Music of

Friedrich NietzscheRecordings of 17 compositions for voice, violin, choir, piano, and piano duet

PerformersValerie Kinslow, soprano; Eric Oland, baritone;

Sven Meier, violin;

The Orpheus Singers, dir. Peter Schubert;

Lauretta Altman, piano;

Daniella Bernstein, piano (in Manfred Meditation);

Wolfgang Bottenberg, piano (in the other works for piano duet)

ProductionArtistic supervision, editing, and re-creation of scores:

Wolfgang Bottenberg

Recording supervision and digital editing:

Mark Corwin

CreditsResearch assistance:

Faculties of Fine Arts and of Arts and Science, Concordia University, Montreal

Arts Faculty, University of Auckland

Performance material:

Prepared by Wolfgang Bottenberg from original manuscripts and from

Friedrich Nietzsche, Der musikalische Nachlass, ed. Curt Paul Janz, Basel 1976,

with permission of Bärenreiter Music Corp.,

US agent: Foreign Music Distributors

The Compositions

1. Hoch tut euch auf (2:24)

2. Einleitung (2:12)

3. Miserere (6.21)

4. Einleitung (1:36)

5. Einleitung (1:44)

6. Hüter, ist die Nacht bald hin? (1:21)

7. Heldenklage (1:59)

1

8. Klavierstück (2:12)

9. Zigeunertanz (2.59)

10. Aus der Jugendzeit (2:55)

11. Da geht ein Bach (1:34)

12. Wie sich Rebenranken schwingen (1:13)

13. Eine Sylvesternacht (11:13)

14. Junge Fischerin (3.52)

15. Manfred Meditation (9:22)

16. Monodie a deux (Lob der Barmherzigkeit) (4:21)

17. Gebet an das Leben (2:23)

1. Hoch tut euch auf, for choir. Written December 1858 after a performance of

Handel’s Messiah. The original consists only of parts which do not always match,

and had to be completed for this performance. The text is from a German translation

of The Messiah:

Hoch tut euch auf, ihr Tore der Welt

dass der König der Ehren einziehe.

Lift up your heads, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors;

and the King of Glory shall come in.

2. Einleitung (Introduction), for piano duet. Probably written in 1858 when Nietzsche

became a pupil at Schulpforta, as an introduction for a larger orchestral work.

Extensive revisions were required since the young composer’s imagination

exceeded his technical skills.

3. Miserere, for five-part choir a capella. Written in the summer of 1860, as a

contribution for the Germania Society. The text is part of psalm 51.

4. Einleitung, for piano. Written in the summer of 1861, in connection with the

Christmas Oratorio, his last sacred composition.

5. Einleitung, for piano. This is the introduction to the Christmas Oratorio, to

establish the mood of expectant waiting before the birth of Christ. The music seems

to be influenced by the B flat minor prelude of Bach’s Das wohltemperierte Klavier.

2

6. Hüter, ist die Nacht bald hin? (Watchman, is night ended soon?), for choir. Part

of the Christmas Oratorio of 1861. The text may be by the composer:

Hüter, ist die Nacht bald hin?

Dunkel deckt das Erdenreich,

Finsternis deckt die Welten

Watchman, is night ended soon?

Darkness covers the earth,

the worlds are filled with gloom.

7. Heldenklage (Heroic Lament), for piano. This is the first of a series of character

pieces for piano, written in 1862 as a contribution for the Germania Society.

8. Klavierstück, for piano. The original manuscript breaks off after twenty-three

bars. The composition heard in this performance has been revised and completed in

the style of Schumann or Chopin, who Nietzsche played frequently at that time.

9. Zigeunertanz (Gypsy dance), for piano. The influence of Liszt is unmistakable.

Part of the original manuscript is lost; the composition has been completed into what

the editor estimated were its original dimensions.

10. Aus der Jugendzeit (From the times of youth), for voice and piano. Nietzsche

was eighteen years old when he wrote this song in 1862 to a poem of Friedrich

Rückert that expresses nostalgia for lost youth. Nietzsche’s sensitive setting may be

a reflection of the loss he experienced in his youth through the loss of his father.

