Paul Graener

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Recording by Suse Byk in the early 1930s

Paul Graener (born January 11, 1872 in Berlin , † November 13, 1944 in Salzburg ; actually Paul Hermann Franz Gräner ) was a German composer , conductor and Nazi cultural politician.

Life

Paul Graener was the son of a master belt maker . In 1881 he became a choirboy in the Royal Cathedral Choir , and from 1884 to 1890 he attended the Askanische Gymnasium in Berlin. In 1888 he was given a free position at the Veitschen Conservatory; there he studied composition with Albert Becker . After his first engagements as Kapellmeister in Stendal , later in Bremerhaven , Königsberg and Berlin, he was music director at the Theater Royal Haymarket in London from 1898 to 1906 , where he also taught at the London Academy of Music . He later kept the international spelling of his name ( Graener ). Before moving to England, he married Maria Elisabeth Hauschild (1872–1954); The marriage resulted in three children: Heinz (who died at the age of 10), Franz (1898–1918) and Klara (Claire; 1903–193?). After a short stint in Vienna , where he worked as a composition teacher at the New Vienna Conservatory , Paul Graener was director of the Salzburg Mozarteum from 1911 to 1913 . From 1914 he lived as a freelance composer in Munich. In 1915/16 he was Kapellmeister at the Stadttheater Halle . From 1920 to 1927 he taught - as a successor to Max Reger - as a composition professor at the Leipzig Conservatory . In 1930, Graener became director of the Stern Conservatory in Berlin , succeeding the late Alexander von Fielitz . In 1934 he took over the leadership of a master class at the Academy of Arts .

After the death of his daughter Klara in the early 1930s, he adopted their children. He was also the father of the painter Paul Corazolla and the cellist and conductor Jan Corazolla . Her mother, the singer Margarete Corazolla (1902–2001), was one of the residents of the Berlin artists' colony for a while, along with her sister (?), The pianist Berti Corazolla .

Since the late 1920s, Paul Graener was a member of the National Socialist League for German Culture . In some vocal compositions he adopted texts from the German Romantic era for Nazi propaganda , for example B. 1932 a war song by Theodor Storm and the song of memory (1807) by Friedrich Schlegel (with the line “The Savior is not far”). In February 1933 Graener caused a stir when he and other members of the "Kampfbund" disrupted a concert by Michael Jary . On April 1, 1933, he joined the NSDAP (membership number 1.597.250). In 1933 he took over the leadership of the composition department of the Reichsmusikkammer . From 1934 he was its vice-president (after the resignation of Wilhelm Furtwängler ); In 1941 he resigned from this office and was succeeded by Werner Egk . Graener received numerous awards from the Nazi regime.

In 1944 his Berlin apartment was destroyed and all manuscripts were lost. Graener traveled with his family via Wiesbaden , Munich, Vienna and Metz to Salzburg, where he died at the age of 72 in the regional hospital .

The composer Georg Gräner was his cousin.

Sound language and reception

As a song composer, Graener follows the tradition of Johannes Brahms , Hugo Wolf and Richard Strauss . Occasionally he also uses an atonal tonal language (in the gallows songs after Morgenstern) or is based on impressionism (in the opera Don Juan's Last Adventure and the orchestral work Aus dem Reiche des Pan ).

In the 1920s Graener was a popular opera composer . As a result of his turn to National Socialism , he became one of the most frequently performed living composers in Germany from 1933 onwards. It has hardly been played since his death, and his work is often regarded as epigonal . The best known today are his Morgenstern songs, which can be found in various historical recordings.

