Eberhard Schmidt (composer)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eberhard Schmidt (born March 23, 1907 in Slawentzitz , Upper Silesia , German Empire , today Sławięcice, Poland ; † January 22, 1996 in Berlin ) was a German composer , cellist and choir director .

Life

Born and raised in Slawentzitz in Upper Silesia, Schmidt, son of a pastor and school director and a singer , graduated from high school in the nearby district town of Brieg in 1926 . In addition, the music enthusiast received piano and organ lessons from the age of 6. In 1927, at the request of his parents, Eberhard Schmidt began studying law at the Friedrich Wilhelms University in Berlin . In parallel, he has been at the Stern Conservatory in cello and music theory taught.

In 1929 he broke off his studies, decided to train as a professional musician in the subjects of piano and cello, joined left-wing student circles and got to know the communist-minded Jewish artist Cora Eppstein, with whom he married in 1933. In 1930 he joined the agitprop group "Roter Stürmer", for whose politically motivated performances he composed songs, in 1932 the KPD . After the National Socialists came to power , Eberhard Schmidt fled with his wife in 1933 to the then still independent Saarland , where he made the acquaintance of Erich Weinert and Hans Marchwitza , who had a lasting influence on his political and musical direction. He continued to compose for political cabaret and fled to Paris with his wife in 1935 after the integration of the Saarland into the German Empire . Thanks to his political contacts, Schmidt, who lived there in illegality, was able to compose pieces for a French workers' cabaret and a Jewish children's ballet.

Since 1936, Schmidt took on the part of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War in part, in 1938, he joined the Communist Party of Spain a, 1939 he was at the French arrested limit of the Guard Mobile. Schmidt, whose wife died in Paris that same year, was first imprisoned in St. Cyprien and then in Camp de Gurs , the largest French internment camp. He remained musically active and initiated the establishment of prisoner choirs. In 1941 he was extradited to Germany by the Vichy regime , where he was sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp by the Gestapo . Schmidt, who also founded a choir here and played as a cellist in the German-Czech prisoner string quartet, was liberated in April 1945 by Soviet troops during the " death march " near Schwerin .

Eberhard Schmidt then moved to Berlin, took up a position as a music consultant at the Office for Public Education in the Berlin district of Pankow and opened the cabaret “Der Besen” with the painter , poet and director Eva Fritzsche , whom he married in 1950. After joining the SED in 1946, he co-founded various cabarets and took over the music department as cultural advisor for the Free German Youth . In 1951 he was one of the founding and board members of the GDR Composers' Association , in 1953 he was awarded the National Prize by the GDR government . Eberhard Schmidt, who moved his residence near Stralsund in 1958 , took over the management of the Schwerin Conservatory in 1964 , which he held until 1968. He then returned to Berlin, where he lived as a freelance musician until his death in 1996.

Act

Schmidt's compositional work comprises around 250 to 300 songs, including the mass songs “Thälmannlied” and “Ich trage ein Fahne” , the songs “Between the Sea and Barbed Wire” and “Interbrigade” that were composed before the start of the death march The song “Muselmann” , choirs, cantatas , stage works, including the operettas Bolero (Berlin 1952) and Die Schweinkirmes (Schwerin 1957), film music , television comedies for children, instrumental compositions for small ensembles and orchestral music .

Filmography

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Schmidt, Eberhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer, cellist and choir director
DATE OF BIRTH March 23, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Slawentzitz , Upper Silesia , German Empire , today Sławięcice, Poland
DATE OF DEATH January 22, 1996
Place of death Berlin