Lies, Karl Otto

LIES, Karl Otto (Hanover 26 July 1869 – Goes 9 November 1955). Composer of German origin, active in Goes from 1893-1955. He was born as the first of two children of the Roman Catholic bailiff Karl Lies and his wife Margaretha Louisa Brand. Lies entered the conservatoire of Cologne and was taught composition and conducting by Franz Wüllner, a well-known German composer and conductor. Furthermore, he had classes in music theory with Gustav Jensen, piano with Otto Klauwell and score reading with conductor Eduard Mertke. Already during his years of study in Cologne, he started composing several piano and organ pieces. After he had carried out his military service for one year, he moved to the Dutch town Goes in Zeeland in 1893 where he received a position as chief of the local department of a music society, the MAATSCHAPPIJ TOT BEVORDERING DER TOONKUNST [Society for the Promotion of Musical Art]. He probably left Germany because he disagreed with its political developments. At the end of 1893, one can already find an advertisement for a concert of the TOONKUNST CHOIR in the local newspaper, the Goesche Courant. A second concert followed in March of the next year. Lies also started to offer singing and piano lessons, had several Lieder and piano pieces published, and he became director of the GOESCHE SYMPHONIE ORKEST in 1894, which shows his high ambitions at a young age. His approach for the setting of the choir and the orchestra was highly professional as he carried out a strict selection. Lies continued to give concerts with the TOONKUNST CHOIR and the above-mentioned orchestra in the following years. In 1895 his first symphonie was performed in Utrecht and in November 1896, his own Missa brevis pro defunctis op. 7 (a requiem for solo singers, mixed choir and children choir, a small orchestra and organ or piano) premiered in Goes with Marie van Hoek from Arnhem as solo singer. The following two years also proved to be successful for Lies as his third symphony in F major, his Triumph march and his Trio in E flat major were premiered in Arnhem. His fourth symphony was performed in Utrecht and Arnhem and his second symphony was performed in Nijmegen as well. In the same time falls the meeting of Lies and music publisher Abraham Anthony Noske, who started his career with the publication of Lies’ Missa brevis pro defunctis and several piano pieces including Grande Polonaise pour piano in 1896 and Deutsche Tänze in 1898. In 1899 Lies 1 made an attempt as music reviewer and started to write reviews for the Middelburgsche Courant, later also for the magazine Caecilia and probably for Het Weekblad voor Muziek and the Goesche Courant as well. However, he did not get the position of director of the GEMENGDE ZANGVEREENIGING BEKKER of Groningen for which he was nominated. A similar experience followed with the local department of Alkmaar of the MAATSCHAPPIJ one year later. Lies hoped that his former fellow student Willem Mengelberg, to whom he dedicated his piano pieces Sechs intime Stücke für Pianoforte “In einsamen Stunden”, would perform and promote his works. However, this probably only happened once at a festival dedicated to Dutch music on the occasion of the anniversary of the AMSTERDAM CONCERTGEBOUW ORCHESTRA. Nevertheless, in 1900 his piece Dem Andenken Lenaus, ein verfehltes Künstlerleben [To the Memory of Lenau, a failed artist's life] was performed in Arnhem. One of his best friends and his supporters was his publisher Abraham Anthony Noske. Noske tried to encourage him when bad critiques, failed attempts to establish himself in Middelburg, Arnhem or Alkmaar, and poor sales put him down. Noske was also his best man at his marriage in 1902, shortly after Lies had become citizen of the Netherlands, with the eleven years younger Charlotta Catharina Fagel from Goes. Together they had four children: two daughters, Margaretha Louisa Maria and Johanna Maria Alberta, and two sons, Karel Frederik Willem and Petrus Gulgalmus Antonius. The following years were governed by the breeding of his young family and concerts of the TOONKUNST choir, the VLISSINGS’ GEMENGDE ZANGVEREENIGING and the GOESCHE MANNENKOOR of which he became director. In 1906 however, his extended ballad Lenore for solo singers, a choir with 240 voices and orchestra from 1902 premiered in the German city Düsseldorf in 1906 under the direction of Georg Rijken. Shortly after, the piece was performed in Rotterdam under the direction of Georg Rijken, and by the MUSIKVEREIN under Julius Janssen in