Ernst Praetorius

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Ernst Praetorius (born September 20, 1880 in Berlin , † March 27, 1946 in Ankara ) was a German conductor , general music director, university professor and music historian .

biography

Ernst Praetorius was the son of the orientalist Franz Praetorius and his wife Johanna Praetorius, b. Blanck. He received violin lessons at an early age (1887–1892 with Emil Köhler in Breslau, 1892–1899 with Arno Helf in Leipzig) and composition lessons with Otto Reubke in Halle. In addition to her practical exercise, Praetorius also dealt theoretically with music. From 1899 to 1905 he studied musicology and music history at the University of Berlin, among others with Carl Stumpf . He received his doctorate in 1905 with a thesis on The Mensural Theory of Franchinus Gaffurius and between 1906 and 1909 was director of the music history Heyer Museum , then in Cologne, Worringerstrasse. From 1909 to 1912 Praetorius worked as a répétiteur and conductor at the Cologne Opera . In 1912 and 1913 he was Kapellmeister at the Schauspielhaus Bochum , in 1913 and 1914 at the New Theater in Leipzig and at the City Theater in Breslau . He then worked for a year at the Lübeck Theater , before returning to the Wroclaw City Theater from 1915 to 1922. From 1922 to 1924 he was Kapellmeister at the Great Volksoper and at the State Opera Unter den Linden in Berlin. In 1924 he became general music director of the German National Theater in Weimar .

While the public and specialist circles valued Praetorius, right-wing extremists attacked him violently. The main reason was his commitment to contemporary music . After Praetorius had performed Ernst Krenek's Jonny plays in 1928 , the Weimar newspaper “Der Nationalozialist” / a series of inflammatory articles against Praetorius appeared. In 1930 the NSDAP , now represented in the Thuringian state government for the first time, tried to dismiss him. The Advisory Board of the National Theater, however, spoke out in favor of the retention of its general music director.

After the seizure of power by the National Socialists Praetorius was dismissed once in February 1933rd One of the reasons was his conducting the opera Cardillac by Paul Hindemith . He was also with the Jew Dr. Kathe Ruhemann (13.01.1891 in Berlin - 1981 in Ankara, Turkey, pediatrician in the first marriage married to Dr. Bruno Baruch Goldstein, 3 children thereof) married . Under this political pressure, the two divorced de jure in 1935 , but they continued to live together. The Berlin opera houses refused to work for the now unemployed Praetorius, with the result that he worked as a taxi driver.

Exile in Turkey

Praetorius then received an offer from Turkey through Hindemith's mediation. He was a consultant in the development of the Turkish music industry and thus had the opportunity to place numerous people persecuted by the Germans in the cultural sector in Turkey, including the director Carl Ebert , the educator Eduard Zuckmayer , the violinist Licco Amar and the pianist Georg Markowitz . All of them were now involved in building the State Conservatory in Ankara. Praetorius was appointed conductor of the symphony orchestra in Ankara on September 28, 1935, he also directed the chamber music ensemble at the Conservatory and taught the bassoon .

Ernst Praetorius was very well known in Ankara's musical life with his numerous concerts. He tried to continue the reforms of Hindemith even after his onward journey to the USA and was still in contact with him. He had notable differences with Carl Ebert, with whom he worked as head of the theater and opera department. He criticized Ebert's teaching methods and also questioned his artistic abilities.

Praetorius was in Germany for the last time in 1937 and went on a concert tour as a conductor to Stuttgart, Koenigsberg and Berlin from July to September. Repeatedly he tried to sign German virtuosos to Turkey. He gave concerts in 1943 and 1944 together with Wilhelm Kempff and Walter Gieseking in Ankara - Turkey was still neutral in the world war. During this time, Praetorius also began to build up a conservatory orchestra, which subsequently enjoyed numerous concerts. Praetorius always tried to incorporate Turkish culture into his performances. In addition to works from European classical music, he also performed works by contemporary Turkish composers such as Ulvi Cemâl Erkin where possible.

Through contacts with the German Embassy in Ankara, Praetorius was able to have his divorced wife come to join him in 1936. In 1940, with the permission of President Ismet Inönü, he also brought his mother-in-law to Turkey.

Since the beginning of the Second World War , the Germans purposefully pursued the expatriation of emigrants in Turkey. In 1941 the NSDAP applied to revoke Praetorius' German citizenship because he was still living with his Jewish wife and was "President of an association to support Jewish emigrants". Due to his outstanding position at the head of the symphony orchestra in Ankara, founded by President Mustafa Kemal Ataturk , he ultimately refrained from expatriation. The German ambassador in Ankara, Franz von Papen , feared “the most embarrassing stir”. Thanks to Praetorius' extraordinary reputation, he and his family were even spared the internment in Anatolia , which hit all other German refugees as enemy states after Turkey entered the war in 1944.

Praetorius died in 1946 after a brief, serious illness. With great sympathy he was buried in Ankara in the Cebeci Asri Mezarlığı . His wife Käthe Praetorius stayed in Ankara until the end of her life. She ran an ambulance at the British Embassy for two decades from 1946. In addition, since the establishment of the German Embassy in Ankara, she was its medical officer.

literature

  • Active Museum Association: Haymatloz. Exile in Turkey 1933 - 1945. Exhibition by the association and the Goethe Institute with the Academy of Arts, January 8 to February 20, 2000. Edited by Sabine Hillebrecht. (= Series of publications by the Active Museum Association 8). Berlin 2000 (without ISBN), p.?.
    • Turkish short version: Haymatloz. Özgür lie giden yol. Transl. Ülkü Azrak, 2007, p.?.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ From 1909 to 1927 he was professor of oriental studies in Breslau.
  2. ↑ Weekly newspaper since 1925, daily newspaper since 1931. Artur Dinter responsible until 1927 , then Fritz Sauckel . From 1931 "official daily newspaper" of the Gaus Thuringia of the NSDAP.
  3. ^ Nina Okrassa: Peter Raabe . Conductor, music writer and President of the Reich Chamber of Music , 1872-1945 . Böhlau, Cologne 2004, pp. 139–146.
  4. ↑ Cornelia Zimmermann-Kalyoncu: German musicians in Turkey in the 20th century. (= Europäische Hochschulschriften , Series 36: Musicology, 15). Peter Lang, Frankfurt 1985, p. 67.
  5. ^ Letter from the NSDAP to the Foreign Office , November 12, 1941, Polit. Archive PA AA under PraetoriusE.
  6. ↑ Papen's letter of December 15, 1941, Polit. Archive of the AA: PAAA PraetoriusE.
  7. ↑ Among the 23 display boards, each dedicated to a specific person, there is also one for Praetorius. A flyer gives a first glimpse into this permanent loanable exhibition, see flyer_haymatloz via google.de, pdf
personal data
SURNAME Praetorius, Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German conductor, general music director, university professor and music historian
DATE OF BIRTH September 20, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH March 27, 1946
Place of death Ankara