Honors

Compositions

Stage works

  • Backfish on the move . Operetta in one act. Libretto : Fritz Bolger. Premiere 1891 Bremerhaven
  • The Faithful Sentry (op. 1; 1899). Singspiel in one act. Libretto: Samuel Gordon (after Theodor Körner ). Premiere 1899 London ( Theater Royal Haymarket )
  • The court of fools (op. 38; 1912). Singing comedy in 2 acts. Libretto: Otto Anthes . Premiere 1913 Vienna
  • Don Juan's last adventure (op. 42; 1914). Opera in 3 acts. Libretto: Otto Anthes. Premiere June 11, 1914 Leipzig ( Opera House ; with Robert Burg ?)
  • Theophano ( Byzantium ) (op.48; 1918). Opera in 3 acts. Libretto: Otto Anthes. Premiere June 5, 1918 Munich ( Court Theater )
  • Schirin and Gertraude (op. 51; 1920). Cheerful opera in 4 acts. Libretto: Ernst Hardt . Premiere April 28, 1920 Dresden ( State Opera )
  • Hanneles Ascension (1927). Opera in 2 acts. Libretto: Georg Gräner (based on the play of the same name by Gerhart Hauptmann ). Premiere February 17, 1927 Dresden (State Opera; with Erna Berger [Hannele])
  • Friedemann Bach (op.90; 1931). Opera in 3 acts. Libretto: Rudolf Lothar (based on Albert Emil Brachvogel 's novel of the same name). Premiere November 13, 1931 Schwerin
  • The Prince of Homburg (op. 100; 1934). Opera in 4 acts. Libretto: Paul Graener (after Kleist ). Premiere March 14, 1935 Berlin ( State Opera Unter den Linden )
  • Irene. A game on Capri (1940?). Singspiel in a prelude and 3 acts. Libretto: Alfred Güntzel. Premiere possibly 1940 Munich ( Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz ?)
  • Schwanhild (1941). Opera in 3 acts. Libretto: Otto Anthes. Premiere 1941 Cologne
  • Odysseus' Homecoming (1941; fragment). Libretto: Otto Anthes

Vocal compositions

For voice and piano:

  • Two songs (op. 3; published 1921). Texts: Paul Graener; P. Sturm-Wegmann
  • Four songs (op.4; 1906). Texts: KA Venth, J. Meyer, H. Leuthold, L. Cassan
  • Two songs (op.6; 1906). Texts: Robert Burns , Anonymous
  • Three songs (op.11; 1906). Texts: Heinrich Heine , S. Elsa
  • Four songs (op.12; 1909). Texts: Karl Stieler , Paul Remer, Gustav Falke
  • Three songs (op.21; 1909). Texts: Anna Ritter , Anonymus, Ludwig Fulda
  • Five songs (op.29; 1911). Texts: Anna Ritter, Otto Julius Bierbaum , Eduard Rudolf Grisebach, K. Bulcke, Anonymus
  • Three songs (op. 30; 1909). Texts: Otto Erich Hartleben , Anonymus, Anna Ritter
  • Four songs (op.40; 1916). Texts: Hans Friedrich, Richard Dehmel , Anna Ritter, Otto Julius Bierbaum
  • Palmström sings. Seven gallows songs (op.43; 1917). Texts: Christian Morgenstern
  • [Seven] New Gallows Songs (op. 43b; 1922). Texts: Christian Morgenstern
  • Three songs (op. 45; 1915). Texts: J. Leusser, Richard Dehmel, Johannes Schlaf
  • Three songs (op. 46; 1915). Texts: EA Herrmann, Hermann Hesse , Richard Schaukal , KE Kurdt
  • Three songs to old German poems (op. 47; 1918). Texts: Anonymi
  • Drum Song of the Landsturm (1916). Text: Gustav Falke
  • Five songs (op.49; 1918). Texts: Börries von Münchhausen
  • Four songs (op.50; 1919). Texts: Christian Morgenstern, Max Dauthendey
  • Four songs (op. 52; 1920). Texts: Richard Dehmel, Anton Wildgans , Max Dauthendey
  • Six songs (op.57; 1921). Texts: Christian Morgenstern, Lulu von Strauss and Torney , G. Eberlein, Börries von Münchhausen, Victor Blüthgen
  • The Song of the Curonian Spit (1924). Text: Fritz Kudnig (1888–1979)
  • Seven songs (op. 70; 1925). Texts: Otto Julius Bierbaum
  • Ten songs (Löns-Lieder) (op.71; 1925). Texts: Hermann Löns
  • Night and haunted songs. [Ten] Gallows Songs (op. 79; 1927). Texts: Christian Morgenstern
  • [Five] Raabe songs (op. 83; 1928). Texts: Wilhelm Raabe
  • Kommerslied of the Leipzig Bibliophiles (1929). Text: Fedor von Zobeltitz
  • Four songs (op. 94; 1932). Texts: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  • Five songs (op.102; 1936). Texts: Will Vesper , Rainer Maria Rilke , Hermann Hesse, Hermann Claudius , Anonymus
  • Three gallows songs (op.103; 1936). Texts: Christian Morgenstern
  • [Five] songs of remembrance (op. 111; 1942). Texts: Otto Erich Hartleben, Börries von Münchhausen, Hermann Claudius, Friedrich Griese

