Franz Theodor Cursch-Bühren

Front of the libretto for the Singspiel Die Wilddiebe .

Franz Theodor Cursch-Bühren (* 10. January 1859 in Opava , Austrian Silesia (now Czech Republic ); † 11. March 1908 in Leipzig , Saxony , Germany ) was a late-Romantic composer , conductor and music journalist .

Life

Cursch-Bühren grew up in the then partly German-speaking Silesian city of Troppau. He did not learn his musical skills at a conservatory , but through private lessons. He studied philosophy and law before devoting himself entirely to music in 1885. Among other things, he worked as a conductor at the newly built Spiel- und Festhaus in Worms , as well as in Trier and Eupen . Today he is best known as an arranger of works by other composers (for example by Johann Strauss (son) ). His compositional oeuvre comprises over 330 works, including numerous choral songs and at least five singspiels with folk and comic content. In the late 1890s Cursch-Bühren moved to Leipzig, where he worked as an editor for music for the Leipziger Tageblatt . In 1907 he published the amateur theater guide How do I conduct an amateur theater performance? . He died a year later in Leipzig.

Works (selection)

Own compositions

Choral music

The fine suitors , song for four-part male choir based on a poem by Thomas Frantz , op.1.
Lieder im Volkston for women's choir , op.82.
Three witty songs for male choir based on poems by Rudolf Baumbach , op.117.
Lenz und Liebe , three songs for three-part female choir without accompaniment, op.130.
Five songs in folk tone for male choir based on poems by Julius Stinde op.139.
In the old castle in Wesenstein. Cheerful male choir based on a poem by Karl May .
Five Swedish folk tunes for male choir.

Singing games

Die Poacher , Singspiel in one act based on a libretto by Hugo Pollak , op.133.
Das Rosel vom Schwarzwald , Singspiel in one act based on a libretto by Hugo Pollak.
The forge in the forest .
A student prank .
A day at the boarding school .

Chamber music

Album sheet for three violins , two violas and violoncello .

Edits

On the beautiful blue Danube , arrangement for four-part mixed choir and piano after Johann Strauss (Son) , op.314.
Stories from the Vienna Woods , arrangement for four-part male choir and piano after Johann Strauss (Sohn), op.325.
Wein, Weib und Gesang , arrangement for four-part mixed choir and piano after Johann Strauss (Son), op.333.
The sleigh ride , arrangement of the so-called children's symphony for symphony orchestra .
Hymn to Life , arrangement for male choir and orchestra based on Friedrich Nietzsche .
Silent Night, Holy Night , arrangement for male choir based on Franz Xaver Gruber .
Washington March , arranged for symphony orchestra after John Philip Sousa .
Two songs , arrangement for mixed choir after Franz Abt .

literature

Torsten Fuchs: Cursch-Bühren, Franz Theodor , in: Lexicon of German Music Culture Bohemia Moravia Sudetenschlesien , Munich 2000, p. 266.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Cursch-Bühren, Franz Theodor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Silesian composer
DATE OF BIRTH	January 10, 1859
PLACE OF BIRTH	Opava , Austrian Silesia
DATE OF DEATH	March 11, 1908
Place of death	Leipzig