Paul Büttner

Paul Büttner was born on 10 December 1870 in Dresden (Germany). His father was a worker in the glass factory of Friedrich Siemens, his mother a kitchen help in the canteen. Despite his humble backgrounds Paul Büttner learned to play the violin from an early age and also started to compose his first own works. After school Paul Büttner decided to study music at the Dresden conservatory, but the family could not afford a place in the violin class and so Paul Büttner had to take an oboe scholarship. Beside the oboe he also studied viola and composition (under Felix Draeseke). Paul Büttner's father died during his study years and so he was forced to earn a living for his mother, his sister and himself. Therefore Paul Büttner played oboe in different small orchestras, toured through Germany and also performed in small ensembles in Dresden - in addition his his studies at the conservatory.

After his studies Paul Büttner first moved to Bremerhaven and worked as an oboist and violist, later he moved to Majorenhof (now: Majori, part of the city Jurmala in Latvia). In 1892 Paul Büttner returned to Dresden because he had received a position in the Gewerbehaus-Kapelle. Over the years Paul Büttner could more and more establish a position as an outstanding musician in Dresden. First he became choir master of several worker's choirs around Dresden. As a result he was appointed choir teacher at the conservatory in 1896 and also lectured in music theory. In 1905 Paul Büttner was appointed Bundesdirigent (union's conductor) of the Arbeitersängerbund (Worker's Choir Union). Between 1907 and 1918 Paul Büttner quit his position at the Dresden conservatory and focused on composition. At that time he also wrote a book ("Musikgrundlehre") about the basic musical principles, to be used by the worker in his choirs because they often had no musical background. When Paul Büttner returned to the conservatory in 1918 he taught composition and again had the position as the choir teacher. In 1924 Paul Büttner was finally appointed artistic director of the Dresden conservatory.

Since the time around 1900 Paul Büttner worked also as a music critic for the local newspaper. First he was a freelancer, since 1912 a salaried employee. In total Paul Büttner wrote ca. 1700 critics for the "Dresdner Volkszeitung" in around three decades.

The coming into power of the Nazi regime was a drastic cut in the life of Paul Büttner. As a strong voice of the social democratic and labour movement and with a Jewish wife, Paul Büttner was deposed from all his positions by the Nazi regime in 1933. His compositions were marked "unwanted" and he was completely deleted from the public music culture. In his last years Paul Büttner worked only as a private teacher and dedicated himself to composing.

Paul Büttner died on 15 October 1943 in Dresden (Germany).

As a composer Paul Büttner was virtually unknown before the year 1915. In that year his Symphony No.3 was premiered by the Dresdner Gewandhausorchester under Arthur Nikisch and was a huge success. Since that day Paul Büttner was named one of the greatest and most important contemporary symphonists in succession to Brahms and Bruckner. Paul Büttner's Symphony No.4 from 1917 continued this success and was performed widely by different orchestras. And also his first two symphonies and chamber music then received attention and appreciation.

The work catalogue of Paul Büttner contains 2 operas, 1 operetta, 4 symphonies, a Heroic Ouverture for orchestra, a Concert piece for violin and orchestra, a string quartet, a string trio, and several compositions for men's choir (with or without accompaniment).

1) Das Grab im Busento

In my possession is the autograph manuscript of the work "Das Grab im Busento" for men's choir and orchestra by Paul Büttner. The work sets the famous poem by August von Platen to music. The manuscript gives no date and there are no references about this work in newspapers or music journals of that time. Therefore it is very likely that the work was composed before 1915, that means in a time when Paul Büttner and his compositions were only known to a small circle of persons in Dresden. My manuscript is the working manuscript, a fair copy is archived in the estate of Paul Büttner in the Saxonian State Library. A comparison of these two manuscripts showed that Paul Büttner revised the first version of the piece quite intensively. Nevertheless I am presenting here the score of this first version for historical and information purposes. Interested musicians are advised to study both versions!

2) Symphony No.4 in B minor

In my possession are the autograph manuscripts of the movements 1 and 2 in full score from the Symphony No.4 in B minor. Both manuscripts are early versions of the movements and differ considerably from the final version. They are not dated, but regarding the history of the work were very likely written in 1914.

The first sketches for the symphony No.4 in B minor were penned down in 1912 and completed in 1914. At that point in time none of the three earlier symphonies by Büttner had been premiered. And so the completed 4th symphony also went into the drawer and waited for better times. That moment came a year later when Arthur Nikisch premiered the Symphony No.3 by Paul Büttner with great success. As a result his other symphonies came into attention as well. For that reason Paul Büttner looked into his Symphony No.4 and decided to revise the work. This was done between 1917 and 1919. The final version was then premiered on 18 March 1919 by the Staatskapelle Dresden under Hermann Ludwig Kutzschbach.

The final version of the Symphony No.4 calls for a large orchestra of 5 flutes, 4 oboes, 4 clarinets, 4 bassoons, 4 horns, piccolo cornet, 2 flugelhorns, 4 Wagner tubas, 3 trumpets, 4 trombones, 2 tubas, timpani, glockenspiel, percussion, 2 harps, and a large strings section. The score of this original version was never published. Wilhelm Schabbel (1904-1974) made an arrangement for a "normal-sized" orchestra which was published by Edition Peters in the 1960s.

My edition of the Symphony No.4 is of course the complete, final and previously unpublished version of the work, typeset from a copy of the full score archived at the Saxonian State and University Library.

3) Anka

The opera "Anka" was composed in 1900 and uses the libretto by Max Halpern which was published in 1894. I found information that it was premiered in 1902, but could not verify this or find details about the persons involved in the first performance.

In my possession is the autograph full score of the opera "Anka", as well as an incomplete piano reduction (only up to scene 7 of 10).

4) Waldesrauschen

The work "Waldesrauschen" is scored for men's choir and orchestra. The work sets a poem by Stephan Milow to music. The manuscript gives no information about the year of composition.

In my possession is a copy of the autograph manuscript which is archived at the Saxonian State and University Library.

5) Two 4-part canons

In my possession is the copy of the autograph manuscript of "Two 4-part canons on texts by Goethe". The autograph manuscript is archived at the Saxonian State and University Library. There is no information when the work was composed.