Carl Erdmann Graf von Pückler-Burghauss

Carl Erdmann Graf von Pückler-Burghauss was born on 1 October 1857 in Neudorf near Reichenbach (at that time the Kingdom of Prussia, today Dzierzoniow in Poland). He was born into the Silesian aristocratic Pückler-Burghauss family, the son of Karl Alexander Ludwig Graf von Pückler-Burghauss, a Prussian chamberlain and estate administrator, and Caroline Gräfin von Pückler-Burghauss, nee Princess Reuss. He attended the Gymnasium of St. Mary Magdalene in Breslau, graduating in 1876, and studied law at the University of Breslau until 1879. After briefly serving in the Prussian Army, he entered the diplomatic service in the late 1880s.
In the following decades, Pückler held diplomatic posts in several European capitals, including Saint Petersburg, Madrid, Rome, London, Vienna, and again Saint Petersburg. From 1902 to 1907 he served as German envoy to Luxembourg, and from 1908 to 1911 as envoy to Sweden. He retired from diplomatic service in 1911 and returned to Silesia, where he managed the family estate in Ober-Weistritz.
Apparently, in his retirement Carl Erdmann Graf von Pückler-Burghauss devoted himself intensively to music and piano playing, as from 1921 until 1938 concert appearances featuring him can be regularly documented, in which he performed exclusively Beethoven sonatas. In this role, he is referred to in reports as “Graf Pückler” or “Carl Pückler.” His Beethoven interpretations received a respectable degree of attention; for example, in reports on the major chamber music festival “pro Arte” by George Cocea in Bucharest in 1933, three pianists were mentioned in the press: Claudio Arrau, Paul Wittgenstein, and Graf Pückler.
In addition to his pianistic activity, Carl Erdmann Graf von Pückler-Burghauss also composed his own works. These consisted exclusively of piano compositions such as sonatas and fantasies, which he published under the name “Carl Groditz.”
Carl Erdmann Graf von Pückler-Burghauss died on 14 April 1943 in Ober-Weistritz (at that time part of the German Reich, today Bystrzyca Gorna in Poland).

In my possession is the autograph manuscript of the piano composition "Auf Flügeln" by Carl Erdmann Graf von Pückler-Burghauss. The work is dedicated to pianist Elly Ney and signed by the composer with "C. Groditz". The manuscript is accompanied by a handwritten letter by Carl Erdmann Graf von Pückler-Burghauss to Elly Ney that is dated 1 September 1939. The work was composed very likely the same year.