Matthew Romans

Matthäus Römer , also Matthaeus Roemer , (born November 8, 1871 in Nordhalben ; † August 7, 1954 in Kreuth ) was a German tenor singer and singing teacher, guitarist and guitar teacher and composer.

life and work

education

Matthäus Römer attended the humanistic grammar school in Bamberg. As a cathedral choir singer, he received a salary while still at school. He studied French and English philology at the University of Munich and passed all state exams and became a royal Bavarian real teacher. Because of his musical inclinations, he never took a teaching position. He then studied solo singing, counterpoint and composition with Viktor Gluth and Josef Rheinberger at the Munich Academy of Music . Rheinberger recommended Römer to write choral works with accompaniment. In 1902 Römer received his doctorate in Rostock with the philological thesis The superstition among the playwrights of the 16th century in France .

Pedagogical work

From 1899 to 1909, Römer worked as a prince tutor at the court of Duke Luitpold , a relative of the ruling Bavarian royal family. During this time he continued private singing studies with Felix von Kraus and Jean de Reszke in Paris. From around 1900 Römer took guitar lessons with the Munich classical guitarist Heinrich Albert .

Career as a musician

In 1909, Römer sang Parsifal twice under Siegfried Wagner and Karl Muck in Bayreuth . From 1909 to 1911 he performed successfully as an oratorio and concert singer in Vienna, Königsberg, Frankfurt am Main and in 1911 at the Bach Festival in Leipzig. His sphere of activity expanded to include all of Central Europe by 1922.

As a composer, he set numerous songs to music that were performed by the Guitarist Association in Munich . In connection with a compositional competition, his song Traum (text by Otto Julius Bierbaum ) was published in the anthology of the guitarist association The seven songs of the competition (1912). He wrote works (two quartets and a trio) for the two Munich guitar ensembles Munich Guitar Quartet and the Munich Chamber Guitar Trio , which were highly appreciated by contemporary music critics. Roman's main compositional work was the setting of the Holy Night by Ludwig Thoma for three-part female choir, solo voices, guitar choir, organ and speaker from 1922. The first performance took place on January 20, 1924 in the large Odeonssaal in Munich. There were further performances after the Second World War in Munich (1950, 1980) and in Innsbruck (1950).

After finishing his active singing career, Römer worked at the conservatory in Munich and privately as a singing teacher. Melanie Feuerlein-Scheibeck , Hans Hotter and Rudolf Lamy were among his students.

Private

Römer was married to the Princely Lippische Kammersängerin Else Fritzsche . Her son Horand Römer (1908–1940) was after studying with Hans Pfitzner, among other things, conductor at the Stuttgart Opera House . The Romans sometimes also gave singing evenings together.

Rating

In 1952, Römer was made an honorary member of the Guitarist Association , which was re-established after the Second World War . Even if the vocal work of Matthäus Römer was artistically in the foreground, the numerous instrumental compositions for the two mentioned Munich guitar ensembles and also some compositions for piano solo as well as the vocal compositions should not be neglected artistically. The works for the Munich guitar quartet in particular were considered unique in their time.

swell

• Matthew Romans. In: Bavarian Music Dictionary Online. Ludwig Maxmilians University of Munich, accessed on February 8, 2020 . 
• Stevens-Geenen: Römer, Dr. Matthew. In: Bavarian Music Dictionary Online. 2008, accessed February 8, 2020 . 

Web links

• Literature by and about Matthäus Römer in the bibliographic database WorldCat

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Stevens-Geenen: Matthäus Römer. In: BMLO 2008.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Section after: Stevens-Geenen: Matthäus Römer. In: BMLO 2008.