!!!Wolf, Hugo Philipp Jakob

b. Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia (then Windischgraetz), March 13, 1860, 
d. Vienna, Feb. 22, 1903, composer. Lived in Vienna from 1875, studied 
at the Vienna Conservatory. Wrote his first songs in 1876 after he had 
met Richard Wagner, whom he admired greatly. Due to disputes with his 
teachers W. was expelled from the Conservatory in 1877 and lived 
henceforth as a music teacher in Vienna. In 1878 he contracted 
syphilis, which led to mental derangement (lived in a lunatic asylum 
from 1897) and to his early death. Suffered from serious depressions 
from 1880, for which even his friends (G. Schoenaich, M. Koechert) 
could not find a remedy. Every attempt to seek a steady employment for 
him (as conductor in Salzburg in 1881 and as music critic with the 
"Wiener Salonblatt") failed due to his emotional problems. From 1887 
W. worked as a freelance composer and was supported by his friends and 
patrons. Next to F. Schubert W. is regarded as one of the most 
important composers of lieder. In his lieder he puts the stress on the 
poetic diction; they express great empathy and the treatment of the 
piano part is largely independent of the vocal part. His highly 
subjective sensitivity and refined harmony make him a representative 
of late Romanticism, influenced by R. Wagner, whose style he adopted 
in his own individual manner both in his orchestral works and operas 
(although Wagner's output greatly exceeded that of W.). H. W. 
Association founded in Vienna in 1897. The International H. W. 
Society, founded in 1958, is responsible for the critical complete 
edition of his works. His house at Perchtoldsdorf accommodates a 
museum with his study, which is virtually unchanged.

!Works
About 350 lieder: 53 Moerike-lieder, 1888; 20 
Eichendorff-lieder, 1880-1888; 51 Goethe-lieder, 1889; Span. und Ital. 
Liederbuch, 1889-1891. - Choral music. - Operas: Der Corregidor, 
1895/96; Manuel Venegas (unfinished, 1897). - Symphonic poem: 
Penthesilea, 1883-1885. - String quartet, 1879/80; Italienische 
Serenade, 1894. - Writings: Musikalische Kritiken, 1911; Nachgelassene 
Werke, from 1935

!Literature
B. Decsey, H. W., 4 vols., 1903-1906; F. Walker, H. 
W., 1953 (containing a list of his works); M. v. 
Hattingberg-Graedener, H. W., 1953; H.-J. Moser, Das deutsche Lied 
seit Mozart, 1968; E. Werba, H. W. oder Der zornige Romantiker, 1971; 
M. Saary, Persoenlichkeit und musikdramatische Kreativitaet, 1982; 
H.-H. Geyer, H. W. Moerike-Vertonungen, 1991; S. Youens, H. Werke: The 
vocal music, 1992.



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