Alexander Albrecht

Alexander Albrecht was a composer, conductor, and educator. He was one of the first composers of the 20th century from the territory of present-day Bratislava whose music was known even abroad. He is among the most important representatives of Slovak musical life in the early decades of the 20th century (the so-called "old Slovak generation of composers," Hrušovský, 1964: Mikuláš Moyzes, Viliam Figuš-Bystrý, Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský, Alexander Albrecht, Frico Kafenda).

During his grammar school studies (1895–1903), he became friends with Béla Bartók and Ernő Dohnányi, with whom he actively participated in the musical life of both the school and the city.

In 1921, he took up the position of conductor and director of the Church Music Society in Bratislava (Kirchenmusikverein zu St. Martin). Within a few years, the artistic quality of the choir’s performances significantly improved, and its repertoire was expanded to include contemporary music. After the society ceased its activities in 1952, he focused more intensively on composition. In the same year, the city music school also ceased to exist. However, even after the end of his public teaching career, Albrecht remained in contact with young musicians, and by broadening their artistic and aesthetic horizons, he greatly influenced the careers of many emerging composers (Ivan Parík, Dušan Martinček).

He drew from late Romantic influences but transformed them through his distinctive lyrical style, characterized by restraint, balance, and the expressive power of his artistic message.

"The determining factor in Albrecht's musical composition development was as a current reaction to the new formed aesthetic criteria. His mental (thought) horizon encompassed pan-European context, thanks to which he was able to accept a wide range of stimuli. He diversified himself from the general rule of the Romantic idiom, which he teamed up with current trends, adding his own stamp of personality to it.

In his early years (until 1925) Albrecht's work was based on the German romantic tradition, especially Brahms. From his contemporaries he was close to Reger, but sometimes he also used elements of impressionism and expressionism. He was a strong synthesizer: messages from the past he confronted with the present; the classic texture of his compositions was balanced with a new way of music display. Even on a small scale in Albrecht's work we can recognize his individual compositional methods where variatoins play a major role.

Chamber music represents the major area of Albrecht's work (Piano Quintet, String Quintet D Major, Three Poems Of The Cycle Das Marienleben and others). The development of his musical language can be observed also in his extensive songs, which have points in common with romantic song works (Schubert, Schumann), but used harmonic progressions and application of modern elements exceeding the boundaries of romanticism (Rosenzeit, A szépség himnusz and others). In the years 1925 – 1945 Albrecht was using rich counterpoint work, courageous harmonic progressions (oscillation of seventh and ninth chords over the bass line), and he was leaning toward atonality and ideals of New Objectivity (Sonatina for 11 instruments, Tobias Wunderlich, Cantate Dominum and others). In the years 1946 – 1957 his music language simplified, combining elements of neoclassicism and folklorisms. Works as Variations, „Šuhajko“ and Concertant Suite for viola and piano were created by the transformation of elements of Slovak folklore connecting with his own individual technique. In the last period of his life the author was processing, transcribing and reviewing his own older works (Christmas, Six Pieces for string trio) and composing music-didactic literature.

Albrecht was a personality with extensive knowledge in the field of philosophy, art history and literature and law. He approached the human mind with sincere admiration and respect and had a positive attitude towards progress and nature, which served him as a constant source of inspiration. It is valuable to view Albrect's poetics, as he offered his rich literary and essayistic activity partly by publishing in newspapers or within radio broadcasting."

(ŠEBESTOVÁ, Astrid: Alexander Albrecht. In: A Hundred Slovak Composers. Eds. Marián Jurík, Peter Zagar, Bratislava : National Music Centre Slovakia, 1998, p. 13.)