his style that this entailed was clearly a consequence of his em-
igration.
Roberto Gerhard was born as Robert Gerhard y Ottenwaelder in Valls
in Catalonia in 1896, with German-Swiss and French-Alsatian parents.6
Nevertheless, he considered himself Spanish, or rather Catalan, and after
his emigration called himself Roberto Gerhard (with a soft “G”).7 He stud-
ied music privately in Switzerland and in Munich before returning to Bar-
celona in 1914 at the outbreak of World War I. Importantly he studied piano
with Enrique Granados (1867–1916). Even more significantly, after the trag-
ic early death of Granados in a ship in the English Channel that was tor-
pedoed, he became the last pupil of Felipe Pedrell (1841–1922), whose work
in collecting and organising Spanish folk music was immensely important
both to Catalonia and to Gerhard’s musical development.
4 Berthold Goldschmidt (1903–96) conducted the first performance in 1964 of Deryck
Cooke’s full realisation of the sketches of Mahler’s Symphony No.10 and assisted
Cooke in important details of the orchestration.
5 Mátyás Seiber (1905–60) integrated himself well into musical education in London
and gained an enviable reputation for clear thinking. His compositions were small
in number but high in quality. See especially Hans Keller, “Mátyás Seiber,” The Mu-
sical Times, (November 1955): 580–584 and Hugh Wood, “The Music of Mátyás Sei-
ber,” The Musical Times, (September 1970): 888–891.
6 Joaquim Homs, Robert Gerhard and his Music (Sheffield: Anglo-Catalan Socie-
ty, 2000), 19
7 In Catalonia even now he is normally referred to as Robert Gerhard, a minor source
of confusion.
382
it, in the event refused. Only in later life did he gain anything like the repu-
tation as a composer that he deserved, although he was always esteemed as
an orchestral conductor.4 The fifth composer was the Hungarian-born Má-
tyás Seiber who was a versatile and adaptable composer.5 His tastes were ec-
lectic, making it possible to accommodate himself musically in England.
The departure from Spain in 1939, however, of the Catalan composer
Roberto Gerhard (1896–1970), was emphatically political. He had supported
the Republican cause in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and, with the
victory of General Franco, he was very vulnerable. He escaped from Barce-
lona via Paris to safety in Cambridge in England on the recommendation
of the Professor of Music at Cambridge, Edward J. Dent. The consequenc-
es for Gerhard himself were fundamental. Despite regular but often subtle
references to his native folk music, he was determined to forge a new mu-
sical language that went beyond the boundaries of nationalism. The devel-
opment of his style that this entailed was clearly a consequence of his em-
igration.
Roberto Gerhard was born as Robert Gerhard y Ottenwaelder in Valls
in Catalonia in 1896, with German-Swiss and French-Alsatian parents.6
Nevertheless, he considered himself Spanish, or rather Catalan, and after
his emigration called himself Roberto Gerhard (with a soft “G”).7 He stud-
ied music privately in Switzerland and in Munich before returning to Bar-
celona in 1914 at the outbreak of World War I. Importantly he studied piano
with Enrique Granados (1867–1916). Even more significantly, after the trag-
ic early death of Granados in a ship in the English Channel that was tor-
pedoed, he became the last pupil of Felipe Pedrell (1841–1922), whose work
in collecting and organising Spanish folk music was immensely important
both to Catalonia and to Gerhard’s musical development.
4 Berthold Goldschmidt (1903–96) conducted the first performance in 1964 of Deryck
Cooke’s full realisation of the sketches of Mahler’s Symphony No.10 and assisted
Cooke in important details of the orchestration.
5 Mátyás Seiber (1905–60) integrated himself well into musical education in London
and gained an enviable reputation for clear thinking. His compositions were small
in number but high in quality. See especially Hans Keller, “Mátyás Seiber,” The Mu-
sical Times, (November 1955): 580–584 and Hugh Wood, “The Music of Mátyás Sei-
ber,” The Musical Times, (September 1970): 888–891.
6 Joaquim Homs, Robert Gerhard and his Music (Sheffield: Anglo-Catalan Socie-
ty, 2000), 19
7 In Catalonia even now he is normally referred to as Robert Gerhard, a minor source
of confusion.
382
