Works comments

Bertold Hummel did not like to talk about his music. He was of the opinion that it should speak for itself. Nevertheless, since the 1980s, at the request of various performers and organisers, he has written concise and apt commentaries on his works, which you can find - if available - with the respective works.

"As a composer, I feel an obligation to the community in which I live. My endeavour is to make a modest contribution to the effort to make the world a more humane and liveable place. The "triangle" of composer - performer - listener is a constant challenge for me, which must be met in many different ways, from the demanding level of a virtuoso orchestral or chamber music score to composing for amateur musicians and for children, which is taken very seriously. A 'l'art pour l'art' point of view has always been alien to me."

Bertold Hummel (17 May 1995)

"In a time of increasing secularisation, the creative and probably also the post-creative artist has the task of pointing his fellow human beings towards the transcendent, the inexplicable and also the unprovable. The language of music - perhaps the most universal - is of particular importance here. The depiction of suffering and horror alone cannot be the immanent component of a work of art. The reference to consolation and hope is indispensable. In addition, life, nature and, for the believer, the knowledge of God give sufficient cause for praise and thanksgiving.
There is absolutely no reason why these life-affirming qualities should be attributed exclusively to the masterpieces of the past, as we inevitably stand more or less on the shoulders of our ancestors, and human suffering has always been just as present as the longing to overcome it."

Bertold Hummel (5 August 2001)

"In my thinking I feel related to A. Berg and O. Messiaen in my thinking. The "cantus firmus" thinking of P. Hindemith and my teacher H. Genzmer as well as their spontaneous joy of making music have always impressed me. My teacher J. Weismann fascinated me with his impressionistic sound fantasy as well as the harmonic richness and formal variety. I have never counted myself among the avant-gardists! I have always followed the experimental attempts of my colleagues with great interest and utilised one or the other solution for my work. For our current situation, I see an opportunity to intellectually reappraise the diverse findings - in a synthesis, so to speak, of the many and varied suggestions that have been made. My love of tradition and meaningful (subjectively speaking) progress has always characterised my musical language. This is probably also the key to the international success of my works."

Bertold Hummel (12 July 1981)

"My musical language is strongly characterised by my early exposure to Gregorian chant. As the son of a church musician and teacher, I came into close contact with organ and choral music in my youth, from Palestrina to Bach, Viennese classical music, Bruckner and contemporary music. Hindemith, Bartók, Stravinsky, Schönberg, the Viennese School (Berg and Webern), Shostakovich, Messiaen, Petrassi, Dallapiccola, Nono, Britten, Darmstadt and Paris were very influential. From the variety of stimuli I was able to develop my own style, the aim of which is to make musical ideas tangible - in my opinion - and to create a triangle between composer, performer and listener at the highest possible level. A l'art pour l'art point of view has always been suspect to me, just as I was very critical of Theodor W. Adorno's musical aesthetics at the time. I would like to contrast the intolerance of a certain avant-garde with humane respect for all seekers of truth."

Bertold Hummel (5 August 2001)s

"Even anachronism sometimes has its time."

Bertold Hummel (4 October 1995)

Interview with Bertold Hummel (January 1998)

Hans Schmidt-Mannheim

Schmidt-Mannheim: Mr Hummel, you are a cantor, instrumentalist and composer. Where do you see the greater weight of your compositional activity? Do you see yourself more as a homo ludens or a homo cantans?

Hummel: You are referring to my musical activities before 1963. Since moving to Würzburg, I have no longer performed as a cantor. My work as a cellist also faded more and more into the background in favour of that of a theory teacher and composer. Of course, I have retained a fondness for chamber music to this day and could describe myself as a "homo ludens".

Sch.-M.: That means that you are still actively making music today - on a smaller scale ...

H.: ... Yes, absolutely.

Sch.-M.: It is not a matter of course that a composer is also a performing musician. Sometimes a performer can get into difficulties if the composer writes passages that are impossible to perform out of ignorance.

H.: For me, practising music was a matter of course from a young age. My teacher Harald Genzmer attached great importance to the personal union of composer and performer - if only to secure his livelihood. I would describe the case you mentioned as "non-professional".

Sch.-M.: I was wondering why there is probably far more music for vocal ensemble among your compositions than for solo voice, especially in sacred music. I only found three sacred solo songs in your catalogue of works. Why is that?

