Short bio Charles Martin Loeffler
Birthday:
1861 in Mulhouse, France
Died:
1935 in Medford, MA
Active:
1890s - 1930s
Genre:
Classical
Period:
Modern
Full biography Charles Martin Loeffler
Charles Martin Loeffler was a German-born American composer and violinist. He was born on January 30, 1861, in Mulhouse, France (then part of Germany). His parents were Karl Loeffler and Helene Tornov Loeffler. Although he claimed Alsatian birth , recent scholarship indicates that he was actually born in Germany.
Loeffler studied violin at the Conservatoire de Paris and later became a music teacher. He also performed as a violinist and was a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1881 to 1903. As a composer, Loeffler's works are distinguished by a poetic lyricism in an Impressionist and Romantic style. He combined elements of French and German musical traditions, as well as incorporating literary and visual imagery into his music.
Some of Loeffler's most famous works include "Pagan Poem" (1918) for flute, harp and string orchestra and "Aubade for Violin and Orchestra" (1929). He was admired by contemporary composers and musicians, including Igor Stravinsky, Maurice Ravel, and Arnold Schoenberg.
Loeffler was also a visual artist, and he designed his own concert posters and album covers. He was also a close friend of American painter John Singer Sargent and was the subject of one of his portraits.
Charles Martin Loeffler died on May 19, 1935, in Medfield, Massachusetts. His music continues to be studied and performed today, and his contributions to American music are recognized as significant.
Compositions featuring Charles Martin Loeffler
| # | Name | Duration | Genre | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Irish Fantasies (5) for voice & orchestra | 28:53 min | Vocal Music | 1934 |
| 2 | Memories of My Childhood, tone poem (Life in a Russian Village) | 13:15 min | Orchestral | 1923 |
| 3 | Music for Four Stringed Instruments for string quartet | 27:22 min | Chamber Music | 1917 |
| 4 | Rhapsodies (2) for oboe, viola & piano | 21:41 min | Chamber Music | 1905 |
| 5 | Ballade Carnavalesque, for flute, oboe, alto saxophone, bassoon & piano | 12:20 min | Chamber Music | 1902 |
| 6 | La Villanelle du Diable, for orchestra, Op. 9 | 12:29 min | Orchestral | 1901 |
| 7 | Divertissement Espagnol, for saxophone & orchestra | 8:14 min | Concerto | 1900 |
| 8 | Rapsodies (3), for voice, clarinet, viola & piano | 21:39 min | Vocal Music | 1898 |
| 9 | La Mort de Tintagiles, for viola d'amore & orchestra, Op 6 | 24:42 min | Concerto | 1897 |
| 10 | Divertissement, for violin & orchestra in A minor | 29:25 min | Concerto | 1894 |
| 11 | Une Nuit de Mai, for violin & orchestra | Concerto | 1891 | |
| 12 | String Quartet in A minor | 26:03 min | Chamber Music | 1889 |
| 13 | Poems (4) for voice & piano, Op. 15: No. 6, To Helen | 3:14 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 14 | A Pagan Poem (after Vergil), for piano & orchestra, Op. 14 | 23:53 min | Concerto | - |
| 15 | Timbres oubliés (Forgotten Sounds), for voice & piano | 4:40 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 16 | Sérénade (Serenade), for voice & piano | 4:38 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 17 | String quintet (in one movement) | 14:47 min | Chamber Music | - |
| 18 | Songs (5), for voice, viola & piano | 15:19 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 19 | Rêverie en sourdine (Muted Reverie), for voice, viola & piano | 4:40 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 20 | Rhapsodies for voice, clarinet, viola & piano: No. 9, La villanuelle du Diable | 8:52 min | Keyboard | - |