Dortmund. Lenore was also the last work of Lies that Noske published. He continued to support him in reviews and took music theory lessons from him though the contact decreased when Noske moved to The Hague in 1915. Furthermore, it came to a conflict between the two because Lies blamed him for his little success which can be seen in a letter that Noske wrote to Lies in 1906: “Wil erom denken, dat al die protesten tegen mijn beleid en inzicht het samenwerken niet aangenaam maakt. In zulke 2 omstandigheden denk ik er niet over ooit nog iets van je uit te geven” [Do understand that all these protests against my approach and view do not make the collaboration pleasant. I do not think to publish anything more of you under these circumstances]. Perhaps also partly due to this disagreement, Noske reconsidered the quality of some of Lies pieces. For example, he wrote in a letter to Alphons Diepenbrock, a contemporary composer of Lies: “Het requiem van Lies, op. 7 kan niet meer dienen. Ik gaf het uit in 1896, 4 maanden nadat ik mij als uitgever gevestigd had. Het was mijne 3e uitgave. Toen had ik zelf weinig kijk op de zaken, d.w.z. Ik gaf toen dingen uit, die ik nu ongedrukt zou laten” [The requiem of Lies, op. 7, is of no use anymore. I published it in 1896, 4 months after I had established as an issuer. It was my third publication. I only had a narrowed perspective on the pieces, that means that I published things which I would leave unprinted now.] In 1908, Lies got a new pupil: Eduard Flipse (1896-1973) who took piano and music theory lessons with him for six years and later became conductor of the ROTTERDAMS PHILHARMONISCH ORKEST and composer. In the same year, Lies also started working on his massive lyrical drama Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen - Hero en Leander [The Waves of the Sea and Love – Hero and Leander] for solo voices, choir and orchestra which is based on the correspondent drama by the well-known Austrian writer Franz Grillparzer. He did not finish the manuscript before 1948 but some fragments were played in 1936. The composition contains over 700 pages and took a whole evening to perform. Here, one can see another possible reason why Lies did not receive the recognition his pieces deserved. On the one hand, he was modest and a bit vain which can be seen in his statement: “Ik was liever de eerste in Goes, dan de vierde of vijfde in Amsterdam” [I preferred to be the first in Goes rather than the third or fourth in Amsterdam]. On the other hand, pieces like Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen did sometimes go beyond the scope of the small, rural Goes and were due to an extended orchestration rather difficult to perform. Though, as Wouter Paap notes, Goes was the home of many talented amateur musicians and serious music lovers who also contributed to the fact that Lies was apparently feeling comfortable in Goes. One can also see that he felt inspired by his new home in his music. There are many pieces worth mentioning that Lies composed in this time period. Firstly, he composed several sung theatre pieces for children like De Poppenkastspeler [The Puppeteer], 3 De nieuwe kleren van de Keizer [The Emperor’s new clothes] and De zondagsjager [The Sunday hunter]. But he also started to write a declamatorium on the ballade In Reading Goal by Oscar Wilde in 1935, the piece Imitatione Christi from Thomas à Kempis for tenor voice, choir and orchestra, the orchestral work Paraphrase (quasi una Passacaglia) based on Schubert’s Der Tod und das Mädchen [Death and the Maiden] and his own Lied Der Fremde [The Stranger]. In his last years he also started to composer church music like the cantata for children choir Rond Epiphanias [Around Epiphany] or the cantata Haec est praeclarum [This is remarkable] on a Gregorian Gloria motif for a four voices choir, organ, string orchestra and trumpets. Reception of his works Lies already attracted attention during his studies at conservatoire of Cologne. In his leaving certificate, Franz Wüllner wrote about him: “Während seiner Studienzeit hat er sich als höchst strebsam und begabt erwiesen und zu einem trefflichen Musiker herausgebildet” {He has proven to be highly ambitious and gifted and developed to a splendid musician during his study period]. This statement sounds especially comprehensible if one considers that Lies composed during his studies among others one cantata, various pieces for piano and two symphonies of which he performed parts in his final exam. His second concert in Goes in 