Bruno Granichstaedten

Autograph

Bruno Bernhard Granichstaedten (born September 1, 1879 in Vienna , † May 30, 1944 in New York ) was an Austrian composer .

His father, Dr. Emil Granichstaedten, was a lawyer and initially also worked as a lawyer, but later he also turned to his literary interests professionally and became a well-known theater critic and playwright. Since his son Bruno showed an early interest in music, he received a solid education, among others with Salomon Jadassohn (1831–1902) in Leipzig . After his first theater engagements in Erfurt and Mannheim, he was appointed third Kapellmeister at the Munich Court Theater in 1900. However, since he defended Frank Wedekind's work on Simplicissimus and also worked temporarily in the cabaret Die Elf Scharfrichter , he was soon dismissed from the court theater.

In 1905 Granichstaedten returned to Vienna and initially worked on various cabaret stages. In 1908 he published his first operetta ( Bub oder Mädel , libretto by Felix Dörmann and Adolf Altmann ), which had some success that he was able to surpass with further works in the following years. His greatest successes were On Orders of the Empress (1915) and his main work Der Orlow (1925) in the Theater an der Wien , which was then made into a film twice. In addition, he created music for five other sound films and some songs and chansons. One of his best-known melodies is Spectators Can i net for the pay waiter Leopold in the White Horse Inn by Ralph Benatzky .

After the “Anschluss” of Austria , he had to leave the country as a Jew ; with the help of the singer Betty Fischer he managed to emigrate to the USA via Luxembourg in 1940. But he could no longer gain a foothold here, at times he earned his living as a pianist in night clubs.

The grave at Hietzinger Friedhof

Bruno Granichstaedten created 16 operettas and Singspiele , some of which he also wrote the libretto himself. His music was typically Viennese in the early years, but after the First World War the influence of popular American music can be clearly heard, especially with regard to the rhythmic design. However, this was not conducive to his artistic success, as his work lost its independence.

His honorary grave is in the Hietzinger Friedhof (group 46, number 31). In 1955 the Granichstaedtengasse in Vienna- Hietzing was named in his honor.

His estate is in the Vienna Library in the City Hall .

literature

• Felix Czeike : Historical Lexicon Vienna. Volume 2: De-Gy. Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-218-00544-2 , p. 589.
• Susanne Blumesberger, Michael Doppelhofer, Gabriele Mauthe: Handbook of Austrian authors of Jewish origin from the 18th to the 20th century. Volume 1: A-I. Edited by the Austrian National Library. Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-11545-8 , p. 454.
• Ernst Kaufmann : Viennese heart on the stars and stripes. Bruno Granichstaedten. Stations of a life . Edition AV , Lich 2014, ISBN 978-3-86841-096-9 (315 pages).
• Monika Kornberger: Granichstaedten, Bruno. In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon . Online edition, Vienna 2002 ff., ISBN 3-7001-3077-5 ; Print edition: Volume 2, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-7001-3044-9 .
• Granichstadt Bruno. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 2, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1959, p. 47.
• Bruno Granichstaedten in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna

Web links

• Works by and about Bruno Granichstaedten in the catalog of the German National Library
• Bruno Granichstaedten in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• List of stage works by Bruno Granichstaedten based on the MGG at Operone
• Stefan Frey:  Bruno Granichstaedten in the Lexicon of Persecuted Musicians of the Nazi Era (LexM), as of October 30, 2017
• Guy Wagner: One case among many. Bruno Granichstaedten ( Memento from July 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 267 kB)