Aus der Jugendzeit From my youthful times

klingt ein Lied mir immerdar. do I hear a song so dear.

O wie liegt so weit How remote the times

was mein einst war. that were once so near!

Was die Schwalbe sang In the village street

die den Herbst und Frühling bringt, swallows herald fall and spring.

ob das Dorf entang Does their song still greet

es jetzt noch klingt? what the seasons bring?

Als ich Abschied nahm When I left from there,

waren Kisten und Kasten schwer. trunk and coffer, all was full.

3

Als ich wiederkam Now they are so bare,

war alles leer. and all is dull.

Keine Schwalbe bringt Swallows cannot bring

dir zurück wonach du weinst, what you are longing for,

doch die Schwalbe singt but the birds still sing

im Dorf wie einst. in the streets as before.

Aus der Jugendzeit From my youthful times

klingt ein Lied mir immerdar. do I hear a song so dear.

O wie liegt so weit How remote the times

was mein einst war. that were once so near.

11. Da geht ein Bach (A brook goes there), for voice and piano. The text for this

song, by Klaus Groth, was originally in low German dialect, but Nietzsche used a

translation into high German.

Da geht ein Bach das Tal entlang, A brook moves through the valleyground

Wohin er wohl nur will? Where leads the water’s quest?

So geht mein Herz den ganzen Tag My heart moves likewise day and night,

und steht nicht einmal still. it never seems to rest.

Das steht erst an der Mühle still; The brook slows down before the mill

das Rad dreht sich herum. the wheel, it slowly turns.

Da steht es mir auf einmal still, My heart, it almost fails to beat,

sag an, mein Herz, warum? expectantly it burns.

Das steht nicht still den ganzen Weg, It cannot rest along the way,

das wird nicht einmal matt, it never can be still.

und geh’ ich erst den Weg herauf, and as I walk along the walk,

so klopft es wie ein Rad. it knocks just like the wheel.

Das Rad, das dreht, die Mühle geht, The wheel, it turns, the mill it runs,

und drinnen ist Gesang. and inside, there is song.

Komm ich, so guckt ein Kopf heraus, I turn my head, a face looks out,

lässt mich nicht warten lang. keeps me not waiting long.

4

12. Wie sich Rebenranken schwingen (Like the movement of vines), for voice and

piano. The text for this song is by August Hoffmann von Fallersleben, who visited

Schulpforta in October 1863. This may have been the occasion for writing this song.

Wie sich Rebenranken schwingen As the heads of climbing flowers

in der linden Lüfte Hauch, move in gentle springtime air

wie sich weisse Winden schlingen vine leaves move in garden bowers

lustig um den Rosenstrach, morning glories bloom so fair:

also schmiegen sich und ranken so my thoughts of eve and morning

frühlingsselig, still und mild wind around your image dear,

meine Tag- und Nachtgedanken and my wishes are adorning

um ihr trautes liebes Bild. memories of blessings near.

13. Eine Sylvesternacht ( A New Year’s Eve), for violin and piano. Written during

the earliest days of 1864 for Nietzsche’s childhood friend Gustav Krug, who became

a composer himself and set many of Nietzsche’s texts to music. This is Nietzsche’s

only completed chamber music composition. A decade later, he used its introduction

in two large-scale orchestral works.

14. Junge Fischerin (Young fisher-maid), for voice and piano. This is the only song

by Nietzsche where, with certainty, he set his own poetry to music. He wrote the

song in 1865; he had written the poem three years earlier, in 1862. As he did with

most of his other songs, he used only part of the poem for the musical setting. The

song is durchkomponiert (through-composed), with a mixture of quiet passages and

violent exclamations. Nietzsche himself characterized it as Zukunftsmusik (music of

the future). There are two versions of this song. This is a performance of the second

version, in which Nietzsche apparently tried to make some improvements over the

first version.