| 21 | Rhapsodies for voice, clarinet, viola & piano: No. 8, La cornemuse | 6:34 min | Keyboard | - |
| 22 | Rhapsodies for voice, clarinet, viola & piano: No. 7, L'étang | 5:11 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 23 | A une femme (To A Woman), for voice & piano | 4:33 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 24 | Adieu pour jamais (Farewell Forever), for voice & piano | 4:14 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 25 | Quatre poèmes, for vioce, viola & piano, Op. 5 | 20:55 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 26 | Psalm 137, "By the Rivers of Babylon" female voices, cello obbligato, 2 flutes, organ & harp | 11:20 min | Choral | - |
| 27 | Prière, for voice & piano | 1:52 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 28 | La chanson des Ingénues (The Song of the Ingenues), for voice, viola & piano | 2:27 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 29 | Poems (4) for voice & piano, Op. 15: No. 5, Sudden Light | 4:07 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 30 | Poems (4) for voice & piano, Op. 15: No. 4, Sonnet | 4:30 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 31 | Poems (4) for voice & piano, Op. 15: No. 3, A Dream within a Dream | 4:18 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 32 | Boléro triste (Sad Bolero), for voice & piano | 3:05 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 33 | Dansons la gigue! (Let's Dance the Jig!), for voice & piano | 2:39 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 34 | Les soirs d'automne (Autumn Evenings), for voice & piano | 5:02 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 35 | Les paons, for piano | 5:40 min | Keyboard | - |
| 36 | Les paons (The Peacocks), for voice & piano | 4:30 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 37 | Le son du cor s'afflige vers les bois (The Sound of the Horn Grieves Near the Woods), for voice & piano | 5:59 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 38 | Le rossignol (The Nightingale), for voice, viola & piano | 3:55 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 39 | Harmonie du soir (Evening Harmony), for voice, viola & piano | 4:21 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 40 | L'archet, for soprano, women's choir, viola d'amore, and piano | 17:26 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 41 | La lune blanche (The White Moon), for voice, viola & piano | 1:26 min | Vocal Music | - |
| 42 | La cloche fêlée (The Riven Bell), for voice & piano | 8:39 min | Vocal Music | - |
Albums featuring Charles Martin Loeffler
| # | Сover | Name album | Year | Music label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Loeffler, Ruggles, Hanson, Cowell, Basque National Orchestra, Robert Treviño – Americascapes | 2021 | Ondine |
| 2 |  |
Charles Martin Loeffler, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Johannes Wildner, Lorraine McAslan, Amy Dickson (2) – Divertissiment Espagnol - La Villanelle du Diable - Une Nuit de Mai - Divertissiment in A minor(CD, ) | 2015 | Dutton Epoch |
| 3 |  |
Holst, Schoenberg, Bartók, Loeffler, Leopold Stokowski – The Planets / Verklärte Nacht / Music For Strings, Percussion & Celesta / A Pagan Poem(2×CD, Album, Remastered, Stereo) | 2014 | Urania Records (4) |
| 4 |  |
Arturo Toscanini - Gershwin, Loeffler, Creston, Gould, Mignone - NBC Symphony Orchestra – All-American - The Complete Concerts 1 November 1942 & 2 April 1944(2×CD, ) | 2003 | Guild |
| 5 |  |
Charles Martin Loeffler, DaVinci Quartet – Music For Four Stringed Instruments / String Quartet / Quintet In One Movement(CD, Album) | 2003 | Naxos |
| 6 |  |
Kahn, Klughardt, Loeffler, Hindemith - Han de Vries, Henk Guittart, Ivo Janssen (3) – Trios(CD, ) | 2002 | Chandos |
