Theodor Blumer

Theodor Anton Blumer (born March 24, 1881 in Dresden , † September 21, 1964 in West Berlin ) was a German composer and conductor .

Grave of Theodor Blumer in Dresden

Life

Theodor Blumer was born on March 24, 1881 in Dresden as the son of the chamber musician Theodor Emanuel Josef Blumer (1853–1932). He came from Prague and entered the Dresden Royal Chapel as 1st violinist in 1879. Theodor Blumer jun. studied composition with Felix Draeseke and piano with Walther Frz. Bachmann at the Dresden Conservatory. From 1902 he lived in Dresden as a pianist and concert accompanist. From 1906 he was then a répétiteur and Kapellmeister at the court theater in Altenburg.

Blumer's creative time began around 1900 and lasted for over half a century. First he composed vocal and instrumental chamber music. Back in Dresden in 1911, the opera "Fünfuhrtee" was written. The freelance work after his time in Altenburg gave him the opportunity to travel all over Germany with the winds association of the Dresden State Orchestra and as a soloist for piano concerts. World-class publishers like Benjamin, Kistner and Siegel tried to get Blumer. In 1915 Blumer met the German playwright and writer Carl Hauptmann (1858–1921). Some joint works were created.

The First World War dictated an involuntary creative break. Blumer was a soldier in Russia from 1917 to 1918. In 1919 he met the solo flutist of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, John Amans , who encouraged him to write music for wind instruments. The radio took up the reputation that Blumer had as a composer, conductor and pianist. Attempts were made to win him over as musical director in Dresden. Theodor Blumer was one of the pioneers of music radio. In 1924 the Mirag Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk AG was founded in Leipzig.

From 1925 to 1931 he was musical director and first conductor at the radio in Dresden. He put all his energy, enthusiasm and the versatility of his skills into building up the music department. Blumer was there when it came to setting up the first musical broadcasts on the radio. He founded the Dresden Soloists' Association, which consisted of soloists and instrumentalists from the State Opera and the well-known Fritsche Quartet. The Fritsche Quartet was also known as the Dresden String Quartet. At the same time he worked as a teacher at the orchestra school of the Dresden Staatskapelle.

In 1931 Blumer moved to Leipzig because broadcasting operations there had been expanded since 1928 and there were better opportunities for a radio bandmaster to develop. In Leipzig he worked successfully as Kapellmeister at the Reichssender. At the same time he composed and worked as an interpreter. When the music publisher Wilhelm Zimmermann heard Theodor Blumer’s Sextet for winds and piano op.45 at a Leipzig concert, he immediately went to the composer's apartment in Dresden and bought the wind quintet op.52 for his publisher. From then on there was a lively exchange of ideas between composer and publisher. A very stimulating friendship grew out of it, which lasted until Blumer died. In 1940, due to differences of opinion, Blumer was dismissed from the Reich broadcaster in Leipzig. Since 1941, due to the war, no more radio programs have been produced. In 1942 Blumer had to retire from musical life for health reasons. There was no possibility of receiving a pension after retiring from working life.

In 1937 he was Gauobmann of the composers' council for the Gau Sachsen in the Reichsmusikkammer .

On March 24, 1944, Blumer's birthday, 30 manuscripts were burned, as was the criticism folder created by his father. Blumer's opera Frühglocke, which had just been completed as a piano reduction, was also part of it. Mrs. Blumer had moved about 80% of the valuable things out of the apartment. The reason was the constant bombing on Leipzig. Where there was supposed to be security, everything caught fire. This catastrophic experience triggered a creative phase at Blumer. In a very short time he composed three symphonies, a piano concerto, chamber music and songs.

After the war he could no longer find a permanent job in Leipzig. Until 1948, Blumer was still on the blacklist for composers because of his membership in the NSDAP. In 1949 he received a position as a music teacher from the City Council of Leipzig to practice freelance work. In 1950 he turned to colleagues with performance requests, mostly without success. His wife, Ms. Hildegard-Blumer-Ostkamp, did not get any engagements in the east as an opera or concert singer. The Blumers were in a dire economic situation. Blumer hoped for an improvement in his personal circumstances when he moved to Berlin-Charlottenburg in 1952. In 1964 he died in West Berlin. He was buried in Dresden at his request. His grave is near the grave of Carl-Maria von Weber in the Old Catholic Cemetery in Dresden .

Lives in Dresden and Leipzig

Blumer initially lived in Dresden with his parents at Stephanienstraße 11; later, around 1924, then alone at Werder-Strasse 38. In 1931 he went to Leipzig to work for the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. In Leipzig he lived at Hindenburgstrasse 22, later Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse 22. In 1952 he moved to Berlin-Charlottenburg, Kastanienallee 17c.

Works

Theodor Blumer's works are tonal and are characterized by a confident mastery of the craft, a sensuality of sound and an often humorous tone of voice.

Stage works

Five o'clock tea , opera (Libretto: W. Wolters; first performance 1911, Dresden, Schauspielhaus)
Trust who

Orchestral works

Heiteres Spiel op.68 (1931)
Musical Pictures op.69 for flute and orchestra (1936)
German folk song fantasy op.72
Silhouetten op.74 for string orchestra (1934)
Advertisement and completion op. 79 Chamber cantata for an alto and a baritone part (1937) - text by Walther Stein
Castilian Dance op.94a (1941)
Spark of life , Op. 94b, Humoresque (1941)
Concerto giocoso op.98 for flute and orchestra (1944)

Chamber music

Sonatas for violin and piano
Sonata for violoncello and piano
Sonata for viola and piano op.17
String trio op.55
Quintet for wind instruments op.52
Quintet for violin, viola, violoncello, double bass and piano (1945)
Swiss quintet, suite for 5 wind instruments (1948)
Dance suite for five wind instruments op.53
Sextet No. 1 in F major for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon and piano op.45 (1921)
Sextet No. 2 (Chamber Symphony) for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon and piano op.92

Documents

Letters and autographs by Theodor Blumer are in the holdings of the Leipzig music publisher CF Peters and Benjamin / Sikorski in the Saxon State Archives in Leipzig .

estate

Theodor Blumer's estate is kept in the Saxon State Library - Dresden State and University Library.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Blumer, Theodor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Blumer, Theodor Anton
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German Kapellmeister, composer
DATE OF BIRTH	March 24, 1881
PLACE OF BIRTH	Dresden
DATE OF DEATH	September 21, 1964
Place of death	West Berlin