VOLKMANN – Abendlied (Evening Song), Op.30 No.2 – FOUR CELLOS

Other Identification:
The Abendlied of Robert Volkmann is a beautiful miniature song, one of six comprising his Opus 30:
1. Im Gewittersturm
2. Abendlied
3. “Ich halte ihr die Augen zu”
4. Jagdlied
5. An eine Tänzerin
6. Wanderlied
All the songs are romantic in character, with German texts, and for male voice choir ‘a capella’. They date from, or just before, 1857, and are dedicated to E.M. Kronach.

Robert Volkmann (1815-1883), German-Austrian composer and music teacher, studied voice, piano, organ, violin and violoncello as a child. He worked first as a voice teacher in Prague in 1839, then moved to Budapest in 1841, where he worked as a private teacher and correspondent for the Allgemeine Wiener Musikzeitung (Viennese musical newspaper) until 1844. He freelanced until 1848, when he became choral director and organist at the “Israelische Reformtempel” (reformed Jewish synagogue). His first successes as a composer came in the early 1850s. After 1854 he lived in Vienna, and returned in 1858 to Budapest, where he spent the rest of his life. In the 1860s he enjoyed increasing international recognition and wrote symphonies, serenades, songs and chamber music. In 1875 he became professor of composition at the National Academy in Budapest, a position which he held until his death.