Hans Rott facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hans Rott
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Hans Rott before 1884
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| Born |
Johann Nepomuk Karl Maria Rott
1 August 1858 |
| Died | 25 June 1884 (aged 25) Vienna, Austria-Hungary
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Notable work
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List of compositions |
Johann Nepomuk Karl Maria Rott (born August 1, 1858 – died June 25, 1884) was a talented Austrian composer and organ player. Even though his music is not widely known today, important musicians like Gustav Mahler and Anton Bruckner praised him during his time. He wrote a symphony and many songs called Lieder, along with other musical pieces.
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Life of Hans Rott
Hans Rott was born in Braunhirschengrund, a part of Vienna. His mother, Maria Rosalia, was an actress and singer. His father, Carl Mathias Rott, was a well-known funny actor in Vienna. Sadly, his father had an accident on stage in 1874, which left him unable to move well. He passed away two years later.
Hans Rott's Studies
After his father's accident, Hans was on his own to continue his studies at the Conservatory. Luckily, the school saw how skilled he was and knew he needed help with money. So, they let him study for free. While at the Conservatory, he shared a room for a short time with Gustav Mahler, who also became a famous composer.
Hans learned to play the piano from Leopold Landskron and Josef Dachs. He studied how to put music together (harmony and counterpoint) and how to compose with Franz Krenn. He also learned to play the organ from Anton Bruckner, starting in 1874. He finished Bruckner's organ class with high honors in 1877. Bruckner said that Rott played music by Johann Sebastian Bach very well. He could even make up music on the spot, which was a huge compliment because Bruckner himself was great at it. Rott was also inspired by the music of Richard Wagner; he went to the very first Bayreuth Festival in 1876.
Rott's Compositions
While studying, Rott also played the organ at the Piarist church "Maria Treu" in Vienna. In 1878, for his final year of studies, Rott entered a composition contest. He submitted the first part of his Symphony in E major. Most of the judges, except for Bruckner, did not like his work at all.
After finishing the whole Symphony in 1880, Rott tried to get it performed. He showed it to famous musicians like Johannes Brahms and Hans Richter. But his efforts did not work. Brahms did not like that Bruckner had a big influence on the students. He even told Rott that he had no talent and should stop making music.
Sadly, Rott faced many health struggles. Unlike Mahler, who was able to overcome difficulties, Rott became very unwell.
Hans Rott's Final Years
In October 1880, Rott started having strange and worrying thoughts. While on a train, he imagined that Brahms had filled the train with explosives.
In 1881, Rott went to a special hospital for people with health struggles. He felt a bit better for a short time, but then he became very sad and unwell again. By the end of 1883, doctors realized he was very ill and might not get better. He passed away from tuberculosis in 1884, at the young age of 25. Many people who cared about him, including Bruckner and Mahler, went to Rott's funeral at the Zentralfriedhof cemetery in Vienna.
Rott's Musical Legacy
Mahler wrote about Rott, calling him "a musician of genius." He said Rott "died unrecognized and in want on the very threshold of his career." Mahler believed that the world lost a lot of music because of Rott's early death. He felt Rott's Symphony in E major, written when Rott was only 20, showed him to be "the Founder of the New Symphony." Mahler felt a strong connection to Rott's music, saying they were "like two fruits from the same tree."
Thanks to Rott's friends, some of his music papers were saved. They are now kept in Vienna's national library. This collection includes Rott's Symphony in E major and ideas for a second symphony that he never finished. His completed symphony is amazing because it sounds a lot like some of Mahler's later music. For example, the third part of Rott's symphony sounds like the second part of Mahler's First Symphony. The very end of Rott's symphony even includes parts that remind you of Brahms's First Symphony.
Mahler also spoke highly of Rott's songs (Lieder). All eight of his surviving songs have been performed in concerts since 2002. Four of them were recorded in 2009. We also know about a Sextet that Rott wrote, but Mahler never heard it, and it has since been lost. In his last years, Rott wrote a lot of music, but he often destroyed it soon after, thinking it was not good enough.
Bruckner and Mahler were the first to see how talented Rott was. Mahler even used ideas from Rott's music in his own works. After Rott died, his music was mostly forgotten. His Symphony No. 1 in E major was not played for the first time until 1989. It was performed by the Cincinnati Philharmonia Orchestra. A CD recording of it was made soon after.
