Hans Soph

Johann (Hans) Nepomuk Soph (born January 19, 1869 in Platten ; † January 29, 1954 in Zwickau ) was a German composer, Ore Mountain dialect poet and artisan porcelain painter.

Life

Hans Soph was born on January 19, 1869 as the son of the trimmers and house owner Simon Soph in house number 128 in Platten in the Bohemian Ore Mountains and on the following day by the Catholic priest Franz Erlbeck in the St. Laurentius Church in the presence of his godmother, the mirror maker Johann Schubert , baptized in the name of Johann Nepomuk Soph. His mother, Auguste Erdmuthe nee Paul, was an illegitimate carter's daughter from Johanngeorgenstadt . Since she was Protestant, she was buried on the edge of the Platten cemetery after her death in April 1884. Soph's father died as a widower at the age of 63 on July 30, 1885 in Platten. After his godfather and the place of birth, Hans Soph was later nicknamed "Dr Schuberthans vun dr Platt". He grew up playing records as the eleventh of twelve children and played the violin and guitar as a schoolboy. In Aue / Erzgeb. he began an apprenticeship as a porcelain painter , which he broke off after two years due to lack of pay under pressure from his father and ended as a flower and figure painter in a manufactory of the porcelain factory Rosenthal AG in Altrohlau ( Stará Role ) near Karlsbad due to his drawing talent . The first songs in the Ore Mountains dialect were written during this time. As a surplus, Soph avoided military service and subsequently worked as a decorative painter for his brother Ernst in Johanngeorgenstadt . When the orders became scarce, he went hiking in 1890 and settled in Thuringia for a longer period. He worked for almost a year, initially in a wood goods factory in Lobenstein , in 1891/92 as a stage and decoration painter in Jena , later briefly in Hanover , before returning to his home town of Platten. In the summer of 1897 he worked in Vienna .

1902, shortly after the marriage on March 22nd to Frieda, b. Häntze (* 1875; † 1938), whom he met in Bad Lausick , both moved to Zwickau. After he got over the infant death of his only son Hans (* November 4, 1910, † April 8, 1911), he only hesitantly began to write again texts in the Ore Mountains dialect and to add his own melodies. Because the family could not live from painting alone in the long run, Soph gave his daughter private lute lessons at the request of the Zwickau iron merchant Albrecht in 1914. Shortly afterwards, Soph had over 30 students for lute, guitar and mandolin.

From 1915 onwards, like Anton Günther, he was self- published by Verlag v. Hans Soph, Zwickau song postcards with your own drawing, text and notes. The exact number is not known, it was probably around 30. In addition, at the suggestion of the art dealer Karl Beyer, the first ten sheets of music were published by the Zwickau bookseller E. Walter Marx, followed in 1918 by another ten, initially only for guitar and vocals.

In 1921 Soph recorded 20 of his songs in Berlin in his own interpretation of the lute with the Polyphon-Record-Schallplatten-Gesellschaft , which appeared shortly afterwards on shellac records . In 1927 the music publisher Friedrich Hofmeister in Leipzig took over the rights and distribution of 20 more songs, which appeared in booklets of ten songs and with different notations for the lute (notes by Hans Soph), piano (Kapellmeister Franz Adolphi, Zwickau) and zither accompaniment (F. Kollmanek).

After the unexpected death of his wife Frieda (January 14, 1938), Hans Soph increasingly withdrew to his apartment at Poetenweg 32 from 1938, despite occasional appearances, where he was granted the right to live for life after his honorary citizenship in Zwickau . He devoted himself until his death in 1954 in addition to the oil primarily the crafts painting.

On June 18, 1940, a memorial plaque was inaugurated on the house where he was born in Platten. Due to the later political entanglements with the expulsion of the German Bohemia in 1945, it was Hans Soph's last opportunity to visit his Bohemian homeland. A few days after his 85th birthday, Soph died on January 29, 1954. The family's grave is in the main cemetery in Zwickau.

