Salomon Jadassohn

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Salomon Jadassohn (1831–1902), German composer and pedagogue, was born to a Jewish family living in Breslau, the capital of the Prussian province of Silesia. This was a generation after the emancipation of the Jews in Central European German-speaking lands and during a time of relative tolerance. First educated locally, Jadassohn enrolled at the Leipzig Conservatory in 1848, just a few years after it had been founded by Felix Mendelssohn. There he studied composition with Moritz Hauptmann, Ernst Richter and Julius Rietz as well as piano with Ignaz Moscheles. At the same time, he studied privately with Franz Liszt in Weimar.

Being Jewish, Jadassohn was unable to qualify for the many church jobs which were usually available to graduates of a conservatory such as Leipzig. Instead he worked for a Leipzig synagogue and a few local choral societies as well as teaching privately. Eventually, he was able to qualify for a position at the Leipzig Conservatory, teaching piano and composition. Over the years, he became a renown teacher, and Edvard Grieg, Ferruccio Busoni, Frederick Delius, Richard Franck, Sigfrid Karg-Elert, Emil Reznicek and Felix Weingartner were among his many students.

Jadassohn wrote over 140 works in virtually every genre, including four symphonies, two piano concertos, lieder, sonatas, opera and a considerable amount of chamber music, including two string quartets, four piano trios, three piano quartets, three piano quintets and a serenade for flute and string quintet. These chamber works rank among his finest compositions. Additionally, he authored several important texts on composition and music theory. Considered a master of counterpoint and harmony, he was also a gifted melodist, following in the tradition of Mendelssohn. But one also hears the influence of Wagner and Liszt, whose music deeply impressed him.

The general consensus is that Jadassohn and his music were not better known primarily for two reasons: The first being Carl Reinecke and the second being the rising tide of anti-semitism in late 19th century Wilhemine Germany. Reinecke was Jadassohn's almost exact contemporary and somewhat of a super-star. Not only was he a world famous piano virtuoso and composer, but also an important professor at the Leipzig Conservatory, where Jadassohn also taught. He later served as its director. At the same time, Reinecke held the post of conductor of the renowned Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Under these circumstances, it was hard for a colleague who worked in these same areas to get the public's attention.

Additionally, toward the end of the 19th century and in the wake of Wagner, anti-semitic music critics attacked Jadassohn's music, labeling it academic and dry, an unjust epithet which has stuck with it ever since. Virtually unheard since his death, recently, a reevaluation of Jadassohn's music has begun.

[edit] References

Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music, Oxford University Press, 1963
The New Grove Dictionary of Music, MacMillan, 1980
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