1894 received positive comments in the Middelburgsche Courant. However, a review on his Lieder from the Haarlemsche Courant of 8 July 1900 did not have such a positive outcome and judged his Lieder to be “…noch melodieus, noch uit harmonisch oogpunt zijn ze zeer interessant” [neither from a melodious nor harmonic point of view very interesting]. This writer, probably Willem Landré, the brother-in-law of the well-known singer Gerard Zalsman, was not the only one who passed criticism on Lies. The German conductor and composer Carl Johann Cleuver also tried to humble Lies which could have been due to his own jealousy. Lies' first concert with the GOESCHE SYMPHONIE ORKEST in 1895 which performed for charity was already received much better. On 29 January 1895, the Middelburgsche Courant reports enthusiastically about the first concert of the orchestra which was performed for charity: “Het GOESCHE SYMPHONIE-ORKEST, onder directie van de heer Otto Lies, verleende zijne medewerking, en op welk eene wijze“ [The OF SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA GOES under the direction of Sir Otto Lies cooperated, and in what a way!] In November 1897, Lies received a positive critique about his Piano trio in E flat major from ‘Semi Brevis’, the music critic of the Arnhemsche Courant: “En thans een woord over den 4 talentvollen Goesenaar, den heer Otto Lies, een jong Duitscher, die hoe langer zoo meer als componist in aanzien komt. Uit zijn poëtisch, vergelijkenderwijze gesproken, Brahmsche brein voortgesproten, werd een Piano-trio in Es Dur uitgevoerd dat we, ook door repetitiën, met klimmende belangstelling en genot aangehoord hebben. De gedachten daarin zijn melodieus, harmonisch diepgaande in de bewerking, zoowel in de onzichtbare als in de zichtbare (het meesterlijke poly-rhytmische 3/2 tegen 3 triolen en 2 x 3 achtsten) en de vorm zeer origineel, n.l. éérste allegro met Walzermässig hoofdthema, als Andante en Koraal, dat gefigureerd en met melodische boven-tegenstem der viool zéér veel schoonheid van klank uit, en als Finale een landelijk Hongaarsche volksdans tot punt van uitgang. Voorzeker, zóó een vorm hebben we nog nimmer ontmoet” [And now a word about the talented composer from Goes, sir Otto Lies, a young German, who is becoming more and more respected as a composer. From his poetic Brahms-minded brain, he composed a piano trio in E flat major, which we have come to appreciate. The thoughts in it are melodic and harmonically profound, both in the visible and the invisible (the wonderful poly-rhythmic 3/2 against 3 triplets and 2 x 3 eighths) and its form highly original, especially the first allegro with Walzermässig main theme, but also the Andante and Coral, characterized by a beautiful top violin voice, and the Final based on a rural Hungarian folk dance. Indeed, it is a form such we have never met before]. His next success was the performance of the extensive ballad Lenore in 1906 in Düsseldorf. It was perceived well by the public and the German reviewer Karl Thiessen wrote about it: “Wij maken de concertbesturen op deze noviteit met nadruk opmerkzaam, want zij is waard ook in onze Duitsche concertzalen zoo spoedig mogelijk bekend te worden” [We would like to draw forcefully the attention of the concert managers aware to this novelty, for it is worth to be performed in our German concert halls as soon as possible]. The piece is thereupon also mentioned in the fifth volume of the German music journal Die Musik, published by Bernhard Schuster for the “Nationalsocialist Culture Community of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei, agent of the Führer for the control of the complete intellectual and ideological instruction and education, and Hitler Youth command”. In May 1910, he again received international attention when three of his orchestra Lieder, Elfenkind, Melodie and Liebe Worte on the texts of Käte Cajetan-Milner were performed at the 46th music festival from the ALLGEMEINER DEUTSCHER MUSIKVEREIN in Zurich. Lies was honored on stage and Noske commented on this performance: “Lies heeft 5 in deze liederen getoond dat hij met zijn tijd is meegegaan. Niet alleen heeft hij de stemming der mooie gedichten juist en getrouw naar de beteekeneis der woorden gekarakteriseerd; ook de behandeling van het orkest is modern, uiterst doorzichtig en geraffineerd, steeds mooi van klank en belangrijk in thematisch en harmonisch opzicht” [Through these songs, Lies has proved to be innovative. Not only did he capture the essence of the beautiful poems