Classics of the Phonograph

Hans Pfitzner

 
Hans Pfitzner, circa 1910

Hans Pfitzner, circa 1910 By Wanda von Debschitz-Kunowski (1870-1935) - ebay, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4437306

Hans Pfitzner, who died in poverty in 1949, was considered "the last of the German Romantics." Still using the harmonic world of Wagner and Brahms, Pfitzner's 1915 masterpiece was the opera "Palestrina," about the composer who saved polyphonic singing in Catholic services in the 16th century.

On this week's Classics of the Phonograph, Saturday at 11 am on WILL-FM, we will hear examples of Pfitzner's music. 

Playlist: Orchestral Interludes from "Palestrina," music from the Cantata "Von deutscher Seele," and "From the German Soul," settings of poems by Joseph von Eichendorff.