Johann Carl Gottfried Loewe (30 November 1796 ? 20 April 1869), usually called Carl Loewe (sometimes seen as Karl Loewe), was a German composer, baritone singer and conductor. In his lifetime, his songs were well enough known for some to call him the "Schubert of North Germany", and Hugo Wolf came to admire his work. He is less known today, but a number of his 400 or so songs are still occasionally performed.
Loewe's earliest songs, such as the Acht Jugenlieder and the Anakreontische Lieder, follow the musical pattern of the late 18th century tradition, using a single melodic line, basic accompaniment, and mostly strophic and varied strophic forms. Under Zumsteeg?s influence, Loewe began incorporating and cultivating the ballad form into his vocal songs. When compared to other Lieder composers, Loewe?s rhapsodic composition style is said to have ?a striking absence of organic musical development? His settings of poetry separated poetic ideas and treated them episodically rather than using unifying motifs (like fellow Lieder composer, Franz Schubert). One of Loewe?s strengths as a composer was his ?daring and imaginative? accompaniments which were often complex and atmospherically appropriate to the text of the poem Text source : Wikipedia (Hide extended text) ... (Read all)