In the Neuplanitz district of Zwickau, a street today bears the name of Hans Sophs, and in November 2001 a gallery was opened under his name in Horní Blatná (Platten), his hometown. In the local history museum of the former Bohemian mountain town, you can see a permanent exhibition about the prodigal son of the city, with which the Czech locals still struggle more than 60 years after the expulsion of the German Bohemians that once lived there, but are now increasingly old traditions of the region bring back to life.

Works (if known)

Soph memorial plaque near Johanngeorgenstadt

• 1886: Mei Hamit sends my regards *, Da Balgn'harmenie *, shepherd song,
• 1888: The old Ficht, if I marry mol (song lost) ,
• 1889: private jug,
• 1890: Craftsmen march, De Aushebing *,
• 1893: Dr Herr Gemaavürstand, Dr Fink,
• 1895: The winter, De alte Gumfer, 's sehsüchtige Blüml, Der' Teiflstaa * (song about the Gasthaus Teufelstein near Lauter in the Erzgebirge) - after the Second World War, text change, same melody as: De green Wies * (song about the inn in Neuhammer near Neudeck) ,
• 1896: De Holzmacher, Guta Nacht * also De Gute Nacht , Wer de Zipp caught (song lost) ,
• 1897: Es goldene Tal (song lost) ,
• 1899: 's Friehgahr *, Da Zipp *, De Battlgunge,
• 1903: Wenn de Sunn 'untergieht *, Der Oswin * later also as Der saure Albin *, Herwestlied (song lost) ,
• 1904: Der Tannezapp'n *, Because I bie a Erzgeberger *, Der Rutschwanz *, Unter Tannen, unter Fichten (lyrics available, melody lost) ,
• 1906: Der vureilicha Staarl *, How is (but) the world e su schie,
• 1907: Wannerlied, What I wish mr *,
• 1908: Da Eisenbah *, E grußmachtigs Wunner *, My mother's song, heart, mei heart, rest (song lost) ,
• 1910: O du mei Arzgeberg *, Mei Stübela *, Mei Stillitz *,
• 1911: Schlof ei, mei Kinnel,
• 1912: Arzgebirgslied, Sachsenlied,
• 1913: E Tippele coffee,
• 1914: I can't do anything
• 1915: Hind'nborch-Marsch * - 1951 same melody as Der Stülpner-Karl,
• 1918: Der Gimpel, Schi-Marsch, Mei 'Vaterstadt, de Platt (song lost) ,, Wenn dr Wald ... (song lost, title may be different) ,
• 1919: Ski march, when it's summer again (song lost) ,
• 1920: De Lieb * (poem set to music by Walter Mehnert) ,
• 1925: I look from ... (song lost, title may be different) ,
• 1929: Bein Springer Gustav in Oberplanitz *
• 1931: 's Rachnhaus,
• 1932: Mei old Platt,

(* known on song postcards)

Song postcards

From 1915 onwards, Hans Soph self-published his songs on postcards.

1. Mei Hamit sends my regards.
2. When de Sunn goes under. (1914 or 1915 without number as color lithograph, from approx. 1920 b / w with number 2)
4. Since Zipp. (from around 1916 as No. 35)
5. The sliptail. (6 stanzas, one on the back - from approx. 1916 with 5 stanzas as No. 36)
6. The Tannazapp'n.
7. Da Balgn'harmenie. (from around 1916 as No. 37)
8. Mei Stübela. (Card version with six verses)
10. Guta night.
11. O you my Erzgeberg. (Double card)
12. What i wish mr.
15. The vureilicha Staarl.
18. Mei Stübela. (Card version with five verses)
25. Der Teiflstaa (song about the Gasthaus Teufelstein near Lauter in the Ore Mountains)
35. Since Zipp. (in the first edition 1915 as No. 4)
36. The sliptail. (5 stanzas - in the first edition 1915 as No. 5)
37. Da Balgn'harmenie. (in the first edition 1915 No. 7)

