From an early age, Van der Pals expressed himself as a composer, writing at least 50 works before the age of 18. He studied with Professor Julius Johannsen [de] (Van der Pals' grand father), Alexander Denéréas (Lausanne) and Reinhold Gliere (Berlin). Van der Pals also studied piano under Alexander Siloti and cello under Tom Canivez.
Leopold van der Pals debut as a composer took place in 1909 with Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Symphony nr. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 4) and an extensive tour of performances throughout Europe and America followed until WWII. The main part of his 252 works consists of music for singers (8 operas, 9 cantatas and 650 lieder), but it also includes orchestral works and chamber music. He was in close contact with authors, musicians, artists and poets his whole life. Among them were Rudolf Steiner, Andrei Belyj, Rainer Maria Rilke, Friedrich Lienhard, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Serge Koussevitzky and Alexander Scriabin.[1]
Leopold van der Pals was born into an artistic and aristocratic home in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire with a Dutch father and Danish mother. His father, Hendrik van Gilse van der Pals was the Dutch general counsel in Russia and director of the “Treugolnik” rubber factory.
At the age of 12, Leopold van der Pals started his musical training under his grandfather, Julius Johannsen, a Professor of counterpoint and director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory (Johannsen was himself a student of Felix Mendelssohn and Niels W. Gade). The van der Pals home was open to artists and musicians, and here, Leopold van der Pals heard concerts with Modest Tchaikovsky, Anton Arensky, Alexander Glazunov, Alexander Siloti, Pablo Casals, and many others.
At the age of 19 van der Pals left Russia to continue his studies in Lausanne, Switzerland, with the famous Swiss composer and music theory professor Alexander Denéréas, and the cellist Thomas Canivez. Here he formed a long lasting friendship with the conductor Ernest Ansermet. Van der Pals' education was closely supervised by Denéréas, and even when van der Pals was forced to stay in a sanatorium in Davos to recover from signs of tuberculosis, Denéréas visited him and they continued their studies.
In 1907, after four years of basic musical education in Lausanne, Van der Pals moved to Berlin and, on the recommendation of Sergei Rachmaninoff, he now received guidance and lessons by the Russian composer Reinhold Glière. Here, van der Pals formed a friendship with many musical personalities: Arthur Nikisch, Felix Weingartner, Siegmund von Hausegger, Gustav Havemann, Serge Koussevitsky and Alexander Scriabin among others. Here he also met the philosopherRudolf Steiner, who made a great impression on him and introduced the idea of metamorphosis, derived from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. At the time, Berlin was a melting pot of musical development in the wake of the romantic era. Van der Pals experimented with new harmonic ideas and alternative cadenzas. He shaped his personal expression, a hybrid of different styles such as romanticism, impressionism, free tonality and inspiration from Russian and Nordic folklore. It was here that he started to give his works opus numbers; all previous compositions were abandoned.
During the Berlin years, 1907–1915, van der Pals was very productive and composed his first 30 works, concentrating on large orchestral pieces and lieder. His First Symphony, Op. 4 was premiered in 1909 by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Heinrich Schulz. The Symphony was very well received in the press and this resulted in an extensive series of performances of his pieces throughout Europe and America.
In 1915, due to World War I, Van der Pals moved to Arlesheim in Switzerland with his wife Marussja and their young daughter Lea. Here he started his large series of compositions of chamber music for various ensembles. A string quartet, a piano trio, a duo for cello and violin and sonatas for piano, cello and violin.
In 1922 van der Pals completed his Second Symphony, Op. 51. However, the orchestration of this piece was interrupted when Leopold's wife Marussja fell ill; in order to treat her condition, the family was forced to leave Arlesheim. For a period of 11 years the family constantly traveled between sanatoriums in order to find a place suitable for Marussja's condition. During these years the family stayed in approximately 80 locations in Europe without a fixed home. This time was troublesome for Van der Pals. His wife's treatment was expensive and Leopold experienced great difficulty to follow and continue his career. He had no chance to travel and hear performances of his compositions. In spite of his difficulties he continued his work and in this period he composed the Third Symphony, "Rhapsody", Op. 73, the "Hodler Suite", Op. 74, based on four paintings by Ferdinand Hodler, and two operas, Der Berg des Heiligen Michael, Op. 71, and Eisenhand, Op. 85.
Marussja died in 1934. Her death affected Leopold deeply. He withdrew himself to Ascona, Switzerland, and mourned the loss of his wife. Here Van der Pals wrote 80 poems to her love and memory; 45 of them were put to music. The work became his Op. 96, In Memoriam with the subtitle ”Dem Geiste meiner Frau". He then finally settled down in Dornach in Switzerland, where he lived during the remaining 31 years of his life.
