Berthold Kellermann

Berthold Kellermann (born March 5, 1853 in Nuremberg , † June 14, 1926 in Munich ) was a German pianist , piano teacher , conductor and university teacher.

Life

Berthold Kellermann around 1882

Berthold Kellermann around 1924

Berthold Kellermann spent his childhood and youth in what is now the city of Nuremberg. He grew up in a musical family: his mother was a talented singer, his father - a teacher at an agricultural school in what is now the Lichtenhof district - is a part-time church organist. The child receives his first piano lesson from him. Around 1864 Kellermann entered the Aegidianum grammar school in Nuremberg , which at the time was headed by the pedagogue Heinrich Wilhelm Heerwagen . In addition to high school, he attended the Ramann-Volkmann'sche music school in Nuremberg from 1866 to 1869 . His first public piano concert is attested for 1869 in Schweinfurt.

After suffering from severe typhoid fever, Kellermann was hired as a substitute teacher at the Ramann Volkmann Music School in 1870. In the same year, he and its director, Liszt biographer Lina Ramann , took part in the Tonkünstler meeting for the centenary of Beethoven's birthday in Weimar. On the occasion of this event, Kellermann will be presented to Franz Liszt .

Another meeting with Liszt took place on May 22, 1872 at the festivities for the laying of the foundation stone of the Bayreuth Festival Hall . Liszt is interested in the young musician; on June 23, 1872 he received him for a prelude to his apartment in Weimar and accepted him as a student.

Kellermann's studies with Liszt stretched from 1873 to 1878, in the first few years from April to October, later only for a few weeks in autumn. It is also Liszt who recommends Kellermann to move to Berlin in order to expand his general education there. From 1874 on, Kellermann attended numerous lectures at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Berlin , a. a. in the natural sciences, medicine, philosophy and music and art history. He earned his living initially with odd jobs, later increasingly as a piano teacher; from autumn 1875 to autumn 1876 he was employed at the New Academy of Music of the pianist Theodor Kullak .

At Liszt's invitation, Kellermann traveled to the 1st Bayreuth Festival in the summer of 1876 . There Julius Stern became aware of him and from autumn 1876 engaged him as a teacher at his private conservatory for music in Berlin.

On the recommendation of Franz Liszt, the first personal meeting with Richard Wagner took place in Bayreuth on September 28, 1878 . Wagner engaged Kellermann as a piano teacher for his daughters and also employed him as a copyist for his scores. At times Kellermann is also involved in the creation of the Parsifal piano reduction. In addition to these activities, he takes over the management of the Bayreuth Orchestra Association, which u. a. is responsible for opera performances at the Margravial Opera House . He is also the resident pianist of Duke Alexander von Württemberg , who resides near Bayreuth at Fantaisie Palace. Here Kellermann met his future wife Carola Baronesse von Freiesleben, to whom he got engaged in 1880.

The relationship between Kellermann and the Wagner family was soon marked by strong ambivalence. In 1881 Kellermann returned to his hometown Nuremberg, where he devoted himself to various teaching activities and concerts. An application to Karl Freiherr von Perfall at the Royal Bavarian Music School in Munich was unsuccessful in the autumn of the same year; Kellermann sees his commitment to the work of Franz Liszt as the reason for this. In 1882 he managed to get a job as an assistant teacher at the Royal Bavarian Music School; not until 1883 is there a permanent position. Kellermann's marriage to his fiancée Carola Baronesse von Freiesleben also took place in 1883.

In the following years Kellermann increasingly established himself in Munich. In 1884 he was accepted by the Munich Freemason Lodge 'Zurkette', which he chaired several times as a master . The daughter Sophie-Hermine was born on May 28, 1886, and the son Hellmut on February 10, 1891. In 1888 at the latest, Berthold Kellermann received a professorship and from 1905 he was given the direction of one of the newly established piano master classes, although he fundamentally doubts that it was sensible. In addition to his university activities, Kellermann gave private piano lessons, took over the musical direction of the Munich Academic Choir in 1892 and organized seminars for music teachers. The work of Franz Liszt plays a central role in his numerous concert appearances.

In 1917 Kellermann worked as an expert for bells and in this function was involved in the decision on preservation or utilization for military purposes. In the crisis year of 1919, he was finally appointed director of the Royal Academy of Music. In this position, Kellermann directs the fortunes of the university until the beginning of its profound realignment, which began at the end of 1920. Kellermann is retired in 1921. Well respected, he died on June 14, 1926 in Munich.

Known students

Franz Beier, Hofkapellmeister in Kassel from 1899–1914
Tilly Fleischmann (1882–1967)
Theo Kreiten (1887–1968)
Heinrich Laber (1880–1950)
Télémaque Lambrino (1878–1930)
Heinrich Kaspar Schmid (1874–1953)
Richard Sternfeld (1858–1926)
Richard Trunk (1879–1968)

literature

Berthold Kellermann: Memories - An artist's life . Erlenbach-Zurich and Leipzig, 1932
Cosima Wagner: The diaries. Volume II 1878-1883 . Munich and Zurich, 1977

Remarks

↑ Kellermann held the office for the first time between 1898 and 1913; during this period, however, there is an interruption due to the tenure of August Paret, who presides over the lodge from 1904 to 1907. From 1916 to 1920, Kellermann was again a master of the chair. (Source: Written communication from the Freemason Research Society Quatuor Coronati e.V. of October 30, 2017)
↑ Sophie-Hermine Kellermann married the painter Peter Emil Recher in July 1914 . She also works as a painter.
↑ Hellmut Kellermann - like his father - started a career as a musician. After studying in Munich, he held various positions as Kapellmeister, a. a. in Transylvania (1921–1925), Munich (1925–1926), Rudolstadt (1926–1927), Saarbrücken (1927–1928), Zittau (1935–1939) and Recklinghausen (1941–1945). In the periods between his permanent engagements as well as after 1945 he performed guest conductors. After the Second World War, Hellmut Kellermann settled in Wiesbaden, where he died on January 27, 1973. He leaves numerous compositions. (Source: Hedwig and EH Mueller von Azow: Kürschner's German Musicians Calendar 1954. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1954, column 595).

personal data
SURNAME	Kellermann, Berthold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German pianist, piano teacher and university teacher
DATE OF BIRTH	March 5, 1853
PLACE OF BIRTH	Nuremberg
DATE OF DEATH	June 14, 1926
Place of death	Munich

[1] Kellermann held the office for the first time between 1898 and 1913; during this period, however, there is an interruption due to the tenure of August Paret, who presides over the lodge from 1904 to 1907. From 1916 to 1920, Kellermann was again a master of the chair. (Source: Written communication from the Freemason Research Society Quatuor Coronati e.V. of October 30, 2017)

[2] Sophie-Hermine Kellermann married the painter Peter Emil Recher in July 1914 . She also works as a painter.

[3] Hellmut Kellermann - like his father - started a career as a musician. After studying in Munich, he held various positions as Kapellmeister, a. a. in Transylvania (1921–1925), Munich (1925–1926), Rudolstadt (1926–1927), Saarbrücken (1927–1928), Zittau (1935–1939) and Recklinghausen (1941–1945). In the periods between his permanent engagements as well as after 1945 he performed guest conductors. After the Second World War, Hellmut Kellermann settled in Wiesbaden, where he died on January 27, 1973. He leaves numerous compositions. (Source: Hedwig and EH Mueller von Azow: Kürschner's German Musicians Calendar 1954. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1954, column 595).