Manfred Gurlitt
Encyclopedia
Manfred Gurlitt was a German
opera
composer
and conductor. He studied composition with Engelbert Humperdinck
, conducting with Karl Muck
, and piano with Moritz Mayer-Mahr. He was the great-nephew of the composer Cornelius Gurlitt.
From 1908 to 1910, he was a coach at the Berlin Court Opera, and then acted as musical assistant to Karl Muck at Bayreuth
. In 1911-12, he was second conductor in Essen
, then in Augsburg
for two years. in 1914 he was given the post of first conductor at the Bremen Stadttheater, a job he held until 1924 when he was made their general music director. In 1920 he founded a Society for New Music in Bremen to encourage avant-garde and rarely heard pre-classical works.
His opera Wozzeck (1926), after the play by Georg Büchner
, appeared four months after the opera of the same title by Alban Berg
and has remained in its shadow. Nevertheless its premiere in Bremen on 22 April 1926 attracted much attention at the time and marked the zenith of Gurlitt's career. Malicious gossip, claiming 'debauchery and loose living', caused him to move to Berlin in 1927 where he taught at the Charlottenburg Musikhochschule, and conducted for the Staatsoper, Krolloper, Max Reinhardt
's Deutsches Theater and Berlin Radio.
Gurlitt's music was banned by the Nazis when they assumed power, but his presence in Berlin was tolerated as he undertook to bring his music in line with the aethetics of the Third Reich. Gurlitt was then a member of the Nazi party from May 1, 1933 until being ejected from the party by court order on May 3, 1937. The court declared (falsely as it turned out) that Gurlitt had Jewish ancestry. In order to avoid being arrested by the Gestapo, he emigrated to Japan in 1939 where he became active as an opera conductor with Fujiwara Yoshie's company, the Fujiwara Opera
, and, in 1940, became Musical Director of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra
. In these positions he presented the Japanese premieres of many works from the standard repertoire by Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss
. Gurlitt's attitude to the Nazi regime remained equivocal, and he was a regular guest at the German Embassy in Tokyo. In 1953 he founded his own Gurlitt Opera Company in Tokyo, and in 1969 he became a professor at the Showa College of Music.
In 1955 he returned to Germany for a tour conducting his own works, but it was not a success - his idiom was judged passé. The following year he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross of the German Federal Republic's order of merit, but he ceased to compose and never returned to live in Germany, bitter at the neglect of his music in post-war Germany.
He also wrote Soldaten (1930) after the play by Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz
and Nana (1933) after the novel by Émile Zola
. In the former he anticipated the operatic treatment of the same text by Bernd Alois Zimmermann
, while in Nana he was taking on a subject similar to the exactly contemporary Lulu by Berg.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and conductor. He studied composition with Engelbert Humperdinck
Engelbert Humperdinck
Engelbert Humperdinck was a German composer, best known for his opera, Hänsel und Gretel. Humperdinck was born at Siegburg in the Rhine Province; at the age of 67 he died in Neustrelitz, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.-Life:After receiving piano lessons, Humperdinck produced his first composition...
, conducting with Karl Muck
Karl Muck
Karl Muck was a German-born conductor of classical music. He based his activities principally in Europe and mostly in opera. His American career comprised two stints at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He endured a public outcry in 1917 that questioned whether his loyalties lay with Germany or the...
, and piano with Moritz Mayer-Mahr. He was the great-nephew of the composer Cornelius Gurlitt.
From 1908 to 1910, he was a coach at the Berlin Court Opera, and then acted as musical assistant to Karl Muck at Bayreuth
Bayreuth Festspielhaus
The or Bayreuth Festival Theatre is an opera house north of Bayreuth, Germany, dedicated solely to the performance of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner...
. In 1911-12, he was second conductor in Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
, then in Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
for two years. in 1914 he was given the post of first conductor at the Bremen Stadttheater, a job he held until 1924 when he was made their general music director. In 1920 he founded a Society for New Music in Bremen to encourage avant-garde and rarely heard pre-classical works.
His opera Wozzeck (1926), after the play by Georg Büchner
Georg Büchner
Karl Georg Büchner was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose. He was the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchner. Büchner's talent is generally held in great esteem in Germany...
