Hans Poser (composer)

Hans Wolfgang Poser (born October 8, 1917 in Tannenbergsthal / Vogtl. , † October 1, 1970 in Hamburg ); Pseudonym Wolfgang Tannenberg , was a German composer and professor at the Hamburg State University of Music . His work is characterized by his commitment to music for children, young people and schools and works for musical "laypeople" .

Life

Hans Poser was born on October 8, 1917 in Tannenbergsthal in the Vogtland . Poser attended the German High School in Auerbach as a boarding school student from 1929 to 1937. Even during his school days he dealt with music theory and composition. From 1937 to 1945 he was a soldier, most recently as an officer in the Air Force. At the end of September 1940 he was captured by the British after a reconnaissance flight over London. From the beginning of 1941 until the end of the war Poser spent his captivity in Canada in the Gravenhurst camp. During this time Poser devoted himself intensively to music. After musical instruments arrived in the spring of 1941 through the mediation of the YMCA and the American Aid for German War Prisoners, he led the camp orchestra, which comprised up to 44 instrumentalists, as well as other music ensembles. In addition, he dealt autodidactically with the theory of composition, for example in 1943 Hermann Grabner's “The linear sentence”. He also made occasional letters in contact with German composers (Hermann Grabner, Paul Hindemith ). After the end of the war he returned to Germany at the end of 1946 and settled in Hamburg. There he studied until the end of 1947 at the city school for music and theater (later the university) with Ernst Gernot Klussmann and Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg . During this time he received his first teaching position. Further teaching assignments followed and he became professor at the Hamburg University of Music in 1962. From 1968 he headed the department for composition and theory. Since 1953 he was also a member of the Hamburg Academy of the Arts. Hans Poser was married and had five children, including the jazz musician Florian Poser . Hans Poser died on October 1, 1970 at the age of 52 in Hamburg, he was buried in the Rahlstedt cemetery .

Musical creation

Poser's diverse oeuvre includes orchestral and piano music, choral works, melodies for radio commercials and two television operas . Poser became well known with the world premiere of the Capriccio "Till Eulenspiegel" op. 35 in 1956 at the German Singers Association. After the initial success, however, the work quickly fell from the public eye.

Poser's work shows a strong commitment to music education, especially children, youth and school music. He composed numerous children's songs , amateur singing games and smaller, relatively easy-to-play and singable works that are particularly suitable for music lessons. He devoted just as much passion and energy to this "music for use" as he did to his other works. In some cases he wrote the lyrics for these songs himself.

His compositional handwriting is not so much to be ascribed to the avant-garde music trend of his time as to the compositions of Arnold Schönberg . Rather, his works are characterized by a tradition and aesthetic proximity to Paul Hindemith.

For some of his works that can be assigned to popular music, he has been using the pseudonym Wolfgang Tannenberg since 1939 .

Awards

• 1950: 3rd prize for the cheerful overture (later Derby) op. 21 in the competition for new light music of the Süddeutscher Rundfunk in Stuttgart
• 1959: 2nd prize for “The Award” op. 46, opera competition advertised by Austrian television and Unesco

Works

Orchestral music

• Concerto for orchestra op.16
• Concertino for piano, trumpet, percussion and string orchestra op.19
• Derby. Cheerful Overture op.21
• Concerto grazioso for string orchestra op.24
• Sinfonia. Solemn music for string orchestra and deep voice op.37
• Jolly Joker. Cheerful overture op.41
• Variations on a Classical Theme, Op. 53

Choral music

• Singing Jeremiae for mixed choir, brass, piano, percussion, violoncello and double bass op.25
• The Fables of Aesop for male choir, piano and percussion op.28
• Three song motets for mixed choir op.29
• German epiphany after Friedrich von Logau for female choir and piano op.32
• Till Eulenspiegel. A Capriccio for three solo voices, mixed choir and orchestra op.35 (1956)
• The shield citizens. Scenic cantata for 1-3 parts. Choir and instruments for 12 to 14 year olds (1957)
• Four choral songs in folk tone for mixed choir op. 39a
• About the fisherman and his wife. A ballad for three solo voices, mixed choir and orchestra op.50 (1961)
• To brother-in-law Kronos for solos, mixed choir and orchestra based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe op.57
• Requiem for 4- to 12-part a cappella choir (organ / piano ad lib.) Op. 62 (1966)
• The Testament of François Villon for baritone, mixed choir and orchestra op.63 (1968)
• Spruchmotetten (4 voices) op.40

Television operas

• The award (based on Guy de Maupassant , NDR, August 14, 1959) op.46
• The bass violin (based on Anton Chekhov , ZDF, April 19, 1964) op.56

Chamber music

• Suite in the old style for solo violin op.5
• Sonata for viola and piano op.6
• Sonata for horn and piano op.8
• Sonata for oboe and piano op.9
• Sonata for clarinet and piano op.30
• Sonatina for soprano recorder and piano op. 36,1
• Sonatina for treble recorder and piano op.36,2
• Sonatina for tenor recorder and piano op.36.3
• Rendsburger Tänze op.42 (original version for string or recorder quartet)
• Wandsbeker Tänze op.49 (seven pieces with four parts in any scoring) (string or recorder quartet)
• Seven Bagatelles for alto recorder (transverse flute) and piano (harpsichord) op.52
• Sonatina for violin and piano op.54.1
• Sonatina for viola and piano op.54.2
• Sonatina for violoncello and piano op.54,3

Piano music

• Bagatelles op.1
• Sonata op.7
• Music for Ursula op.10
• Two sonatinas op.12
• Small suite for four hands op.13
• Sonata for piano 4 hands op.17
• Music for piano op.24
• Two sonatinas op.44
• I can play the piano, easy pieces for piano, 3 exercise books
• Small bouquet. Five little pieces, op.64

Singing and playing music

• Wake up, my heart's beautiful, love songs in four-part sentences
• Twenty canons for cellos
• Little duets for two violins
• Variations on “The Cuckoo and the Donkey” for violin, cello and piano

Nursery rhymes

• Fairy tale songs
• Songs for children
• Come all to the stable. New songs for Christmas time

literature

• Ollesch, Jürgen: Hans Poser. Life and work . Dissertation 1996, Bielefeld University.
• Hans Poser: Commemorative publication for his 70th birthday in October 1987 , Boppard / Rhein 1987, with contributions by Dieter Einfeldt ; Christoph Hohlfeld ; Herbert Rühl and a catalog raisonné.
• Merkel, Walter: Voigtland musicians after 1900 . Museum series issue 20 [ed. Department of Culture of the City and District of Plauen and the Voigtland District Museum], Plauen 1960, pp. 83–84.
• Rübben, Hermannjosef: The composer's portrait: Hans Poser , in: Lied und Chor. Journal for the entire choir. Official organ of the German Singers Association, vol. 56. (1964), p. 77.
• Hermann Große-Jäger, magazine musikpraxis - working aids for music in kindergarten and elementary school , Fidula-Verlag 1982, issue 16: “Songs by Hans Poser for today's children”.

Web links

• Works by and about Hans Poser in the catalog of the German National Library
• Hans Poser in the German Composers Archive
• Hans Poser website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tombstone illustration at genealogy.net