ROBERT KAHN
PRAELUDIUM
Conducted by Shelley Katz using the Symphonova
Soprano: Helen Bailey
“Singe, o singe dich, Seele” ‘Sing, o sing yourself, my soul’ is a beautifully crafted Christian Morgenstern poem that uses language, imagery, and symbolism to convey a message of seeking solace and beauty through the power of music and the imagination.
The poem is written in free verse, rich in imagery, using vivid and sensory language to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. It uses symbolism to convey the idea of music and singing as a means of escaping the worries and troubles of the world, transcending to a higher plane of existence. The poem directly addresses the soul, urging it to sing and elevate itself, and contrasts the mundane and troublesome aspects of life with the beauty and purity that can be found through music and imagination.
Kahn, gifted at setting text, uses the structure and characteristics of the poem to guide his composition. At the heart of the text is the message: ‘singe dich seele empor’, “raise (or elevate) your soul through singing”. Kahn uses the repetition of the phrase “Singe, o singe dich, Seele,” as a refrain, and in the best tradition of word-painting, sets it to a rising musical line, starting on the 3rd degree (of the tonic), and finishing on the dominant. The repetition emphasizes the act of singing and elevating the soul, reinforcing the central theme of the poem. Kahn’s beautiful rising line also suggests the ‘raising up’ of the listener, and having brought them into a higher plain, keeps them there.
I find the particular power of the composition is similar to Schubert’s ‘An Die Musik’. In Kahn’s composition, the music beautifully exemplifies and personifies the act of singing entreated in the text “singe dich seele empor”. Like Schubert’s great work, Kahn’s setting is a fabulous example of musical mimesis and a wonderfully inspirational work.
Shelley Katz
Robert Kahn the late romantic Jewish composer Robert Kahn (1865-1951) fled to Britain from the Nazis at the age of 73 and spent the last 12 years of his life in Biddenden, Kent and Ashted, Surrey.
Kahn’s experience of migration found a unique expression in his Tagebuch in Tönen, the musical diary of his exile consisting of a staggering 1160 piano pieces. Initially started in Germany in 1935 (Nos. 1 – 211) and continued in the UK after his emigration in 1939 (Nos. 212-1160), the Tagebuch amounts to approximately 30 hours of music in total, affirming Kahn’s unbroken power of invention and spiritual survival as a refugee.
Born in 1865 to an influential and philanthropic Jewish family in Mannheim, Robert Kahn studied composition and piano in Berlin and Munich. Early on he came to the attention of the violinist Joseph Joachim, who employed him at the Königliche Hochschule für Musik in Berlin which he had founded. Another important mentor was Johannes Brahms, who invited Kahn to spend several months with him in Vienna in 1887, a formative experience for the young composer. Clara Schumann also noted Kahn’s remarkable talent, and the growing popularity of Kahn’s Lieder, chamber music and choral compositions confirmed her judgment.His works were championed by leading performers such as the Joachim Quartet, the baritone Johan Messchaert and the violinist Adolf Busch. Firmly established in Berlin by the beginning of the 20th century, Kahn counted Germany’s leading playwright Gerhard Hauptmann, the poet Christian Morgenstern and the physicist Albert Einstein (with whom he shared a somewhat similar physical appearance) among his friends.
When musical tastes changed in the 1920s, Kahn remained true to his compositional style. He was also an active member and senator of the Prussian Academy of the Arts, the Akademie der Künste Berlin. However, in 1934 Kahn was removed from his positions by the Nazis and eventually forced to emigrate. He first withdrew to his country house in Feldberg in Northern Germany and begun writing piano music, surprised by the ‘sprudeling fountain’ of inspiration that kept bringing forth this music. He continued to write approximately 2 pieces per week for almost the entire 12 years he lived in Britain (in Ashted, Surrey and Biddenden, Kent) until his death in 1951. Kahn’s wife Katherina then took the manuscript back to Germany. It is now accessible through the Music Archive of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin.
Author: Norbert Meyn
Image Source: Royal College of Music London