H.: During my time as a cantor in Freiburg and later in Würzburg, my works for the human voice focussed on the composition of a large number of liturgical motets, chorales and hymns, whereby - not least - the personal contacts with the cathedral conductors Franz Stemmer (Freiburg i.Br.), Franz Fleckenstein and Siegfried Koesler (Würzburg) must be mentioned, who repeatedly commissioned me to write music for their choirs and also to design new chants for the liturgy. This probably explains why I have written relatively few sacred solo chants. The secular chants were written almost exclusively for my singer son Martin. Incidentally, I had planned to write songs for the tenor Fritz Wunderlich, a friend of mine, and his wife, a harpist. Unfortunately, this plan was not realised due to his early death.

Sch. -M.: Your teacher Harald Genzmer probably introduced you to Paul Hindemith's theory of composition. Illustrious names appear in your biography, through which you received inspiration for your work - I am thinking of René Leibowitz, Olivier Messiaen or Luigi Nono. I miss Hugo Distler here, was he already "outdated" during your time in Freiburg?

H.: Hugo Distler's music was very much cultivated during my time as a student at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg by the brilliant choirmaster and composer Konrad Lechner and was by no means considered outdated at the time. We sang all the movements of the Mörike songbook. I am also thinking here of the performance of the Christmas story for soloists and choir a cappella. The choral works of Ernst Pepping were also cultivated. I clearly remember a beautiful motet entitled "Jesus and Nicodemus". We perceived this music as a renewal movement in the Schützian sense, whereby the German language was presented in a new way on this basis. I have developed these ideas further in some of my motets.

Sch.-M.: A topical issue in the 1950s and 1960s was the preoccupation with jazz and its related styles. Do you have any of your works that are dedicated to this theme or come close to it? What is your opinion of so-called rhythmic songs - do they have a future in the popular singing of the church?

H.: There are certainly echoes of jazz in some of my works. A passage from my music for saxophone and orchestra comes to mind spontaneously, where a Gregorian tone sequence undergoes a jazz-like metamorphosis.
In my opinion, the so-called rhythmic songs are a fashionable phenomenon that should only be given temporary significance. The quality of the melodies is usually far below the level of the lyrics. Perhaps one or two successful inventions have a chance of surviving.

Sch.-M.: Do you think it makes sense to resume the experiments with symphony orchestras and jazz bands?

H.: There have been a number of examples of this in the past. The best known was probably Rolf Liebermann's attempt with the "Concerto for Jazz Band and Symphony Orchestra" from 1954. I was present at the premiere at the time. A truly convincing solution - if at all possible - to combine symphonic music with jazz in a meaningful way is perhaps reserved for the Gershwin of the 21st century.

Sch.-M.: You have repeatedly had encounters with renowned artists. Have they given you inspiration for new compositions? Who could you name in this context?

H.: Most of my works were written at the suggestion of artists, performers and ensembles who are friends of mine and most of them were premiered by them. I have compiled a list in alphabetical order, which provides information about this significant fact for my work. I consider the list of names to be very important because they are part of my biography.

I was inspired to compose by the following artists:

Sch.-M.: Which "great" composers have you met?

H.: I have personally met Benjamin Britten, Luigi Dallapiccola, Alois Hába, Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Paul Hindemith, Olivier Messiaen, Carl Orff, Goffredo Petrassi and Igor Stravinsky. Of course, this list cannot be exhaustive.
My most impressive encounter was with Luigi Dallapiccola. During a concert tour through Italy, I spontaneously decided to visit Dallapiccola in Florence (it must have been in the early 1950s). Although unannounced, he received me very kindly, but immediately apologised that he only had time until 6 p.m. (i.e. about three hours). I showed him my Piano Trio op. 9, which he read through intensively and then played it with me from A to Z with four hands. This was followed by a very important conversation about compositional and cultural-political problems - over a good cup of coffee, of course. After that, I met him several times at music festivals and performances of his works, and I was always delighted by his fine and cordial manner.

Sch.-M.: How would you, Mr Hummel, describe your own compositional style?

H.: That's a difficult question. I would describe it as a style of metamorphosis of everything that particularly impresses me from the musical world repertoire of the past and present, coupled with a strong personal will to express myself - a kind of creative eclecticism.

Sch. -M.: In this context, do you think Hector Berlioz's theory of instrumentation is still relevant?

H.: It is certainly worth taking a look from time to time at Berlioz's theory of instrumentation, which was continued by Richard Strauss, and also at Rimsky-Korsakov's "Fundamentals of Instrumentation". For about five decades, Casella-Mortari's "Technique of the Modern Orchestra" has probably offered the most comprehensive information. I was lucky enough to get to know the composer Virgilio Mortari personally and to exchange experiences and ideas with him on a friendly basis. During my work as a freelancer at Südwestfunk Baden-Baden and in the composition and orchestration of my stage, radio play and film music, I was able to gain a wealth of experience in this important sector of working with instrumental groups and orchestras. Incidentally, the German version of Casella-Mortari's theory of instrumentation is dedicated to Paul Hindemith. I have always used it in my lessons.

