Walter Braunfels studied law and economics at the university in Munich until he attended a performance of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, after which he decided to pursue a career in music.; The compositions of Braunfels died twice: When the Nazis rose to power and Braunfels was listed as half-Jewish, his music was deemed “degenerate art”, and again when Germany post WWII cast off the schools of tonal music and considered all pre-war music to be tainted.; Braunfels’ talent at drama shows through in his songs, and both these and his operas show a vigilant thoughtfulness of texts. As featured soprano Marlis Peterson states, the songs are “real jewels of the art of Lied: simple, deeply touching airs.”
