Wilhelm Neuland
Wilhelm Neuland was a German musician and composer of the Romantic era, with activities mainly in Bonn, London and Calais.
Life
Neuland was born in Bonn, the son of a tailor named Johann Caspar Neuland and his wife Catharina, née Frings. He attended a local private boys school and studied harmony and some musical instruments with Johann Gottfried Klebs as well as piano and composition with Carl David Stegmann until 1824. He spent the years until 1826 as a military band musician, performing on several instruments, retiring mainly on health grounds, and established himself as a music teacher and composer in Bonn. From 1828 to 1871, Neuland was conductor of the Société Philharmonique in Calais, France, a position that he was able to pursue for some months in a year only. He also conducted frequently in neighbouring Boulogne-sur-Mer.In addition, Neuland spent the years 1830 to 1835 mainly in London, where he was much in demand as a guitarist and composer for the guitar, following his contacts with other German-speaking guitarist-composers from Germany and Austria, including Ferdinand Pelzer and Leonhard Schulz. In London, he began to give opus numbers to his compositions. He wrote several ambitious works for guitar and a number of duos for guitar and piano and songs to guitar accompaniment. After he had left London, he never wrote for solo guitar again.
At the time of the inauguration of the Beethoven monument in Bonn in 1845, Neuland was back in his native city, playing cello in the orchestra during the unveiling ceremony and donating 32 thalers. Dividing his time between Calais and Bonn, Neuland composed two large masses, Opp. 30 and 40, which are now regarded as his main achievements.
After the Franco-Prussian War and the establishment of the German Empire in 1871, Neuland settled permanently in Bonn, although he maintained good relations to the north of France, attending a performance of his two masses in Boulogne-sur-Mer in 1872. He was frequently in demand as a conductor of orchestral and choral concerts, but did not have an employment as such. He died in Bonn in 1889 and was buried on the Alter Friedhof.
Music
Neuland wrote in a Romantic style following the models of Schumann and Hiller in particular. His early works for guitar established his name in England and make him one of the first composers writing music for guitar without primarily being a guitarist themselves. The masses have been performed frequently, mainly in Germany and France, until well into the twentieth century. In recent years his songs and his guitar works have created some renewed interest.Selected compositions
Guitar soloAir tyrolienne Six Divertissements, Op. 4 Fantaisie, Op. 5 Rondo alla tedesca, Op. 18Two guitarsSix Divertissements, Op. 6 Andantino et rondo, Op. 8 Introduction and Variations on a Favorite Waltz by Himmel, Op. 16
Guitar and pianoAirs arranged as Duets, Op. 10 Huit Duos sur des motifs favoris et choisis Souvenir Germanique. Fantaisie, Op. 29
Other chamber musicOuverture de l'opéra de Boieldieu "Le Calife de Bagdad", Op. 1 for flute, viola, guitarIntroduction et air, Op. 14 for cello and pianoQuatuor, Op. 48 for violin, viola, cello, piano
PianoErinnerung an London, Op. 17 for piano 4-handsTrois Polonaises, Op. 20 for piano 4-handsLe Pensées. 6 Valses brillantes, Op. 23Le Sylphe. Impromptu, Op. 24Grande valse brillante, Op. 31 Souvenir de Bonn et de ses environs. 6 Valses brillantes, Op. 34 for piano 4-handsLe Jet de perles. Grande polka, Op. 36 Trois Rêveries caractéristiques, Op. 37 Cortège solennel au Château de Stolzenfels, Op. 51 Marche nuptiale, Op. 55 Grande polonaise, Op. 56
SongsEin Liederkranz von Florus gewunden in Bonn und Umgebung, for voice and guitarThe White Cliffs of England, for voice and pianoThe Old Kirk Yard, for voice and guitarAmour et crainte. Romance, for voice and pianoDernier chant d'une jeune fille. Mélodie, for voice and pianoDer Weiberfeind, for voice and guitarSongs and Legends of the Rhine, Op. 35, for voice and pianoWiederkehr, for voice and pianoLe Première hirondelle. Mélodie
ChoralMesse solennelle No. 1, Op. 30 for soloists, mixed chorus and orchestraTantum ergo, Op. 33 for chorus and orchestraMesse solennelle No. 2, Op. 40 for soloists, mixed chorus and orchestraDeux Motets au Saint Sacrement, Op. 42 for three-part choir a capellaTantum ergo, Op. 44 for chorus and organ