Since then, other recordings of his symphony have been released. Some of Rott's other works have also been played again, like his Julius Caesar Overture, Pastoral Overture, and Prelude for Orchestra.
Hans Rott is also a character in the mystery book Requiem in Vienna by J. Sydney Jones.
List of compositions
- Symphony in A flat major for string orchestra (1874–75)
- Menuet in D flat major for piano (1875)
- Fugue in C minor for piano duet (1876)
- Idyll in D major for piano (1876; incomplete)
- Scherzo in A minor for piano (1876; incomplete)
- Das Abendglöcklein, song for voice and piano (1876)
- Wanderers Nachtlied, song for voice and piano (1876)
- Geistergruß, song in F minor for voice and piano (1876)
- Marsch der Scharwache in C sharp minor for orchestra (1876; incomplete)
- Orchestervorspiel in E major (1876)
- Hamlet-Ouvertüre in A minor for orchestra (1876; incomplete)
- String Quartet in C minor (1876-1877)
- Suite in B flat major for orchestra (1877; incomplete)
- Ein Vorspiel zu 'Julius Cäsar' in B flat major for orchestra (1877)
- Suite in E major for orchestra (1878)
- Symphony [No.1] in E major for orchestra (1878–80)
- Der Sänger, song in D major for voice and piano (1880)
- Pastorales Vorspiel in F major for orchestra (1880)
- String Sextet (1880; sketches)
- Symphony [No.2] for orchestra (1880; sketches)
Recordings of Rott's Music
- 1989: Hans Rott – Symphonie E-Dur, Cincinnati Philharmonia Orchestra, Gerhard Samuel, Hyperion CDA 66366
- 1992: Hans Rott – Symphonie E-Dur, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Leif Segerstam, BIS CD-563
- 1997: Hans Rott - Symfonie in E, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Jac van Steen, ZOC9702
- 2002: Hans Rott – Symphonie E-Dur / Pastorales Vorspiel, Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Dennis Russell Davies, cpo 999 854-2
- 2002: Hans Rott – Symphonie in E-Dur, Philharmonia Hungarica, Christoph Campestrini
- 2003: Hans Rott – Symphonie E-Dur, Orchestre National de Montpellier, Friedemann Layer, AT 2001
- 2004: Hans Rott – Symphonie Nr. 1 E-Dur / Orchestervorspiel E-Dur / Ein Vorspiel zu "Julius Cäsar", Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Sebastian Weigle, ARTE NOVA Classics 82876 57748 2
- 2004: Hans Rott – Symphonie Nr. 1 E-Dur, Philharmonisches Orchester des Staatstheaters Mainz, Catherine Rückwardt, acousence ACO-CD20104
- 2005: Hans Rott – Suite in E-Dur / Gustav Mahler – »Titan«, Philharmonisches Orchester Hagen, Antony Hermus, acousence ACO-CD 20305
- 2005: Hans Rott – Symphonie für Streichorchester / Streichquartett c-Moll, Philharmonisches Orchester des Staatstheaters Mainz, Enrico Delamboye, Mainzer Streichquartett, acousence ACO-CD 20205
- 2012: Hans Rott – Sinfonie Nr. 1 in E-Dur, Suite für Orchester in B-Dur, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Paavo Järvi, RCA Red Seal (Sony Music)
- 2014: Hans Rott – Balde ruhest du auch! (orchestral version by Enjott Schneider), Sinfonie in E-Dur, Münchner Symphoniker, Hansjörg Albrecht, Oehms Classics (OC 1803)
- 2016: Hans Rott - Sinfonie Nr. 1 E-Dur, [Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Constantin Trinks (Profil Edition Hänssler, PH15051)
- 2020: Hans Rott - Orchestral Works, Vol. 1; Hamlet Overture, Prelude to ‘Julius Caesar’, Suite in E major, Suite in B-flat major, Pastoral Prelude in F major, Orchestral Prelude in E major, Gürzenich Orchester Köln, Christopher Ward (conductor), Capriccio
- 2021: Hans Rott: Symphony No. 1, Bamberger Symphoniker, Jakub Hrůša (conductor), Deutsche Grammophon
See also
In Spanish: Hans Rott para niños
