Carl August Peter Cornelius (1824 – 1874) was a
German composer, writer about music, poet and
translator. He was born in Mainz to Carl Joseph Gerhard
(1793–1843) and Friederike (1789–1867) Cornelius,
actors in Mainz and Wiesbaden. From an early age he
played the violin and composed, eventually studying
with Tekla Griebel-Wandall and composition with
Heinrich Esser in 1841. He lived with his painter uncle
Peter von Cornelius in Berlin from 1844 to 1852, and
during this time he met prominent...(+)
Carl August Peter Cornelius (1824 – 1874) was a
German composer, writer about music, poet and
translator. He was born in Mainz to Carl Joseph Gerhard
(1793–1843) and Friederike (1789–1867) Cornelius,
actors in Mainz and Wiesbaden. From an early age he
played the violin and composed, eventually studying
with Tekla Griebel-Wandall and composition with
Heinrich Esser in 1841. He lived with his painter uncle
Peter von Cornelius in Berlin from 1844 to 1852, and
during this time he met prominent figures such as
Alexander von Humboldt, the Brothers Grimm, Friedrich
Rückert and Felix Mendelssohn.
Cornelius's first mature works (including the opera Der
Barbier von Bagdad) were composed during his brief stay
in Weimar (1852–1858). His next place of residence
was Vienna, where he lived for five years. It was in
Vienna that Cornelius began a friendship with Richard
Wagner. At the latter's behest, Cornelius moved to
Munich in 1864, where he took a wife and fathered four
children.
In Britain to this day, Cornelius's best-known work is
"The Three Kings", a song for voice and piano in which
the soloist sings "Three Kings from Persian lands afar
...", while from the piano is heard the chorale tune of
Philipp Nicolai, Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern
("How brightly shines the morning star") underneath. An
arrangement by Ivor Atkins of "The Three Kings" for
solo voice and choir is included in the first volume of
the popular David Willcocks and Reginald Jacques
compilation Carols for Choirs.
During his last few years in Berlin, Cornelius wrote
music criticism for several major Berlin journals and
entered into friendships with Joseph von Eichendorff,
Paul Heyse and Hans von Bülow. Despite his
long-standing association with Wagner and Franz Liszt
(the latter on occasion sought Cornelius's advice when
it came to matters of orchestration), Cornelius's
relations with the so-called "New German School" of
composition were sometimes rocky. For instance, he did
not attend the premiere of Tristan und Isolde, using
the premiere of his own opera Der Cid as an excuse.
Weihnachtslieder (Christmas Songs), Op. 8, is a song
cycle of six lieder related to Christmas by Peter
Cornelius, who set his own poems for voice and piano in
1856. The full title is: Weihnachtslieder : ein Cyklus
für eine Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung : Op. 8 /
Text und Musik von Peter Cornelius. Cornelius dedicated
the songs to his sister, Elisabeth Schily. The song
"Die Könige" about the Biblical Magi has been
translated and published separately. English versions
come under the title "The Three Kings". It incorporates
in the piano accompaniment Philipp Nicolai's hymn "Wie
schön leuchtet der Morgenstern".
Cornelius composed the Weihnachtslieder on a
recommendation by Franz Liszt who also gave him ideas
such as quoting the melodies of related older Christmas
carols in the piano accompaniment. Cornelius, who was
also a gifted writer and had first pursued a career as
an actor, wrote the poems for the song cycle on six
topics. He followed Schumann in grouping his songs
around a theme. Cornelius adhered to a Protestant
theology of a new Pietism, initiated by August Neander
and termed Pektoraltheologie (theology of the heart).
Apparently he completed the text for a cycle before he
composed the music.
Cornelius composed the music for voice and piano in
1856. He revised them in 1859, but was not successful
finding a publisher. After the premiere on 29 January
1871, a review in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik noted
a rich creative mind whose work reached the depth of
the human soul ("Ein reicher, schöpferisch begabter
Geist tritt uns darin entgegen, ein Künstler, dessen
Werk unmittelbar begeisternd in das Tiefste der
Menschenseele hineingreift.").
The song "Die Könige" (No. 3, "The Kings") about the
Biblical Magi has become popular and has been
translated and published separately, as "Three kings
have come from the eastern land" and "Three Kings from
Persian lands afar", among others. Some English
versions are titled "The Three Kings". It was often
recorded in collections of Christmas carols. The music
was also arranged for choir.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Cornelius)
Although originally written for Accompanied low voice,
I created this arrangement of the "Christkind" (The
Christ Child) from "Weihnachtslieder" (Christmas Songs
Op. 8 No. 6) for Oboe & Piano.
SHEET MUSIC