Julius Klengel: Cello Concerto No. 4 in B minor, Op. 37

It is my express desire that any and all remuneration that might be my due be instead forwarded to the performers and any others who might hold copyright.

Julius Klengel (1859-1933)

Cello Concerto No. 4 in B minor, Op. 37

I. Allegro moderato 0:00
II. Allegretto - Andante - Vivace 11:26
III. Allegro vivace 19:55

Xenia Jancovic, cello
Hannover Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Bjarte Engeset, conductor

Julius Klengel (24 September 1859 – 27 October 1933) was a German cellist who is most famous for his etudes and solo pieces written for the instrument. He was the brother of Paul Klengel. A member of the Gewandhaus Orchestra at fifteen, he toured extensively throughout Europe as cellist and soloist of the Gewandhaus Quartet. His pupils include Emanuel Feuermann, Gregor Piatigorsky and Alexandre Barjansky.

Born in Leipzig, the son of a lawyer who was a fine amateur musician and a friend of Mendelssohn, Klengel studied with Emil Hegar in his youth. After his 15th birthday, Klengel joined the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra where Hegar played first cello, and began touring in Europe and Russia. Klengel also became a soloist at that point, frequently giving solo performances.

Klengel rose to become principal cellist of the orchestra, aged 22, in 1881. There he remained for over four decades: to celebrate his fifty years of service, Wilhelm Furtwängler conducted a jubilee concert, in which Klengel played the cello part in a double concerto he composed for the occasion. During that time period, Klengel became professor at the Leipzig Conservatory, where he was briefly a member of Adolph Brodsky's string quartet, and began composing. He ultimately composed hundreds of pieces for the cello, including four violoncello concertos, two double cello concertos, cello quartets, a cello sonata, as well as numerous caprices, etudes and other technical pieces. Of his music, the two volumes of etudes ("Technical Studies") for cello remain in the repertory.

He died in October 1933 in his hometown of Leipzig.