in a true manner, also the orchestra part is highly modern, refined, and thematically and harmonically impressive]. The foreign press (Weekly Music Magazine Signale, Frankfurter Zeitung, The Kollner Tageblatt) received the performance with enthusiasm as well. Later the CONCERGEBOUW ORCHESTRA also performed these orchestra songs at the Dutch music festival in Amsterdam. The same orchestra also performed Lies’ extended symphonic poem Na Zonsondergang aan Zee, (based on a poem by Frederik van Eeden and Hans Christian Andersen’s narrative “Anneliese”) at the NEDERLANDSE MUZIEKFEEST in Amsterdam. This composition had premiered one month before in Gdańsk, Poland. Apart from one concert in Dortmund in 1914 where some of his works were performed, it seems that the interest of his contemporaries declined again in the next years. The GOESCHE MANNENKOOR already ended in 1911 but Lies continued to give regular concerts with the VLISSINGS’ GEMENGDE ZANGVEREENIGING till 1920 and concerts and public lessons with the TOONKUNST choir till 1945. Moreover, in 1917 he became director of the TOONKUNST music school of Bergen op Zoom. Even if he did need receive much more (inter)national attention in the following years, the work with the choirs offered him a possibility to perform, besides well-known, also his own pieces like his Meergedichte and the ballade Vineta. It can be concluded that Karl Otto Lies surely had talent and that he was also a hard worker in whatever he started. The question why he did not get the attention and recognition that he would have deserved, will probably never be completely answered. It was probably caused by his unfavourable character traits like his modesty and perfectionism which led to sometimes massive compositions on the one hand but also on the other hand because some people, like Cleuver, envied him. At the beginning of his career, Lies’ Lieder were still considerably influenced by Johannes Brahms. Later he made use of the whole tone scale in approximation of Debussy. However, as reviewers such as Wouter Paap also noted, his own style was always recognizable. Lies found inspiration for his music in romanticism, nature and in literature. Specifically, his fifth 6 symphony Stemmen uit de Natuur in which he paints, among others, a picture of the moonlight on the river Scheldt shows how he was influenced by the nature of Zeeland. Examples for usages of literature are his ballad Lenore, which is based on a poem by the German writer Gottfried August Bürger, several songs based on fairytales by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Lies saw the Zeeland composer Gerard von Brucken Fock, the Hungarian Zoltán Kodály, and the English composer Frederick Delius as his role models. WORKS Sheet music (In the Zeeuwse Library, Middelburg) Published (by A.A. Noske):  (Year of publication in brackets)  Opus 2. 4 Charakterstücke für Pianoforte (1896)  Opus 7. Requiem Missa brevis pro defunctis (1896)  Opus 11 (i.e. opus 1). Grande Polonaise pour piano (1897)  Opus. 13. In Einsamen Stunden, 6 intime Stücke für Pianoforte: 1. Tröstung 2. Leidvoll und freudvoll 3. Zuversicht 4. Verlassen 5. Intermezzo (uit op. 12) 6. Trost und Friede (ca. 1898)  Albumblatt für Pianoforte (1898)  2 Liebeswalzer (1898)  Opus 14. Trauermarsch aus der Sonate für Violine und Pianoforte (1899)  Opus 20. 5 ernste Klavierstücke: 1: Langsam, jedoch nicht zu sehr ; 2: Mit zartestem Ausdruck ; 3: Sehr gemessen ; 4: Zögernd, nicht zu langsam ; 5: Poco agitato (1899)  Opus 21. Sonata quasi una Phantasia (1902)  Opus 22. Skizzen, 4 Klavierstücke (1901)  Opus 24. Lenore, Ballade von G.A. Bürger für Soli, gem. Chor und Orchester (ca. 1910) 7 Unpublished:  Manuscript of the Oratorio Christus (ca. 1900)  includes: Vorspiel [Introduction], Abendmahlscene [Last Supper], Christus auf Gethsemane [Christ at Gethsemane], Jesus vor dem Hohenpriester [Jesus before the high priest], Christus vor Pilatus [Jesus in front of Pilate], Kreuzigung [Crucifixion] (In the Nederlands Muziek Institut/Koninlijke Biblotheek, The Hague) Published (by A.A. Noske):  Opus 7. Requiem Missa brevis pro defunctis (1896)  Opus 8. 6 Stücke : für Pianoforte (1896)  Opus 9. 