Without numbers

• 's Friehgahr.
• There railway.
• Hind'nborch March. (1916)
• My dearest derham! (1916, with a poem by Jäger Ewald Müller set to music by Soph, in the field 1916)
• De dear. (from 1920 with a poem by Walter Mehnert set to music by Soph)
• Because I am an Erzgeberger. (Color lithograph, 1915 - No. S 11316, from 1920 b / w)
• A 'greeting mighty Wunner.
• Mei Stillitz (1915 color lithograph, from 1920 b / w)
• At Central-Emil in Eimschtock. (Color lithograph with a song about the Centralhalle in Eibenstock i. Erzgeb. And its owner Emil Weissflog)
• The Oswin. (approx. 1927 b / w song with photo of Oswin Schumann's Schankhaus in Zwickau in the Robert Schumann birthplace) Same text as "Der sour Albin", only in Zwickau is ...
• The sour albin. (Approx. 1928 b / w song with photo of the Schöffler restaurant in Nieder-Zwönitz i. Erzgeb.) Same text as "Der Oswin", only in Zwickau ...
• Mei alta Platt. (1932)
• There Ohstelling. (Excavation)
• There “green Wies”. (Inn in Neuhammer near Neudeck)
• ´s flower valley. (Song about the restoration "Blumental" in Neudeck Inh. Johann Winter)

An exact listing of the song postcards published by Hans Soph is almost impossible, as these were not recorded by him or other people. Optionally, Soph brought them with or without numbers, apparently disorganized and commissioned himself. Almost without exception, the cards were monochrome black and white and often printed on plain paper. Hans Soph was one of the few Ore Mountain dialect poets who did not leave his cards from the Wilh publishing house. Sell ​​Vogel in Schwarzenberg and not bring it out in series.

Sound documents (selection)

Recordings at Polyphon, Leipzig-Wahren, 1921:

• De Belgenharmenie Polyphon 30 555 (23 957) (1048 ar) / Dr Rutschwanz Polyphon 30 555 (23 958) (1049 ar)
• Wos ich mer winsch Polyphon 30 556 (23 965) (1056 ar) / A grußmachtigs Wunner Polyphon 30 556 (23 966) (1057 ar)
• Es vureiliche Starl Polyphon 30 557 (23 967) (1058 ar) / De Eisebah Polyphon 30 557 (23 968) (1059 ar)
• Dr Oswin Polyphon 30 558 (23 969) (1060 ar) / De alda Gumpfer Polyphon 30 558 (23 970) (1061 ar)
• De biese Lieb Polyphon 30 559 (23 971) (1062 ar) / Dr Handwerksbosch Polyphon 30 559 (23 972) (1063 ar)

Re-releases

The CD "Mei Gutster, what are you saying now?" Label: Trikont No. CD-0264 / contains by Hans Soph Es Friehgoar and Mei Hamit lets me grieß'n

literature

• Fred Heydel: The Hans Soph book: life and work of the Erzgebirge singer. Friedrich Hofmeister , Leipzig 1955, 119 pages
• K. Pittasch (Ed.): Investigations into the song creation of Hans Soph. Diploma thesis PH Zwickau, manuscript, Zwickau 1987
• Erzgebirgsverein Zwickau (Hrsg.): Hans Soph - poet and singer of the Erzgebirge. Erzgebirgsverein, Zwickau 1995
• Manfred Bachmann (ed.): Hans Soph - dialect poet and singer. In: Small chronicle of great masters - Erzgebirge we are proud of. Part 1, pp. 126–129, Mike Rockstroh printer and publisher, Aue 2000
• Werner Kaden : Soph, Hans (called Schubert-Hans vun dr Platt) . In: Institute for Saxon History and Folklore (Ed.): Saxon Biography .

Web links

• Literature by and about Hans Soph in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hans Schubert was by no means - like z. B. written in the Saxon biography, Soph's stepfather.
2. ^ Rare shellacs - Saxony - People's singers. trikont.de, accessed on January 1, 2018 .