The Solitary Musician

A painting is static. Fixed in time.
 

Music is fleeting. As ephemeral as the wind.

When an artist lays down their brush,
the work is finished, ready to be viewed.

But a composer's notes can make no sound
without a musician to bring voice to them.

To do this, musicians spend
countless hours of their life alone,
studiously perfecting their skills
to recreate the composer's music.

It's usually a solitary pursuit,
though sometimes shared with a partner.
Yet it requires faithful dedication
to polish musical tones
into sparkling brilliance.

But it's only when the notes are shared,
harmony supporting melody,
that instrumentalists
blend into one unified sound.
In that brief time
the composer's musical notation
is magically transformed
into an intangible art form
that is heard but not seen.

It takes a talented artist
who can illustrate the earnest effort
it takes to make music.

These solo musicians
may remain immobile on the canvas
but in our imagination
we can hear them play.

* * *

The artist of this series of five paintings of musicians, reproduced as postcards, was Paul Stubbe,. (1874–1950). He was born in Neustettin, now Szczecinek, Poland, in 1874 when it was in a region of Germany called Middle Pomerania, about 60 miles south of the Baltic Sea. As a young boy he showed promising artistic talent, but his father, a merchant, directed him to a more secure profession as a doctor. Stubbe was sent to Strasbourg where he studied both medicine and art. He pursued more training in Munich before  returning to Neustettin in 1904 to take up a physician's practice. Within a few years he found such success as both a doctor and artist, that in 1907 Dr. Stubbe became the first person in his hometown to own an automobile.

During World War 1, Stubbe served as a doctor on a German hospital ship. When the war ended, Neustettin became part of Poland, so Dr. Stubbe moved to Hamburg, Germany. There he found employment as a commercial ship doctor which allowed him to travel the world. Unfortunately in the next war, bombing raids struck his home and studio in Hamburg destroying his artwork. After the war he tried to recreate some of his paintings, and I suspect his series of musicians may come from that postwar time. Paul Stubbe died in Hamburg on May 14, 1950. Much of what remains of his art is preserved at the Regional Museum in Szczecinek, where I found his history. 

Paul Stubbe's painting of the horn player
is aptly entitled:

Mit voller Kraft
~
With full Power

The title of his painting of a trombonist
is appropriately called:

Fortissimo
~
Very Loud

The title of the forlorn violinist is:

Melancholie
~
Melancholy

The flutist performing for his wife is called:

Aus der Jugendzeit
~
From the Youth

The wind quartet
of oboe, bassoon, clarinet, and horn
is entitled:

Das Dorfquartett
~
The Village Quartet

None of the postcards ever went through the mail
but the artist's name in printed on the back.
Kleins Künstlerpostkarten
Paul Stubbe: (title)

The publisher was Kleins Buch und Kunstverlag GmbH, of Lengerich in Westfalia, Germany. This family-owned company was established by Alwin Klein in 1892, with a specialty for printing books and fine art. In 1922 it began producing paper sacks for the cement industry, and today the firm Bischof + Klein has become a major manufacturer of plastic packaging. 

It is difficult to place a date on these postcards, but to me the feel of the paper and print seem more suited to the 1950s than any earlier decade. Still I can't be certain that they may date from the 1930s or 1970s too. Since each postcard is numbered on the back, I do know that there are at least 6 in this series, of which I have found 5. With luck I will find the missing number with a postmark to establish the era. {See UPDATE below!}

 

I suspect these amusing caricature paintings by Paul Stubbe came from an early time in his career, possibly made when he lived in Munich at the turn of the 20th century. It was then, as now, a very musical city and no doubt an inspiring place for a young observant artist/doctor. His paintings have a wistful romantic quality that I initially admired for their gentle wit, but recently I've recognized myself and other musician friends in Stubbe's images.

The solitary activity of a musician practicing their art is still true today as it was in 1895. But Stubbe added an element of sorrow to his paintings that resonates with the isolation musicians everywhere have endured over the past few months. Music is an art form that requires a connection between both performer and listener, and one of the many consequences of this dreadful pandemic is the sharp break in that dynamic interaction. With theaters and concert halls closed, musicians are forced into a quarantine that sadly resembles the gloomy rooms depicted in Stubbe's paintings. Usually it is music that renders the sadness of the heart. Here it is art that mirrors the anguish of arrested music.

UPDATE:

 

Hooray!
I found it.
 

The missing sixth postcard
depicts a solitary clarinetist.
The short length of his instrument
suggests he is an E-flat clarinetist,
who are the most solitary of all clarinet players.

Stubbe places his solo musician
standing with his music stand
in the sunlit half of a dark interior room.
The title is:

Sein Morgenlied
~
His Morning Song

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where the motto of the day is
keep calm and watch your step.