Des Morgens still ich träume In early hours of morning

und schau den Wolken nach, my dreams, they fly away.

wenn leise durch die Bäume In meadows mists are forming,

zittert der junge Tag. sun greets the waking day.

Die Nebel wogen und wallen, The mists are rolling and heaving,

das Frührot drüber hin. the air is wet and pure

O niemand weiss van allen as dreams of night are leaving

dass ich so traurig bin. sorrowful thoughts I must endure.

5

Die See wogt kühl und leise The sea lies cool and silent,

vorbei ohn Rast und Ruh, it never seems to rest.

mir schauerts eigner, eigner Weise, I stand and shiver, feel abandoned

ich drücke die Augen zu. I close my eyes and take a breath.

Mag nicht die Nebel sehn - What does the fog contain? Is it my death

lauert der Tod darin? that’s coming?

Ach, niemand kann verstehn Oh! All my tears are in vain

dass ich so zage bin. and all my longing.

Mit meinen tränenfeuchten I seek your consolation,

Augen such ich dich. come and make me free.

Im Frührot seh’ ich’s leuchten Your greetings, they bring elation.

ja, du grüssest mich. Yes, you beckon me.

Du kommst durch Nebelhüllen, You break through fog, I see you

reitest auf dem Wind, riding through like the wind so wild

du kommst das Herz zu stillen No longer stay’st in hiding

dem armen Fischerkind. Love me! Love your young fisherchild.

15. Manfred-Meditation for piano duet. Dated and signed by Nietzsche April 15,

1872. This is a tone-poem responding to the spirit of Byron’s Manfred. With this

composition, Nietzsche wanted to show that he had, as a composer, reached a

certain maturity. He sent a copy of the score first to his friend Gustav Krug, who

praised it, and then to Hans von Bülow, who replied with a devastating critique. At

first Nietzsche accepted the spirit of this negative judgement as a sign of honesty,

but gradually he recovered his confidence in the artistic value of his composition,

helped by a positive comment of Franz Liszt.

Von Bülow’s completely negative response to Nietzsche’s efforts as a

composer has been accepted widely as the judgement of an expert. The

performance on this recording should give an opportunity to form, one and a half

centuries later, a more balanced opinion of the artistic merit of this work.

16. Monodie a deux (Lob der Barmherzigkeit), for piano duet. Written in February

1873 for the wedding of Olga Herzen (therefore Barmherzigkeit) and Gabriel Monod

(therefore Monodie). The composition is a reworking, with substantial extensions, of

the section dealing with the Annunciation of Mary from the sketches for Christmas

Oratorio of 1861. In a February 1873 letter to a friend, Nietzsche wrote about this

music that “it should be perceived as a prognosis for a good marriage.” Wagner, who

6

apparently knew that it was a reworking of a sacred composition, commented in a

humourous manner that, with this wedding present, Nietzsche had wanted to bestow

a papal blessing on the pair, who had avoided a church marriage.

17. Gebet an das Leben (Prayer to Life), for voice and piano. Text by Lou Andreas-

Salomé. Nietzsche was enthusiastic about some of Lou Salomé’s poems, among

them the Gebet an das Leben, which she gave him as a present at their parting in

August 1873. He immediately set it to music, using his Hymnus auf die Freundschaft

(Hymn to Friendship) of 1873, a melody for which he had not been able to find

suitable words. With some minor adaptations, Nietzsche was able to combine his

previously written music with her text. Nietzsche thought very highly of this symbiosis

of poetry and music, and asked Heinrich Köselitz to make for him a setting for choir

and orchestra. He hoped that a good performance of this work would “seduce”

attentive listeners to his philosophy. Lou Salomé accurately recognized the tension

Nietzsche had created for himself. In her autobiography, she writes: “The higher he

rose as a philosopher in his exaltation of life, the more deeply he suffered, as a

human being, from his own teachings about life. This battle within his soul, the true

source of the philosophy of his last years, are only imperfectly represented in his

words and books, but it sounds perhaps most profoundly through his music to my

poem “Hymn to Life” which he composed in summer 1882 when he stayed with me

in Thüringen close to Dornburg.”