For voice (s) and other instruments / orchestra:

  • Wiebke Pogwisch (Battle in the Hamme 1404) (op. 24; 1915) for voices and orchestra. Text: Detlev von Liliencron . Premiere 1919 Berlin ( Philharmonic Choir , Conductor: Siegfried Ochs )
  • Nostalgia. To the sea (op. 53; 1920). Rhapsody for alto voice, piano and string quartet. Text: Hans Bethge
  • Prelude, Intermezzo and Aria (op. 84; 1932) for voice, viol, flute, oboe, bassoon and strings. Texts: Max Dauthendey
  • Die Gesellenwoche (op. 86; 1930) for male choir. Text:?
  • German cantata (op.87; 1929) for male choir. Text:?
  • Spring suite. Drei Gesänge (op.89; 1930) for male choir. Texts: From Des Knaben Wunderhorn
  • Four songs (op. 91; 1930) for male choir. Texts: A. Christen, F. Ewers, Wilhelm von Scholz , Victor Hardung
  • Drei Lieder (1930) for male choir. Texts: K. Kollbach, Ludwig Pfau , Jakob Loewenberg
  • Drei Nocturnes (1930) for male choir. Texts: Anonymus, Richard Dehmel , Gustav Falke
  • Theodor Storm Music (op. 93; 1932) for male voice (baritone) and piano trio. Text: Theodor Storm , There are forest and heather ...
  • The savior is not far (op. 95; 1932). Hymn for male choir, wind instruments, timpani and piano. Text: Friedrich Schlegel , Song of Memory (1807)
  • Marien-Cantata (op.99; 1933) for solos, choir and orchestra. Texts: poems from different centuries. Premiere 1933
  • Three male choirs (1935). Texts: Alfred Bode
  • Three male choirs (op.105; 1937). Texts: Hermann Löns
  • Making a voice and a cello (op.113; 1943). Texts: Gerhart Hauptmann , from: The colorful book (1888)

Orchestral works, concerts

  • From the kingdom of Pan (op. 22; 1920). Suite for large orchestra
Pan dreams in the moonlight - Pan sings of longing - Pan dances - Pan sings the world lullaby
  • Sinfonietta (op.27; 1910) for strings and harp
  • Blacksmith pain . Symphony in D minor (op.39; 1912)
  • Romantic Fantasy (op. 41; 1923)
  • Music in the evening (op.44; 1915)
  • Variations on a Russian Folk Song (op. 55; 1922)
  • Forest Music (op. 60; 1923)
  • Divertimento in D major (op.67; 1924)
  • Concerto in A minor (op. 72; 1925) for piano and orchestra
  • Iuventus academica. Overture (op. 73; 1926; dedicated to the University of Leipzig ). Premiere 1926 Leipzig ( Gewandhausorchester , conductor: Fritz Busch )
  • Gothic Suite (op.74; 1927; dedicated to Emil Mattiesen)
  • Concerto in A minor (op.78; 1927) for violoncello and chamber orchestra
  • Comedietta ( op.82 ; 1928)
  • The Flute by Sanssouci (op.88; 1930). Suite for flute and chamber orchestra
  • Sinfonia breve (op. 96; 1932)
  • Three Swedish Dances (op. 98; 1932)
  • Sérénade pittoresque (1937) for strings
  • Concerto in D major (op.104; 1938) for violin and orchestra (dedicated to Karl Grimm)
  • Solemn hour (op.106; 1938)
  • Tower Guardian Song (op.107; 1938). Variations on the song of Lynkeus from Faust II by Goethe
  • Prince Eugene, the noble knight . Variations (op.108; 1939)
  • Vienna Symphony (op. 110; 1942). Premiere 1942 ( Berliner Philharmoniker , conductor: Hans Knappertsbusch )
  • Salzburg Serenades (op.115; 1943)
  • Flute Concerto (op.116)

