Kurt Pahlen

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Kurt Pahlen (2002)

Kurt Pahlen (born May 26, 1907 in Vienna ; † July 24, 2003 in Lenk , Bernese Oberland ) was an Austrian conductor and musicologist .

Life

At the age of seven, Kurt Pahlen lost his father, the accompanist Richard Pahlen (1874–1914). The mother married for the second time, the banker Dr. Paul Raumann , and moved with him and their son to Berlin-Schmargendorf . Kurt Pahlen studied musicology and German in his hometown of Vienna . In addition, he completed an apprenticeship as a conductor at the Vienna Music Academy . In 1929 he received his doctorate as Dr. phil.

After his initial success as Kapellmeister of the Vienna Volksoper and appreciated by the Revolutionary Socialists of Austria as a choirmaster, he directed the music events at the Ottakring Volkshochschule . He was a conductor at Radio Wien and with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and founded an opera studio on Ludo-Hartmann-Platz in the working-class district of Ottakring. Although Pahlen said he was not personally endangered by National Socialism , Pahlen did not return from a stay in Zurich in 1938 and emigrated to Argentina in 1939. In Buenos Aires he was general music director and head of the Filarmònica Metropolitana , in which the Austrian emigrant Estéban Eitler also played. Pahlen then went to the Universidad de la República in Montevideo as a professor and was the founder and holder of the chair for the history of music . For many years he was director of the famous Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires; also taught at the Pestalozzi School in Buenos Aires . During those years he made friends with Manuel de Falla , Paul Hindemith and Erich Wolfgang Korngold , who was also from Vienna .

After the end of the Third Reich conducted Pahlen in the Vienna State Opera , the Zurich Opera House , Basel Theater , City Theater Bern , Baden State Theater Karlsruhe and in other houses. He played with the NDR symphony orchestra , the Orchester de la Suisse Romande , the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg and other orchestras. In the early 1970s Pahlen returned to Switzerland and settled in Männedorf . He was a professor at the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House. He led masterclasses and was president of the forum for music and movement in Lenk. He was a visiting professor at the University of Buenos Aires , the National University of La Plata , the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro , the National Autonomous University of Mexico , the Benemérita Autonomous University of Puebla , the Universidad de Monterrey , the Universidad Veracruzana and others.

He died of a fall during the music days he organized for children in the Lenk.

Honors

Publications

Since 1944 Pahlen has written over 40 books, some of which have been translated into 16 languages. His radio and television broadcasts as well as his introductory lectures at the Salzburg Easter Festival , Verona Opera Festival , Munich Opera Festival , Wiener Festwochen and Bregenz Festival made him known to a large audience. Not only opera-goers, but also musicians, singers and conductors appreciate the guides to famous works of musical theater published by him in the series “Operas of the World”.

  • Music history of the world . Zurich 1947
  • Manuel de Falla and the music in Spain. Walter, Olten 1953
  • Music lexicon of the world . Zurich 1956
  • Tchaikovsky. A picture of life . Stuttgart 1959
  • Music. An introduction . Zurich 1965
  • Symphony of the world . 1967
  • Man and music . 1974
  • Oratorios of the world . 1985
  • The great epochs of western music . 1991
  • The book of folk songs. 176 folk songs from eight centuries . 1998
  • The great history of music . 2002 (revised new edition of The Great Epochs ...)
  • Series Operas of the World - the great works of opera literature (one volume each on a well-known work of music theater with text book, introduction and commentary)
  • Yes, time changes a lot. My century with music (autobiography). Munich 2001, ISBN 3-421-05462-2

literature

Web links

Commons : Kurt Pahlen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Exile archive
  2. ^ Kurt Pahlen , in: Kurt Pahlen: Richard Wagner. Parsifal. Complete text and explanation for a full understanding of the work . Munich 1981, p. 303
  3. ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB)
personal data
SURNAME Pahlen, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian conductor, composer and musicologist
DATE OF BIRTH May 26, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH July 24, 2003
Place of death Lenk , Bernese Oberland