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Wolf Hugo 1860 - 1903 (43)

a reformer of Lieder songs.


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Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903) was an Austrian composer of Slovenian descent who added a concentrated expressive volume inLeader songs, unique to late Romantic music. He was born in Windischgrätz in the Duchy of Styria (present-day Slovenia), then part of the Austrian Empire, on March 13, 1860. He was a prodigy child and he was first taught piano and violin by his father at the age of four. Due to his unruly nature, he had problems in the schools he attended, from one he was expelled as inadequate, from the other as indisciplined. He also attended the Vienna Conservatory, once again he was expelled. He started teaching music in Vienna and despite his temperamental character, he gained the attention and support of wealthy families, which allowed him to make a living and compose.

In February 1883, after Wagner's death, he wrote an elegy for him, the song "Zur Ruh, zur Ruh" which is considered to be the best of his early works. Along with the composition, he became a critic, known for his relentless criticism of works that he considered inferior and unworthy; but he also recognized the talent and warmly supported musicians who eventually proved their genius, such as Liszt, Schubert and Chopin.

He left his career as a critic in 1887 to focus on composition, completing the Italian Serenade for String Quartet, which is considered one of the finest examples of his mature orchestral style. The years 1888 and 1889 proved to be the most productive years for him and a turning point in his career. He had traveled to the cottage of some family friends to compose in solitude, there he created some of his best works. Wolf wrote hundreds of lieders, three operas, choral music, chamber music and music for piano.



In 1891, having been diagnosed with syphilis and feeling exhausted, he stopped working. Ongoing concerts of his works in Austria and Germany boosted his reputation, the reviews were favorable, however he had succumbed to depression, which prevented him from composing, a fact thtat made him even more depressed. He made some attempts to recover and he managed to complete two operas in 1895 and 1897; In February 1897 he gave his last concert, shortly afterwards he fell into paranoia because of the syphilis, in mid-1899 he tried to comitte suicide, after that he was locked up in a Vienna asylum. He died on February 22, 1903.