, appeared four months after the opera of the same title by Alban Berg
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
and has remained in its shadow. Nevertheless its premiere in Bremen on 22 April 1926 attracted much attention at the time and marked the zenith of Gurlitt's career. Malicious gossip, claiming 'debauchery and loose living', caused him to move to Berlin in 1927 where he taught at the Charlottenburg Musikhochschule, and conducted for the Staatsoper, Krolloper, Max Reinhardt
Max Reinhardt
----Max Reinhardt was an Austrian theater and film director and actor.-Biography:...
's Deutsches Theater and Berlin Radio.
Gurlitt's music was banned by the Nazis when they assumed power, but his presence in Berlin was tolerated as he undertook to bring his music in line with the aethetics of the Third Reich. Gurlitt was then a member of the Nazi party from May 1, 1933 until being ejected from the party by court order on May 3, 1937. The court declared (falsely as it turned out) that Gurlitt had Jewish ancestry. In order to avoid being arrested by the Gestapo, he emigrated to Japan in 1939 where he became active as an opera conductor with Fujiwara Yoshie's company, the Fujiwara Opera
Fujiwara Opera
The is an opera company located in Tokyo, Japan and is notably that nation's first and oldest professional opera company. It was founded in 1934 by operatic tenor Yoshie Fujiwara...
, and, in 1940, became Musical Director of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra
Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra
The claims to be the oldest classical orchestra in Japan, having been founded in Nagoya in 1911. It moved to Tokyo in 1938 and has some 166 members as of 2005....
. In these positions he presented the Japanese premieres of many works from the standard repertoire by Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
. Gurlitt's attitude to the Nazi regime remained equivocal, and he was a regular guest at the German Embassy in Tokyo. In 1953 he founded his own Gurlitt Opera Company in Tokyo, and in 1969 he became a professor at the Showa College of Music.
In 1955 he returned to Germany for a tour conducting his own works, but it was not a success - his idiom was judged passé. The following year he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross of the German Federal Republic's order of merit, but he ceased to compose and never returned to live in Germany, bitter at the neglect of his music in post-war Germany.
He also wrote Soldaten (1930) after the play by Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz
Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz
Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz was a Baltic German writer of the Sturm und Drang movement.-Life:...
and Nana (1933) after the novel by Émile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
. In the former he anticipated the operatic treatment of the same text by Bernd Alois Zimmermann
Bernd Alois Zimmermann
Bernd Alois Zimmermann was a post-WWII West German composer. He is perhaps best known for his opera Die Soldaten which is regarded as one of the most important operas of the 20th century...
, while in Nana he was taking on a subject similar to the exactly contemporary Lulu by Berg.
Operas
- Die Heilige 'musical legend' in 3 parts after Carl Hauptmann
- 27 January 1920, Bremen
- Wozzeck 'musical tragedy' in 18 scenes and one epilogue, op. 16 after Georg BüchnerGeorg BüchnerKarl Georg Büchner was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose. He was the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchner. Büchner's talent is generally held in great esteem in Germany...
- 22 April 1926, Bremen
- Soldaten opera in 3 acts after Jakob Michael Reinhold LenzJakob Michael Reinhold LenzJakob Michael Reinhold Lenz was a Baltic German writer of the Sturm und Drang movement.-Life:...
- 9 November 1930, Düsseldorf
- Nana opera in 4 acts (1931/32) after Émile ZolaÉmile ZolaÉmile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
/Max BrodMax BrodMax Brod was a German-speaking Czech Jewish, later Israeli, author, composer, and journalist. Although he was a prolific writer in his own right, he is most famous as the friend and biographer of Franz Kafka...
- 16 April 1958, Dortmund
- Nächtlicher Spuk opera in 3 acts (1934-1936) after Paul Knudsen
- Warum? opera in a prologue, 4 acts, and sequel (1934-1936/1942-1945)
- Nordische Ballade opera in 4 acts (1934/44) after Selma LagerlöfSelma LagerlöfSelma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf was a Swedish author. She was the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, and most widely known for her children's book Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige ....
/Manfred Gurlitt - Wir schreitten aus (1958)
Orchestral Works
- Violin Concerto (after 1933)
- Cello Concerto (after 1933)
- Goya Symphony (1938-39)
- Shakespeare Symphony (1952-54)