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FormatJournal Article
Author, AnalyticOstoyich, Kevin
Title, AnalyticThe Sound and Silence of the German American Apollo: The Musical Score of Eugen Klee and the Kaiser Prize
Journal TitlePennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies
Date of PublicationWinter 2016
Volume ID83
Issue ID1
Location in Work58-96
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AbstractThe article introduces the Kaiser Prize—the most coveted award in the German American world of Lieder—and the man who won it twice, Eugen Klee. Klee arrived in Philadelphia in the 1890s from Otterberg (Rhineland) and quickly established himself as the preeminent German choirmaster in the country—a true German American Apollo. In 1912 Klee won the Kaiser Prize and started a brief collaboration with Leopold Stokowski. In 1915 Klee won the Kaiser Prize again. Given that this second victory came during the First World War—and within three weeks of the sinking of the Lusitania—Klee had to content himself with a photograph of the prize. The actual prize did not arrive in America until 1927, by which time Klee’s life—like the music he conducted—was tracing a perdendo in America. In Eugen Klee’s personal story one hears the sound and silence within the score of German cultural influence in America.
Call NumberDigital file
MKI TermsKlee, Eugen, 1869-1929/ German Americans -- Societies, etc./ Social life and customs/ Philadelphia (Penn.)/ Cultural influence/ Festivals/ World War, 1914-1918