Platonic Love and Mortal Danger
His Life and Work in a Nutshell [1]
Károly Goldmark (Karl or Carl Goldmark) (Keszthely, May 18, 1830 – Vienna, January 2, 1915) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer, violinist, and music educator of Jewish descent who spoke German as his native language.
Born into a poor cantor’s family, he achieved significant international recognition during his career as a composer.
His father, Szimche Ruben Goldmark, a native of Lublin (PL), had a fellow singer with whom the young Karl began his musical studies. He started to play the violin, and then continued his studies in Sopron and Vienna. His half-brother, József Goldmark, financed his education throughout.
For a long time, he studied on his own, and later had the opportunity to enrol at the Vienna Conservatory. During the Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–49, he worked as a theatre musician in Sopron and Győr.
After a brief stay in Buda, he returned to Vienna in 1851, where the Bettelheim family took him under their wing. It was through their support that Goldmark’s first concert featuring his own compositions took place in 1857. With a few brief interruptions, he spent the rest of his life in Vienna. In 1865, his overture Sakuntala was premiered, bringing him the long-awaited success.
After many setbacks surrounding its creation, the premiere of his opera The Queen of Sheba took place in Vienna in 1875, to tremendous acclaim. It was also a huge hit with audiences across Europe, bringing him international fame. He composed five more operas, but these met with only moderate success, with the exception of his last, Winter’s Tale.
A few months in Győr [1]
In 1848, Goldmark joined the volunteers in Sopron, whose aim was to hold back Jellasics’s armies. They did not succeed at that time and in that place. (Count Josip Jelačić von Bužim was a Croatian lieutenant field marshal in the Imperial Austrian Army and politician; as the Ban of Croatia, in September 1848 he led a military campaign against the Hungarian troops engaged in defending the revolution in and independence of Hungary in 1848-49. His army was eventually defeated during his march toward Pest and Buda; Wikipedia – ed.)
The composer then headed straight for his parents’ village, Sopronkeresztúr, where the elder Goldmark was an enthusiastic supporter of the Hungarian struggle for freedom. Károly realised that the war was making his parents’ lives even harder, so he soon began looking for work. In Sopron, the theatre’s director, Frigyes Kottaun, was just looking to expand the theatre orchestra at that time, so he hired Goldmark as a violinist for a monthly salary of eight forints. In the spring of 1849, Kottaun significantly expanded his company and also leased the theatre building in Győr. He offered Goldmark the chance to transfer his contract to the Győr theatre, with a higher salary than before; Goldmark accepted the offer and moved his base to the town on the River Rába.
On 20 May 1849, the young Goldmark achieved a solo success when he performed a violin concerto by Bériot before the Győr audience (Charles Auguste de Bériot, Leuven, 1802 – Brussels, 1870, Belgian composer and violinist – ed.). The jubilant reception from the Győr audience is attested to by contemporary local theatre reviews and theatre records. [2]
The theatre orchestra mainly performed occasional pieces (overtures, marches and popular music). Upon hearing the news of the liberation of Buda, they held a grand concert in aid of the families of the soldiers. It was then that Goldmark met János Schmidt, a Lutheran canon, who accompanied him on the piano at the concert. The canon wanted to form a quartet: his daughter played the piano, he played the organ and the double bass, and his son played the violin. He thought that Goldmark could be the fourth member of the ensemble.
Károly became a frequent guest at the canon’s house and developed a very close relationship with his daughter, Lina. Of course, marriage was out of the question, as the impoverished musician would not have been able to support a family; therefore, although the parents continued to welcome their protégé, they did not look favourably upon the relationship between the two young people. Following the Austrian occupation of Győr, the theatre closed its doors. It wasn’t long before the business went bankrupt; the theatre management quickly packed up and fled from their creditors. Goldmark was only able to bid farewell to Lina in a few lines.
By the winter of 1849–1850, Goldmark was once again a violinist at the theatre in Sopron.
Goldmark’s recollections of his stay in Győr [3]
In addition to their musical ties, Goldmark formed a close friendship with János Schmidt, the Lutheran cantor, and his family, who lived in the chapter house. In his book Memories from My Life, he recalled this as follows:
“Throughout my stay in Győr, I felt at home in the house of the Lutheran church cantor. The members of the Schmidt family were lovely people; the son was a fine violinist, whilst the charming daughter, Paulina, was an outstanding pianist. We played music almost every day; I felt a warm friendship towards the son and a quiet attraction towards the daughter.”
On 28 June 1849, the day of the Battle of Győr, Goldmark went out onto the battlefield out of curiosity, but nearly lost his life; in the confusion, he could barely find his way back into the town. He was worried about the Schmidt family, as the parish was within range of the Austrian cannons, so he went there to see how they were faring. (The Battle of Győr won by the Habsburg army took place during the Summer Campaign of the Hungarian War of Independence – Wikipedia – ed.).
“The Lutheran rectory where they lived, which was situated right next to the bridge over the Rábca on the right bank, was within firing range of the Austrian cannons. I had to find out if anything had happened to them. So I went out to see them.
The Schmidt family lived on the ground floor of the front part of the building. Their apartment was accessed via a long corridor. I went in and saw soldiers everywhere. The mother greeted me and signalled for me to be quiet; everyone was fine, but the children were down by the riverbank, on the side of the embankment, out of fear. Two Austrian soldiers were sitting in the corridor – lads from Vienna – and I sat down beside them and we chatted innocently. Just then, an officer appeared at the entrance to the corridor, shouting and swearing that his men still hadn’t been given any wine; he spotted me sitting there in the distance and shouted: ‘Who’s that lad over there? What’s he doing here? Dress him in uniform – he’s coming with us!’ – and he disappeared.”
Goldmark was dragged to the Austrian military headquarters, where someone accused him of insulting the emperor. They were on the verge of issuing an order to shoot him, but the lieutenant – who was an actor in civilian life – questioned him. Fortunately for Goldmark, his clothing, which had been worn out during the rough arrest, revealed his black-and-yellow braces; the major, presumably thinking that a rebellious Hungarian would not wear braces in the Austrian national colours, released him. He was escorted back to the rectory by four armed soldiers, one of whom – as it transpired on the way – was the brother-in-law of Goldmark’s theatre director.
The recollection continued as follows:
“At the parish, the Schmidt family welcomed me with shouts of joy; they had already thought me lost. I spent the night with them all in the church. The following morning, the Austrian troops were withdrawn and the Russians marched in (Imperial Russia was an ally of the Habsburgs providing support to put down the revolution and freedom fight of the Hungarians – ed.); I saw them passing by in endless columns. I was most interested in their military music, which consisted mainly of soft woodwind instruments, natural horns, basso ons, etc.”
Even in such circumstances, the musician in Goldmark still shone through.
Goldmark at the Jewish Roots in Győr World Reunion [4]
Students from the music department at the University of Győr performed one of the movements from Károly Goldmark’s Trio in E minor at a memorial concert held as part of the World Reunion organised to commemorate the deportation of Győr’s Jewish community in 1944 (Győr, 6 July 2024).
The memory of and respect for Goldmark, both as a person and for his musical legacy, live on in Győr.
Sources
[1] Wikipedia
[2] Országos Széchenyi Könyvtár
[3] Győri Szalon