Nietzsche set only one of the two stanzas of Salomé’s poem:

Gewiss – so liebt ein Freund den Freund,

wie ich dich liebe, rätselvolles Leben!

Ob ich in dir gejauchzt, geweint,

ob du mir Leid, ob du mir Lust gegeben,

ich liebe dich mit deinem Glück und Harme,

und wenn du mich vernichten musst,

entreisse ich schmerzvoll mich deinem Arme,

gleichwie der Freund der Freundesbrust.

It is certain – a friend loves a friend the way

That I love you, enigmatic life –

Whether you give me joy or sorrow,

I love you with your happiness and harm,

And if you must destroy me,

I wrest myself painfully from your arms,

7

As a friend tears himself away from a friend's breast.

Commentary on the Music of Friedrich Nietzsche by Wolfgang Bottenberg

The compositions of Friedrich Nietzsche are not as well known as his philosophical

writings or his poems, but Nietzsche himself was convinced that music was one of

his essential means of self-expression. In a letter of October 1887, he wrote: “there

has never been a philosopher who has been in his essence (im Grunde) a musician

to such an extent as I am.”

His musical means of self-expression were through improvisation on the

piano, and through composition. As an improviser, he made a strong impression on

those who heard him, and he retained this ability for some years after his mental

collapse, when he was no longer able to articulate his thoughts through spoken or

written language. His compositions, written before he wrote the majority of his

philosophical works, have so far attracted little attention. There are several reasons

for this. During his life they remained unknown except to his family and a few friends.

Even when his philosophical writings became widely known, his efforts as a

composer were regarded as amateurish and insignificant. Their critical rejection by

Wagner and Hans von Bülow was better known than their actual sound since they

were not available in printed or recorded form. It was only in 1976 that Curt Paul

Janz published them in a complete and scholarly edition (Friedrich Nietzsche, Der

musikalische Nachlass, Bärenreiter Verlag Basel). But even this definitive edition has

not effected a widespread acquaintance with Nietzsche’s music.

If a knowledge of Nietzsche’s compositions could be, as he himself claimed, a

key to the fundamental characteristics of his mind, it should be part of a

comprehensive study of his thought and personality. The following selection of

performances of his compositions is intended as a means of providing this

knowledge. They are presented in chronological order, and they have been selected

as musical illustrations of specific events and thoughts that are discussed in this

book.

Nietzsche’s first attempts at composition date from 1856, when he was not yet

twelve years old. These first attempts are rather ambitious works for piano or

orchestra. In spite of their immaturity, they demonstrate the boy’s eagerness to

participate in his culture not only as a learner, but also as a creator. At that time, he

had competent instruction in piano playing, but not in composition; whatever he

achieved in this field was self-taught. When he became a pupil at Schulpforta, he

intensified his efforts as a composer, largely in the context of making contributions to

8

the Germania Society. Among Nietzsche’s contributions are sketches of

symphonies, oratorios, tone poems, and sacred music. Almost all of these

compositions remained incomplete.

During the summer of 1861, Nietzsche must have experienced a crisis both of

his religious faith, and with regard to his abilities as a composer. Evidence of a

religious crisis is the fact that, from that time on, he refrained from writing sacred

music, and gave secular titles to compositions originally intended as sacred works.

Testimony of increased awareness of his limitations as a composer is his

commitment to the creation of shorter forms, such as songs and piano pieces, and

his concern with bringing them to completion and making them ready for

performance.

During his years as a student of philology, Nietzsche wrote only a few

occasional compositions. His friendship with Wagner, though an important influence

on his philosophy, seems to have had little effect on his development as a composer.

Between 1871 and 1874, he wrote a number of extended compositions. The last of

these was the Hymnus auf die Freundschaft of 1873–74, which was intended to be

performed at the festive opening of a temple of friendship that, however, could never

be realized. Eight years later, in 1882, he used this Hymnus as a song to a poem by

Lou Salomé, Gebet an das Leben. It was to be his last composition.

9