In the early 1930s, Van der Pals experienced the loss of many people close to him: his wife, his father, and several of his close friends. During this period, he composed his Requiem and the Third violin sonata, Op. 101, with the middle movement ”Marcia funebre”. He also now orchestrated the Second Symphony, Op. 51. The premiere of the symphony took place in Vienna in 1937, with his brother Nicolaï van Gilse van der Pals conducting. At the same concert, his Third symphony and Violin Concerto were also played.
Even though the interest in van der Pals’ music was extensive, the possibilities of performances were soon to be diminished. The climate for modern composers and artists suffered from the harsh political atmosphere and escalating international conflicts. With the start of World War II all possibilities were gone and many artists migrated to America where the conditions were better. Leopold decided to stay in Switzerland even though this meant to distance himself from the modern music environment. He never stopped creating, no matter which obstacles came his way. Apart from the 252 completed opuses, he also wrote poems, articles, reviews and librettos for all of his eight operas. At the time of Leopold's death on 1 February 1966 aged 83, his last piece, an opera called Isis was left on the piano unfinished.
Van der Pals married Maria (Marussja) von Beshe in St. Petersburg in 1907. They had one daughter, Lea van Gilse van der Pals, who became a renowned dancer and teacher, both in Dornach, Switzerland and internationally. One of Leopold's younger brothers, Nicolaï van Gilse van der Pals, was a conductor in Helsinki and elsewhere in Europe.
Leopold van der Pals wrote 252 opus, 43 Jugendwerke and a number of unfinished works. His oeuvre includes songs, chamber music, symphonies and eight operas.
Drei Stücke, für verschiedene Instrumente, Op. 154
-Pezzo lirico op. 154/1, für Harfe und Violoncello
-Pezzo elegiaco op. 154/2, für Oboe und Bratsche
-Pezzo giocoso op. 154/3, für Flöte und Violoncello
Pianotrio, Op. 56
Musik für Violine, Violoncello und Klavier, Op. 75 Nr. 2
Trio-Phantasie, Op. 192
Vorspiel zur Eurythmie, für Violine, Violoncello und Klavier, Op. 235
Stringtrio, Op. 107
I Streichquartett, Op. 33
II Streichquartett, Op. 66
III Streichquartett, “Metamorphosen”, Op. 79
IV Streichquartett, Op. 89
V Streichquartett, auch “4 kleine Stücke für Streichorchester”, Op. 144
VI Streichquartett, Op. 186
In Memoriam Marie Steiner, Op. 176
Musik zum Märchen «Schneeweisschen und Rosenrot», für Streichquartett und Klavier, Op. 171
Musik zu «Die Erwartung» (Schiller), für Streichquartett oder Klavier, Op.166
Musik zu «Pierrot lunaire» (Giraud, Ü: 0. E. Hartleben), für Oboe, Violine, Violoncello und Klavier, Op. 46
Tijdloos Gelaat, 3 Stücke für Flöte, Violine, Violoncello und Klavier, Op. 203
Leopold van der Pals, Symphony No.1 op in F sharp minor ”Fruling und Herbst” ,op 14. ”Wieland der Schmied”, op 23 Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Sweden. Conductor Johannes Goritzki. Recorded by CPO, Germany.
”Leopold van der Pals. Komponieren fur eine neue Kunst”. Dr Wolfram Graf. PhD thesis, ISBN3723511554
"Unter dem Zeichen des Rosenkreuzes. Leopold van der Pals' esoterische Schülerschaft bei Rudolf Steiner", ISBN3723512232
”Anthroposopfy im 20. Jahrhunder”. ”Ein Kulturimpuls in Biografischen Porträts” Bodo von Plato (Hg.), ISBN978-3-7235-1199-2"
"Compositori europei in pagine vocali o corali agli esordi del XX secolo: Carlevarini, L. Manenti E. Dagnino, Antonio ed Alfredo Cece, Alfredo Macchitella, Giuseppe Giacomantonio, Carlevarini, C.De Rosa, H. J. Pestalozzi, L. Tosi, Gilse Van Der Pals"; Dr Mario-Giuseppe Genesi in: "Archivio Storico Lodigiano",『Società Storica Lodigiana』Lodi (I), 2021,year CXL.
^Thallium, Michael (22 September 2022). González Padilla, Ayoze (ed.). "La increíble música de Leopold van der Pals". Numinis Revista de Filosofía (in Spanish). España. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
