KLENGEL – Hymnus, Op.57 (1922) – 12 CELLOS

Other Identification:
Julius Klengel was undoubtedly one of the most important German cellists and famous teachers of the Romantic age and beyond. At only 15 he became a member of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, at 17 making his solo concerto debut playing the first concerto of Davidov. Then in 1881, still aged only 22, he became principal cellist of the orchestra. He remained with ‘his’ orchestra until 1924, playing under the prestigious successors of Mendelssohn – Reinecke, Nikisch and Furtwängler.

He wrote many compositions for the cello, though few of them are in the standard performing repertoire anymore; at least speaking of the general programming of orchestral and chamber concerts. However, pieces for cello solo, cello and piano, and multi-cello pieces fare much better.

Klengel is mostly remembered as a teacher today, and in this field his etudes and technical studies are widely used today in conservatoires and music schools. In later years his teaching work became more and more important to him, remaining in the conservatoire until the year of his death. It is worth mentioning that Klengel was not only a cellist, but a very fine pianist – he could accompany his pupils on the piano, playing virtually everything from memory! His knowledge of chamber music was also vast, and legend has it that he knew every part of each instrument in most of the standard repertoire.