Chamber music

For piano:

  • Minuetto - Gavotte & Pastorale (op. 9; 1905; also version for orchestra)
  • Au printemps - Chant du soir - En route & Alla marcia ( op.10 ; 1905; also version for strings)
  • Impressions (1912)
  • Wilhelm Raabe Music (op. 58; 1922; 3 pieces)
  • Lonely field guard. Romance (op.59; 1922)
  • Three Intermezzi (op.77; 1927)
  • Three piano pieces (1932)

For solo instrument and piano:

  • Petite Suite Italienne (1903) for violin and piano
  • Sonata (op. 56; 1921) for violin and piano
  • Suite in A major (op. 63; 1924) for flute and piano
  • Suite in D major (op.64; 1924) for violin and piano
  • Suite in C minor (op.66; 1924) for violoncello and piano
  • Sonata (op.101; 1935) for violoncello and piano

For violin, violoncello and piano:

  • Suite (op.19; 1905)
  • Chamber music poem (op.20; 1906; dedicated to Wilhelm Raabe , after reading the novel Der Hungerpastor )
  • Piano trio (op. 61; 1923; "Trio atonal").

For string quartet:

  • Quartet on a Swedish Folk Song (op.33; 1910)
  • Quartet (op.54; 1920)
  • Quartet in A minor (op.65; 1924)
  • Quartet (op. 80; 1928)

Paul Graener's pupil

literature

  • Knut Andreas : Between Music and Politics: The composer Paul Graener (1872–1944). Frank & Timme, Berlin 2008.
  • Knut Andreas: Graener, Paul. In: Ludwig Finscher u. a, (Ed.): MGG . Part 2: Person part. Volume 7. Stuttgart, Weimar 2002, Sp. 1455-1457.
  • Knut Andreas: Paul Graener (1872-1944): Life and Work. Thesis musicology. University of Potsdam 2002.
  • Fred Büttner: Graener, Paul Hermann Franz. In: Josef Focht (Hrsg.): Bavarian Musicians Lexicon online. 2005.
  • Hugh Butler, HC Colles: Graener, Paul. In: Grove's Dictionary . Volume 3. 5th edition. 1954, col. 741f.
  • Georg Gräner : Paul Graener. Leipzig 1922 (= The Music. Collection of Illustrated Individual Representations, Volume 20)
  • Paul Grümmer: Paul Graener. Directory of his works. 1937.
  • Dirk Hiddeßen: Paul Graener. A German composer and his Morgenstern music. Thesis. Trossingen University of Music 1993.
  • Erik Levi: Graener, Paul. In: New Grove Dictionary 2nd Volume 10. 2001, Col. 261f.
  • Erik Levi: Graener, Paul. In: New Grove Dictionary of Opera 2. 1992, col. 506.
  • George W. Loomis: Graener, Paul. In: New Grove Dictionary 1. Volume 7. 1980, Col. 609f.
  • Ludwig K. Mayer: Graener, Paul. In: MGG 1. Volume 5. 1956, Col. 663-666.
  • Fred K. Prieberg : Music in the Nazi State. Cologne 2000.
  • Eugen Schmitz: On the 70th birthday of Paul Graener. In: magazine for music. 109, 1942, pp. 1-4.
  • Fritz Stege: Paul Graener. In: magazine for music. 99, 1932, pp. 9-13.
  • Christian Weickert:  Graener, Paul. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 6, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1964, ISBN 3-428-00187-7 , p. 715 ( digitized version ).
  • Joseph Wulf : Music in the Third Reich. Reinbek 1966.

Documents

Web links

Commons : Paul Graener  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Susanne Range (Red.): Klangspuren. 100 years of the Halle Opera House orchestra 1897–1997 . Edited by the Halle Opera House, Halle / Saale 1997, no p.
  2. ^ Fred K. Prieberg : Handbook of German Musicians 1933–1945 . CD-ROM lexicon. Kiel 2004, p. 2475.
  3. ^ Manuscript in the Saxon State Archives in Leipzig .
personal data
SURNAME Graener, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gräner, Paul Hermann Franz (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer
DATE OF BIRTH January 11, 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH November 13, 1944
Place of death Salzburg