Sch. -M.: Are there any compositions from your pen that have not yet been performed?

H.: There are only very few pieces in my catalogue of works that have not yet been performed, for example the fragment for large orchestra op. 55c from the ballet "The Last Flower". My basic attitude is that the sociology of the composer should aim to create a "triangle" between composer, interpreter and listener. If this works, he always has a vis-a-vis. I have always tried to convey this to my students, but I have not succeeded with all of them.

Sch.-M.: Do you suffer a lot from misinterpretation of your works, which cannot be ruled out? What do you do in such cases?

H.: Of course, like every composer, I suffer in such cases. I generally try to remedy the situation during rehearsals.

Sch. -M.: As a performer, you have also travelled abroad, including the then South African Union and today's Namibia, which is strongly influenced by German cultural life. What effect did the political and cultural situation have on you? Were the early works you composed there particularly influenced by this foreign country?

H.: I was in South Africa in 1954/55. The artistic situation in Namibia was very different from that in the Union of South Africa. While there were concerts and artistic activities in Cape Town and Johannesburg, for example, that could be compared with those in Europe, Namibia, as well as other smaller places in the Union of South Africa, was a purely musical developing country at the time. The political situation of apartheid was incomprehensible to me and has, thank God, been overcome today. At that time, I wrote the South African Suite - a kind of musical travel diary - with the movement titles: Ali Baba, Kalahari, Burentanz, Basuto-Elegie and Heia Safari, which Willi Stech recorded with the small orchestra of Südwestfunk Baden-Baden after my return to Germany. I also composed my chamber opera "The Emperor's New Clothes".
In 1955, my wife Inken played the violin sonata op. 6 dedicated to her for the first time in the Hidding Hall in Cape Town. I had written myself a Sonata Brevis for cello and piano op. 11, which was premièred at the same concert.

Sch.-M.: Paul Hindemith supposedly wrote a work for every instrument, even for the trautonium (as did Harald Genzmer, by the way).
Do you also have such a "complete catalogue" to show?

H.: I have written sonatas or solo pieces for almost all orchestral instruments; I mainly had "young players" in mind as my target audience. Music for amateur players has a high educational value for me. These are the listeners of tomorrow. Here I stand in the Hindemith-Genzmer tradition.

Sch. -M.: Your catalogue of works contains a comparatively large number of compositions for percussion. I gather from this that you have a preference for this group of instruments. Is there a reason for this, such as the situation in Würzburg?

H: Of course! I was not entirely innocent at the time that Mr Fink came here. My later friendship with Siegfried Fink and his students naturally inspired many works. I made myself knowledgeable, had a lot of things played to me and was able to develop my very own style of sound.

Sch. -M.: Mrs Lotte Kliebert, the "great lady" of the Würzburg music world, commissioned you to direct the concerts of the "Studio for New Music" in Würzburg. You mainly included music from the avant-garde in the programmes. What was the response from listeners?

H: Mrs Lotte Kliebert was an exemplary idealist and the long-standing chairwoman of the Tonkünstlerverband. I had the pleasure of running the Studio for New Music in Würzburg with her from 1963 to 1988. My intention was to present and inform about the broadest possible spectrum of contemporary music in this city. Starting from humble beginnings, through perseverance I succeeded in attracting an impressive and loyal audience that attended the events with united interest. Of course, the response also depended on the quality of the performers and the compositions. The development work has borne fruit. The concert series is now being continued by Dr Klaus Hinrich Stahmer and has, I believe, acquired a good name and recognition in the new music scene in Germany.

Sch.-M.: How necessary do you think the work of the music associations is?

H.: I think the work of music associations is important and necessary, because in our mass society the voice of the individual is completely drowned out and politically ineffective. I think it is essential that prominent and influential personalities volunteer to work in professional organisations.

Sch.-M.: A very personal question: What is your inner relationship to the various honours you have received? There are said to be people who claim that they don't care about honours ...

H.: ... I don't think I overrate honours, but I have always been pleased to receive them.

Sch. -M.: To come back to one of your early works: The title and content of your chamber opera "The Emperor's New Clothes" op. 10 still seem to remain relevant. Many a work that was highly praised by critics in its day soon disappeared into oblivion. What do you think of the so-called "première pieces" that were created in the ivory tower and wanted to be "new" at all costs - how do you rate the response to such supposedly modern pieces, which repeatedly turned out to be soap bubbles? The parable of the emperor's new clothes seems to me to be a catchy starting point.