| 7 |  |
Charles Martin Loeffler, Maurice Duruflé, Gabriel Pierné, Conchord, William Dazeley – 2 Rhapsodies, 5 Songs, Prelude, Sonata Da Camera | 2002 | ASV Digital |
| 8 |  |
A Dream Within A Dream(CD, Album) | 1999 | Koch International Classics |
| 9 |  |
Adler · Thomson · Schoenberg · Loeffler · Starer · Taylor · Near · White · Newbury · Berger · Neswick - Gloriæ Dei Cantores, Elizabeth C. Patterson, James E. Jordan Jr. – By The Rivers Of Babylon (American Psalmody Vol. II)(CD, ) | 1999 | Gloriae Dei Cantores |
| 10 |  |
Charles Martin Loeffler - Deidra Palmour, Noel Lester, Noah Chaves With RoseAnn Markow – Forgotten Songs(CD, ) | 1998 | Koch International Classics |
| 11 |  |
Charles Martin Loeffler, Katherine Hoover - The Montclaire String Quartet – Da Pacem(CD, ) | 1994 | Koch International Classics |
| 12 |  |
Glière, Loeffler, Stokowski – Symphony No. 3 / A Pagan Poem(CD, Compilation, Remastered, Stereo) | 1994 | EMI Classics |
| 13 |  |
Charles Martin Loeffler, Charles Ives - The John Oliver Chorale And Orchestra – The Celestial Country(CD, ) | 1987 | Northeastern Records |
| 14 |  |
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, John Nelson (5), Jennie Hansen, Neil Rosenshein - Charles Martin Loeffler – La Mort De Tintagiles / Five Irish Fantasies | 1985 | New World Records |
| 15 |  |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Charles Martin Loeffler – Mozart - Quartet In F For Oboe 7 Strings K.370 / Loeffler - Deux Rhapsodies for Oboe, Viola, & Piano(LP, Stereo) | 1984 | Crystal Records (5) |
| 16 |  |
Members Of The Cleveland Orchestra String Quartet, John Mack (2), Eunice Podis, Daniel Majeske, Abraham Skernick, Stephen Geber, Mozart, Loeffler – Quartet For Oboe And Strings K. 370 / Deux Rhapsodies For Oboe Viola & Piano(LP) | 1975 | Advent Records |
| 17 |  |
Leopold Stokowski, Leopold Stokowski And His Symphony Orchestra – Schonberg: Verklarte Nacht / Loeffler: A Pagan Poem | 1968 | Capitol Records |
| 18 |  |
Schoenberg, Loeffler, Leopold Stokowski conducting his Symphony Orchestra – Schoenberg: Transfigured Night (Verklarte Nacht, Op. 4) / Loeffler: A Pagan Poem, Op. 14(LP, Compilation, Stereo) | 1968 | Seraphim |
| 19 |  |
Loeffler, Armand Basile, Robert Sprenkle, Francis Tursi / Barlow / McCauley, Eastman-Rochester Orchestra, Howard Hanson – Deux Rapsodies / Night Song / Five Miniatures | 1961 | Mercury |
| 20 |  |
Hindemith, Loeffler / Harold Gomberg, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Milton Katims – Sonata for Oboe and Piano; Two Rhapsodies for Oboe, Viola and Piano(LP, Album, Mono) | 1960 | Columbia Masterworks |
| 21 |  |
Griffes / Loeffler / Howard Hanson Conducting The Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra – Pleasure Dome Of Kubla Khan / White Peacock / Clouds / Bacchanale / Memories Of My Childhood / Poem For Orchestra | 1954 | Mercury |
| 22 |  |
Ethel Hutchinson / Heinrich Gebhard / Martin Loeffler – A Pagan Poem (After Virgil)(LP, Single Sided) | 1954 | Trans-Radio Recordings |
| 23 |  |
Scriabin, Loeffler – The Poem Of Ecstasy / A Pagan Poem(LP) | 1953 | Capitol Records |
| 24 |  |
Antonio Stradivari - The Juilliard Quartet With Lawrence Dutton - Schubert ; Loeffler ; Haydn – Overture In C Minor, D. 8; String Quintet; String Quartet In E-Flat Major, Op. 64, No. 6.(LP, Album) | - | The Library Of Congress |
| 25 |  |
John Mack (2), Eunice Podis ; Daniel Majeske ; Abraham Skernick ; Stephen Geber - Mozart / Loeffler / Paladilhe / Britten – Quartet In F For Oboe & Strings / Deux Rhapsodies For Oboe, Viola, & Piano / Solo De Concert / Six Metamorphoses After Ovid | - | Crystal Records (5) |
Leave a Reply