Finding a champion
Kate Molleson and Natasha Loges explore Johanna Senfter’s years of study with the composer Max Reger in Leipzig.
Kate Molleson and Natasha Loges explore Johanna Senfter’s years of study with Max Reger in Leipzig.
If you know the name Johanna Senfter, it is probably in connection with her teacher, the composer, Max Reger. Senfter won the Arthur Nikisch prize for composition in 1910, and went on to be one of the most prolific of all late-Romantic female composers, writing at least 150 works, yet she has all but disappeared from our history books. In between the two World Wars she was very active within the world of music too, founding the Oppenheim Music Society, organising her own concert series and founding the Oppenheim Bach Society. However, her personal life is shrouded in mystery with little information published about either her biography, or her music, and there are substantial gaps in her story when we know nothing about Senfter. Unsurprisingly then, there are also questions hanging over certain elements of her personal life, and her political allegiances. Over the course of this week, Kate Molleson is joined by Professor Natasha Loges to explore the life of Johanna Senfter. They also examine the tumultuous world of early 20th-century Germany in which Senfter was working, and speculate on the reasons for her anonymity today.
In Tuesday’s episode, Kate and Natasha explore Johanna Senfter’s years of study with the composer Max Reger in Leipzig. The pair would become good friends, and Reger would prove to be a champion of Senfter’s burgeoning talent, and early music. Kate and Natasha also discover how a tragic loss for the composer at this time in her life may actually may have helped Senfter on her journey to become a composer.
Vogelweise
Monica Gutman, piano
Clarinet Quintet – II. Slowly
Killian Herald, clarinet
Armida Quartett
Symphony no 4 - III. Rasch
Jenaer Philharmonie
Othmar Mäga, conductor
Viola Sonata no 1 in F minor, op.41 – III. Sehr ruhig
Roland Glassl, viola
Oliver Triendl, piano
Chorale Preludes, Op.70 - Nos 4, 2 & 9
Sonata for Cello in A Major, Op. 10 – IV. Allegro poco vivace
Thomas Blees, cello
Maria Bergmann, piano
Produced by Sam Phillips for BBC Audio Wales & West
Last on
Music Played
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Johanna Senfter
Vogelweise
Performer: Monica Gutman.- WERGO : 1307443307620.
- WERGO.
- 1.
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Johanna Senfter
Clarinet Quintet in B flat major, Op 119 (2nd mvt)
Performer: Killian Herald. Ensemble: Armida Quartett.- AVI MUSIC : AVI-8553533.
- AVI MUSIC.
- 6.
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Johanna Senfter
Symphony No 4, Op 50 (3rd mct, Rasch)
Orchestra: Jenaer Philharmonie. Conductor: Othmar Mága.![]()
Johanna Senfter
Viola Sonata No 1 in F minor, Op 41 (3rd mvt, Sehr ruhig)
Performer: Roland Glassl. Performer: Oliver Triendl.- HANSSLER : HC22076.
- HANSSLER.
- 8.
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Johanna Senfter
Chorale Preludes, Op 70 (Nos 4, 2 & 9)
Performer: Christa Rakich.- LOFT : LRCD-1139.
- LOFT.
- 6.
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Johanna Senfter
Cello Sonata No 1 in A major, Op 10 (4th mvt)
Performer: Thomas Blees. Performer: Maria Bergmann.- SWR : 10313.
- SWR Digital.
- 4.
Broadcast
- Tue 5 Mar 202412:00BBC Radio 3
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