Gustav Mahr

Portrait photo by Gustav Mahr

Gustav Johann Mahr (born November 23, 1858 in Brandeis ad Elbe , † September 1, 1930 in Hargelsberg ) was a Bohemian composer and military bandmaster .

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Gustav Mahr, son of the composer and military bandmaster Franz Anton Mahr (1830–1891), studied music theory, composition and violin at the Prague Conservatory from 1870 to 1876 . In 1875 he became solo violinist in the regimental music of the Infantry Regiment (IR) No. 75 in Prague, which was then directed by his father . On December 1, 1878, Mahr himself became the military bandmaster of the Hungarian IR No. 60 Prince Gustav von Wasa in Erlau (Eger) . This began an eventful career as a military bandmaster, which led him to a total of seven regiments. On April 1, 1884, Mahr Alexander Leitermayer followed in the "59" in Salzburg . In 1895 he was entrusted with setting up the music for the newly formed 2nd Tyrolean Kaiserjäger Regiment in Vienna . Mahr would have been considered Kapellmeister from the regimental command of the "Hoch- und Deutschmeister" if Carl Michael Ziehrer had not accepted this position. In 1899 the 2nd Tyrolean Kaiserjäger Regiment was relocated to Trient and Brixen in South Tyrol . Mahr himself switched to the "43ers" and on May 1, 1903 to the 4th Tyrolean Kaiserjäger Regiment in Salzburg. He spent his last years in service as a military musician from 1910 to 1911 with the Bohemian IR No. 73 and the Upper Austrian IR No. 14 Grand Duke of Hesse, with whom he stayed until the end of the Danube Monarchy.

At the end of the First World War in 1918, Mahr, with 40 years of service, was the longest serving among the military band masters of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. After the end of his career as a military musician, he led the orchestra of the Linz Coliseum Varieté until his death , as well as the Linz railway band from 1924 to 1927, to which many former military musicians belonged. His grave at the cemetery in Linz-Urfahr no longer exists.

Along with Julius Fučik , Wilhelm Wacek and others, Mahr belongs to the elite of Austrian military band masters.

Mahr has composed more than 80 works of various genres of secular music, including works of serious music such as the opera “The Queen of Tahiti”, the melodrama “God and the Bajadere” based on a text by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and the Singspiel “Des Sängers Curse". One of the most popular of his marches is the “Hoch Tirol” march, which is dedicated to the officer corps of the 2nd Kaiserjäger Regiment. To set up the 2nd Kaiserjäger Regiment, he composed the "Andreas Hofer March" in 1895, which was played by the Kaiserjäger regiments as a parade march . In addition, he composed numerous orchestral works, string quartets , chamber music compositions, piano works , compositions for choral music , songs with piano accompaniment as well as polkas , mazurkas , waltzes and potpourris . Mahr proved to be a true master in composing marches in historical style such as the “Rheingraf Salm-Salm (Hessen Fanfaren-March)”, the award-winning “Austrian General March” and the “Fennerjäger March”.

Compositions

Works for wind orchestra

• 1883: Goodbye
• 1887: Homage march
• 1887: Rudolph March
• Andreas Hofer-Marsch (composed for the formation of the 2nd Kaiserjäger Regiment in 1895)
• Dampierre cuirassiers
• Parade march
• Egri fiuk (Erlauer Sons)
• Fenner-Jäger March
• Festival march
• Fast on foot
• Fresh forward! - 59 regimental signal march
• Border guard
• Hawthorne March
• Homeward
• Hoch Tirol (created during his time with the 2nd Kaiserjäger Regiment)
• Wedding march
• In the wide world
• Cheering march
• Loyal to the emperor
• Kürenberg fanfare march
• New 75th regimental march
• Colonel Ontl March
• Colonel Faby March (Storm March)
• Austrian General March
• Prague March
• Regimental signal
• Rheingraf Salm-Salm (Hesse Fanfare March)
• Romanian March - Sinai Hora
• Scazigino March
• Schützenfest march
• Sizzo Noris March
• Tyrolean song march
• Wallenstein's entry
• Vienna Couplet March
• Two Turner March

Stage works

• The Queen of Tahiti (Opera)
• God and the Bajadere (melodrama based on a text by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe )
• The singer's curse (Singspiel)

literature

• Rameis:  Mahr Gustav. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 5, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1972, p. 414 f. (Direct links on p. 414 , p. 415 ).
• Wolfgang Suppan, Armin Suppan : The New Lexicon of Brass Music. 4th edition. Blasmusikverlag Schulz, Freiburg-Tiengen 1994, ISBN 3-923058-07-1 .
• Paul E. Bierley, William H. Rehrig: The heritage encyclopedia of band music: composers and their music. Integrity Press, Westerville, Ohio 1991, ISBN 0-918048-08-7 .
• Siegfried Lang: Lexicon of Austrian light music composers in the 20th century. Austrian Association of Composers (OKB) / U-Music Working Group , Vienna 1987, DNB 901039381 .
• Erich Schneider, Walter Fehle, Harl Ilg, Fritz Jurmann, Elmar Mattweber: brass music in Vorarlberg. 1986, DNB 910166560 .
• Eugen Brixel: The great Salzburg brass music book - With a plaque of honor from the Salzburg brass bands. Christian Brandstätter, Vienna 1983, ISBN 3-85447-030-4 .
• Stephan Vajda: Mir san vom kuk - The curious history of Austrian military music. Ueberreuter, Vienna 1977, ISBN 3-8000-3144-2 .
• Emil Rameis : Austrian military music from its beginnings up to 1918. (= Alta musica. 2). Completed u. edit v. Eugene Brixel. Tutzing 1976, ISBN 3-7952-0174-8 .

Web links

• Works by Gustav Mahr in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Mir san die Kaiserjäger ..." The most important Kapellmeister of the Kaiserjäger were Gustav Mahr ...
2. ↑ 2. REGIMENT OF THE TYROLEAN KAISERJÄGER ( Memento of the original from October 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.