H.: It is one of the privileges of old age to follow the "battles" of the avant-garde from a distance. My view now, at the end of this millennium, is that after a century in which experimentation played a major role, the longing for a new language is gaining ground worldwide. In my opinion, a new aesthetic of plural possibilities will prevail against the orthodoxy of the respective "direction". I generally take a positive view of this development. On the one hand, composers have access to almost the entire world repertoire - something that has never happened before - but on the other hand, unlike in previous centuries, they have to constantly compete with this repertoire. The small eye of the needle into the public eye has to be found again and again, and each composer has to decide for himself which path to take.

Sch. -M.: After this serious topic, a sideways glance at the humour in your work: under opus number 81f there is a composition entitled "Three Hummel Figurines"

H.: ... they were forced on me a little. In 1978 I was in Oregon (USA) on the occasion of the première of my Symphony for large wind orchestra op. 67, which I had written on commission from the conductor Max McKee. On this occasion I made some small gifts to the conductor and his wife in the form of small compositions for wind orchestra. Then came the question: Can we call these pieces "Hummel Figures"? The Hummel figures were so fashionable in America at the time that I was repeatedly asked whether I was related to their "inventor" Berta Hummel. I had to answer in the negative, but agreed to the name for the sake of curiosity. I am told that the plays are often performed in the USA, where they are also published.

Sch. -M.: Back to Germany. You worked as a composition teacher in Würzburg for many years. What goals did you have for your teaching?

H.: I devoted a lot of time and intensity to my work as a composition teacher. It was particularly important to me to initially train the budding composers in their craft, to encourage their individual talents, to open up the possibilities of realising their pieces and to accompany them on their way with as much intellectual freedom as possible.

Sch.-M.: Peter Jona Korn diedat the beginning of January 1998. As far as I know, you were close friends with him. What impressed you about him?

H.: Like me, he was a lone fighter and throughout his life he put up a strong defence against any kind of gagging, which didn't just win him friends. In my opinion, the controversial discussion has become much poorer with his death.

Sch.-M.: Composers, especially French composers, often preface their works with a literary motto. How intensively were you inspired by themes from literature and the visual arts in your work? The chamber opera is certainly an example of this.

H.: In addition to the text-related vocal works, there are, for example, the "Visions" for large orchestra op. 73 based on the Apocalypse of St John. Then the "Poem" for violoncello and strings op. 80 on the poem "Stufengedicht" by Hermann Hesse and the 3rd Symphony op. 100 based on the novel "Jeremias" by Franz Werfel. There is also the ballet "The Last Flower" op. 55a based on a picture parable by James Thurber. The painting by Hans Thoma, "Die Stille vor dem Sturm" (Silence before the Storm) served as a model for the symphonic poem op. 49 with the same title. Finally, the "8 Klangbilder" op. 99a for percussion solo, which were based on paintings by Andreas Felger, including the geometric figures triangle, square and circle. I also wrote a piece entitled "Mobile". Here I played with a musical series, always creating new constellations and figures with the same sound material.

Sch.-M.: A perhaps indiscreet question: What hobbies do you have? The answer says something about Bertold Hummel as a person ...

H.: ... I have to say that my first hobby is composing. Then there's listening to music, reading, travelling, family and especially spending time with my grandchildren.

Sch.-M.: You have a large family. How many children do you have, and which of them have become musicians?

H.: I have six sons, five of whom have become professional musicians. One is a theologian, but he is also a hobby musician. Four of my six daughters-in-law are professional musicians, so we can put together an impressive ensemble. Of course, I play the cello for the house music. The grandchildren are already showing some talent, so I feel a great desire to see them develop.

Sch.-M.: May I ask what else is played at the Hausmusiken apart from Hummel?

H.: There is not so much "humming". We play relevant chamber music from Bach to Viennese Classicism and Romanticism to Modernism, especially in larger ensembles.

Sch.-M.: What are your compositional plans for the near future?

H.: Of course I have a lot of plans that I generally don't talk about. I also have a number of ideas for new pieces. At the moment I'm working on a piece for saxophone orchestra, which was inspired by the American saxophonist Linda Bangs. For the International Organ Week in Nuremberg, I have finished a composition that is a compulsory piece for the participants of the competition, a "Benedicamus Domino" for organ. It will be played in the "final round" and I have taken on the task of finding the best interpretation together with the jury.

Sch. -M.: The conversation with you, Mr Hummel, was very instructive and I wish you continued undiminished creativity and creative power.

(from Composers in Bavaria 31: Bertold Hummel, edited by A. L. Suder, Tutzing 1998)