Edmund Samuel Eysler (12 March, 1874 – 4 October, 1949), was an
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
n
composerA composer is a person who creates music, usually by musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of...
.
Edmund Eysler was born in Vienna to a merchant family. He was supposed to enter the engineering profession, but his acquaintance with
Leo FallLeo Fall was an Austrian composer of operettas.Born in Olmütz , Leo Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall , a bandmaster and composer, who settled in Berlin. The younger Fall studied at the Vienna Conservatory before rejoining his father and the varied musical life of Berlin...
led him to study
musicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
at the Vienna Conservatory, where he studied
compositionMusical composition is:* an original piece of music* the structure of a musical piece* the process of creating a new piece of music- Musical compositions :...
under
Robert FuchsRobert Fuchs was an Austrian composer and music teacher.As Professor of music theory at the Vienna Conservatory, Fuchs taught many notable composers, while he was himself a highly regarded composer in his lifetime.-Biography:He was born in Frauental an der Laßnitz in Styria in 1847 as the youngest...
, and became educated as a piano teacher and Kapellmeister. After completing his degree with many plaudits, Eysler made ends meet by teaching piano.
In 1898, he married Poldi Allnoch, with whom he would have two daughters, and in 1901, he found a position as a Kapellmeister.
Edmund Samuel Eysler (12 March, 1874 – 4 October, 1949), was an
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
n
composerA composer is a person who creates music, usually by musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of...
.
Biography
Edmund Eysler was born in Vienna to a merchant family. He was supposed to enter the engineering profession, but his acquaintance with
Leo FallLeo Fall was an Austrian composer of operettas.Born in Olmütz , Leo Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall , a bandmaster and composer, who settled in Berlin. The younger Fall studied at the Vienna Conservatory before rejoining his father and the varied musical life of Berlin...
led him to study
musicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
at the Vienna Conservatory, where he studied
compositionMusical composition is:* an original piece of music* the structure of a musical piece* the process of creating a new piece of music- Musical compositions :...
under
Robert FuchsRobert Fuchs was an Austrian composer and music teacher.As Professor of music theory at the Vienna Conservatory, Fuchs taught many notable composers, while he was himself a highly regarded composer in his lifetime.-Biography:He was born in Frauental an der Laßnitz in Styria in 1847 as the youngest...
, and became educated as a piano teacher and Kapellmeister. After completing his degree with many plaudits, Eysler made ends meet by teaching piano.
In 1898, he married Poldi Allnoch, with whom he would have two daughters, and in 1901, he found a position as a Kapellmeister. After that, he composed chamber music and piano pieces, as well as the opera
Fest auf Solhaug (
Celebration on Solhaug), and the ballet
Schlaraffenland.
Through a magnanimous relative, Eysler met the librettist Ignaz Schnitzer, who was compiling the text for
Zigeunerbaron (
Gypsy King). Eysler was given the task of setting this text to the opera
Der Hexenspiegel (
The Witches' Mirror) by Schnitzer. Originally, the work was supposed to be staged at the Vienna Court Opera upon completion, but it was spurned by the director for having overly simple music. Josef Weinberger encouraged Eysler to turn the music for
Hexenspiegel into an operetta. It became the operetta
Bruder Straubinger, which was a big success on its premiere on 20 February, 1903, with Alexander Girardi in the main role.
Eysler composed the operetta
Der unsterbliche Lump (
The Immortal Blight), with a libretto by Felix Dörmann, for the Vienna
BürgertheaterThe Bürgertheater was a theatre in Vienna.The Wiener Bürgertheater was erected in 1905 in the Third District , at Vordere Zollamtsstraße 13. It was designed by the architects Franz von Krauss and Josef Tölk. The official opening took place on December 7, 1905, with the performance of Der alte Herr...
. On 14 October, 1910, this work was performed for the first time, with overwhelming success. Critics claimed Eysler's operetta signalled a change in the genre. The composer's music was praised, especially the solid instrumentation and the simple harmonies. The success ensured that Eysler would remain the Bürgertheater's "house composer". On 23 December, 1911, his newest operetta,
Der Frauenfresser (
The Woman-Eater) was also well received. This was followed by the premiere of
Der lachende Ehemann (
The laughing groom) in March 1913. What was especially well-received by reviewers were the catchy, unpretentious melodies. This work had been performed 1793 times by 1921. Even during the years of
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, more and more of Eysler's operettas were staged at the Vienna Bürgertheater every season, such as
Frühling am Rhein (
Rhine Spring),
Die - oder Keine! (
That One - Or No One) und
Der dunkle Schatz (
The Dark Treasure). After the end of
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, Eysler published one further, very successful operetta,
Die gold’ne Meisterin (
The Golden Mistress), which was very successful in Vienna.
Due to Eysler's
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
ish background, his works were banned from being performed by the
NazisNazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
, leading
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
to discover that his favourite operetta,
Die gold'ne Meisterin, was by a Jew. Instead of fleeing immediately, he found shelter with relatives and friends. The title of
Honoured Citizen of Vienna gave him a certain protection. After the war, he achieved his last great success with the operetta
Wiener Musik (
Viennese Music), which premiered on 22 December, 1947 at the Bürgertheater. For his 75th birthday, he was given the Ring of Honour by the city, and the memorial plaque on his birthplace in Thelemanngasse, which had been removed during the time of the Nazis, was reinstated.
Eysler died on 4 October, 1949, in Vienna as a consequence of a fall from the stage, and was buried in a grave of honour at the central graveyard in Vienna. With a total of 60 operettas, Eysler's influence in shaping the Austrian music environment of the time was felt very strongly. International success was less forthcoming because Eysler's music was Vienna-centric and based on local folklore.
Awards
- Bürger ehrenhalber der Stadt Wien (conferred on 7 October, 1927) (Honoured Citizen of the City of Vienna)
- Träger des Goldenen Ehrenzeichens der Republik Österreich (conferred on 27 March, 1934) (Bearer of the Golden Symbol of Honour of the Republic of Austria)
- Ehrenring der Stadt Wien (conferred in 1949) (Ring of Honour of the City of Vienna)
Operas
- Der Hexenspiegel (1900) (The Witches' Mirror)
- Fest auf Solhaug (Celebration on Solhaug)
Operettas
- Das Gastmahl des Lucullus (1901) (Lucullus' Banquet)
- Bruder Straubinger (1903) (Brother Straubinger)
- Die Schützenliesel (1905)
- Künstlerblut (1906) (Artists' Blood)
- Vera Violetta (1907)
- Das Glücksschweinchen (1908) (The Lucky Pig)
- Der unsterbliche Lump (1910) (The Undying Blight)
- Das Zirkuskind (1911) (The Circus Child)
- Der Frauenfresser (1911) (The Woman-Eater)
- Ein Tag im Paradies (1913) (One Day in Paradise; adapted on Broadway as The Blue Paradise
The Blue Paradise is a musical with music by Edmund Eysler and Sigmund Romberg, lyrics by Herbert Reynolds, and a book by Edgar Smith, based on the operetta Ein Tag im Paradies by Eysler with original text by Leo Stein and Bela Jenbach. The story is set in a Viennese cafe, where a man realizes...
)
- Der lachende Ehemann (1913) (The Laughing Groom)
- Hanni geht tanzen! (1916) (Hanni Goes Dancing!)
- Die fromme Helene (1921) (Pious Helene)
- Die gold'ne Meisterin (1927) (The Golden Mistress)
- Donauliebchen (1932) (Danube Sweetheart)
- Wiener Musik (1947) (Viennese Music)
Sources
Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent German-language wikipedia article (retrieved September, 2007).
External links