4 Charakterstücke : für Pianoforte (1896)  Opus 11 (i.e. opus 1). Grande Polonaise pour piano (1897)  Opus. 13. In Einsamen Stunden, 6 intime Stücke für Pianoforte: 1. Tröstung 2. Leidvoll und freudvoll 3. Zuversicht 4. Verlassen 5. Intermezzo (uit op. 12) 6. Trost und Friede (ca. 1898)  2 Liebeswalzer, nr. 1 und 2 (1898)  "Deutsche Tänze" : eine Walzerrapsodie : für Pianoforte (1898)  Albumblatt für Pianoforte (1898)  Opus 14. Werke | Sonate für Violine und Pianoforte (1899)  Opus 15: Lieder und Balladen : für eine mittlere Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianofort: Ein geistliches Abendlied, Der Fremde, Käferlied, Zwei Könige, Nach und nach, Nun hab' ich alle Seligkeit erloos (1898)  Opus 16: Mädchenlieder für eine mittlere Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung: 1. In meinem Garten 2. Wohl waren es Tage der Sonne 3. Gute Nacht mein Herz (1898)  Opus 20. 5 ernste Klavierstücke: 1: Langsam, jedoch nicht zu sehr ; 2: Mit zartestem Ausdruck ; 3: Sehr gemessen ; 4: Zögernd, nicht zu langsam ; 5: Poco agitato (1899)  Opus 21. Sonata quasi una Phantasia (1902)  Opus 22. Skizzen, 4 Klavierstücke (1901) 8  Opus 24. Lenore, Ballade für Soli, gem. Chor und Orchester, piano score from the composer (1905)  Opus 24. Lenore, Ballade für Soli, gem. Chor und Orchester (ca. 1910) Other publishers  Liebeswalzer, nr.2 – published as Musik-Beilage zur neuen Musik-Zeitung (Music Supplement for new music newspaper) in Stuttgart, Leipzig in 1898 Unpublished  Trio in Es voor Piano, Viool en Cello: opus 6: hieruit: Andante religioso, naar woorden uit de heilige Schrift (Manuscript, Copy, composed in 189?)  Lieder 1. Elfenkind / 2. Melodie / 3. Liebe Worte / (1909)  In Reading Goal/(In memoriam Oscar Wilde) voor groot orkest met obligate Harppartij en declamatie (en / klein koor, ad libitum) (1931 – new version 1935, last version 1950)  Paraphrase/danse macabre en (quasi una Passacaglia) voor groot orkest: Der Tod und das Mädchen, Der Fremde (1935)  De Imitatione Christi homas a Kempis / Liber III / Caput XIV (1935, revised in 1950) Lost (?) works  De nieuwe kleren van de Keizer  De zondagsjager  De Poppenkastspeler  Fifth symphony Stemmen uit de Natuur (Voices from Nature). (1. De peillooze heide (The mysterious heathland), 2. De Heuvelen en het Woud (The Hills and the Forest), 3. Maneschijn op de Scheldemond (Moonlight on the Scheldt).)  Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen - Hero en Leander [The Waves of the Sea and Love – Hero and Leander] (1948)  Cantata for children choir: Rond Epiphanias  Cantata: Haec est praeclarum 9  Symphonic poem “Na Zonsondergang aan Zee”  Dem Andenken Lenaus, ein verfehltes Künstlerleben PICTURES Picture 1: Announcement of concert with the TOONKUNST Goesche Courant 10 CHOIR on 8 December 1893 in Picture 2: Christus Manuscript, Zeeuwse Bibliotheek Picture 3: Otto Lies 11 Picture 4: Beautiful front cover of In Einsamen Stunden, 6 intime Stücke für Pianoforte, Noske 1869 LITERATURE  Antheunisse, Milou. “The Musical Life of Karl Otto Lies in Goes.” Karl Otto Lies & Adriaan Kousemaker. 2011. PDF file.  Clement, A.A.: ‘Lies, Karl Otto’, Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland 6 (‘sGravenhage 2008), 286-288. <http://www.historici.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/BWN/lemmata/bwn6/lies >  Dohr, Christoph: Franz Wüllner. Verlag Dohr, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <www.dohr.de>  Görne, Nora. “The Life of Karl Otto Lies.” Karl Otto Lies & Adriaan Kousemaker. 2011. PDF file.  Hawley, Charles: ‘History Buried in the Rubble: Cologne Archive Building Collapses’,  “Karl Otto Spiegel Online, 3 Mar. 2009. <www.spiegel.de> 27 Mar. 2012. Lies (1869-1955).” Nederlands Muziek Instituut. Via www.nederlandsmuziekinstituut.nl.  Nationale bibliotheek van Nederland. Koninklijke Bibliotheek. 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2012. 12  Krantenbank Zeeland: Goesche Courant, Middelburgsche Courant, Provinciale Zeeuwe Courant, Vlissingsche Courant (1893-1955).  “Otto Lies.” Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland. N.d. Historici. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http://www.historici.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/BWN/lemmata/bwn6/lies >  Paap, Wouter: ‘Nederlandse Componisten van deze tijd: XIV. Otto Lies’, Mens en Melodie 5 (1950): 109-112.  Scherft, P. Een Speurtocht door Zeeuws Muziekverleden. Middelburg: Koninklijk Zeeuwsch Genootschap Der Wetenschappen, 1984. Print.  Van den Bos, Mirjam. “The Works of Karl Otto Lies.” Karl Otto Lies & Adriaan Kousemaker. 2011. PDF file.  Zeeuwse Bibliotheek. Zeeuwse Bibliotheek. 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2012.  Zoeren, Elbert van, De Muziekuitgeverij A. A. Noske (1896- 1926): Een Bijdrage tot dertig jaar Nederlandse muziekgeschiedenis, Haarlemmerliede 1987. AUTHOR: NORA GÖRNE (2012) 13