No one knows or cares about August Klughardt (1847-1902) today, though I eagerly await hate letters from his no doubt tiny but vociferous fan club for saying so. He was yet another German Romantic caught between the twin poles of Schumann/Brahms and Liszt/Wagner, but unlike so many of his colleagues, his music shows many of the best qualities of both. Take the Concert Overture in G major, for example. It begins with hunting horns à la Weber (or Franck’s Le chasseur maudit) and then launches into an allegro in which Schumann’s Rhenish Symphony meets the dashing strings and driving energy of Berlioz’s Corsair. It’s a remarkably effective combination and it reveals one of Klughardt’s most memorable traits: his music has no dead spots; it really moves.
Klughardt also wrote lovely tunes, even if they sometimes remind us of other, better-known composers (lots of other, better-known composers). Both the Konzertstück for Oboe and (especially) the Cello Concerto have more than their fair share of really attractive, excellently (if conservatively) orchestrated melodies. Auf der Wanderschaft, with its hunting horns, recurring cuckoo calls, and waltz rhythms is so “echt-Deutsch” that it almost amounts to a self-parody, but its six short movements never outstay their welcome and the quiet finale is pure poetry.
These decently if not stunningly recorded German radio performances from Hamburg and Cologne date from between 1975 and 1980. They’re well-played, lively, and respectful of the music. The soloists in the two concertante works clearly enjoy themselves, and given such effective writing it’s no wonder. Klughardt was one of those composers who wrote in a way that makes the musicians sound good, and it’s easy to see why they would respond in kind. It would be very interesting to have the opportunity to hear Klughardt’s symphonies; meanwhile, this disc will do very nicely.
