Walter Dahms

Walter Dahms (born June 9, 1887 in Berlin ; † May 10, 1973 in Lisbon ) was a German journalist , music critic and composer . After 1931 he called himself Walter Gualterio Armando or Walter G. Armando .

Life

So far, there is only a small amount of information about Dahms' life, some of which cannot be verified. These include that he at Berlin's Friedrich Wilhelm University in literature and philosophy should have studied and that he believes the Prussian Academy of Arts in the subject composition of Max Reger and Ferruccio Busoni said to have been taught. What is certain, however, is that Dahm's took private lessons from Adolf Schultze in Berlin.

Dahms was an orchestral violinist and conductor at Berlin theaters. In 1910 Agnes Matulke married , from whom he separated again in 1911. From 1912 he worked as a journalist and wrote for the newspapers Kleines Journal , Neue Preussische Kreuz-Zeitung , Ostdeutsche Rundschau and Allgemeine Musik-Zeitung about composers and musical events. During this time he became known for his biographies on Franz Schubert (1912), Robert Schumann (1916), Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1919). From 1913 to 1931 Dahms was in correspondence with the composer Heinrich Schenker .

During the First World War he was drafted into the 20th Army Corps in Willudden near Lötzen in East Prussia in 1915. Six months later he pioneered “Replacement Pioneer Bat. 26 “in Graudenz.

From the beginning of 1921 he lived with Magarethe Ohlmann . n May 1926 his daughter Gilda was born. He married Magarethe Ohlmann on June 6, 1931 in Paris .

In the 1920s he lived alternately in Berlin, Rome , Milan , Nice and Paris. In 1921 he wrote his book The Revelation of Music for the Nietzsche Society . An apotheosis of Friedrich Nietzsche . This was followed by Musik des Südens (1923), a biography of Chopin (1924) and a portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach (1924). As editor he published an almanac Der Musikus. Almanac 1927 (1926). Between 1927 and 1938 he translated numerous opera texts from Italian into German.

After 1931 Walter Dahms is said to have taken on the Honduran citizenship . He had his first and last name changed and from then on called himself Walter Gualterio Armando and Walter G. Armando . From then on his wife called herself Margarita Armando . Around 1935 the couple went to Portugal and lived there in Lisbon. In 1960 his free adaptation and transmission of the memoirs by Fernao Mendes Pinto published in Lisbon in 1614 appeared . Between 1960 and 1966 he published biographies on Franz Liszt (1960), Paganini (1960) and Richard Wagner (1962) as well as a history of Portugal (1966) under his new name . His book The History of Portugal was funded by the Gulbenkian Foundation . In his correspondence with Heinrich Schenker, he had already obtained detailed information about Calouste Gulbenkian as a patron .

Quotes

"We are all left with the comforting consciousness that Strauss , Reger and Mahler will lose out despite all conceivable 'promotions', despite all convulsive praise and monuments and titles and gold coins."

- Walter Dahms to Heinrich Schenker July 15, 1914)

"Now all that's missing is the peace that we would soon and surely have if the government didn't want to hand us over to the mob, to democracy under the leadership of Mr. Scheidemann ."

- Walter Dahms to Heinrich Schenker April 20, 1917

“We must now speak of Mendelssohn's Judaism; right at the beginning of the book. Not how to do something unpleasant or embarrassing, which has to be discussed, as quickly as possible, but rather to get the right point of view from the outset on such an essential question. A warning man of overwhelming influence on the Germans forces us to do so: Richard Wagner . We have long known that what is Jewish is not a matter of religion but of race. The researchers on both sides, Jews and Gentiles, in such grave feuds against each other, have taught us enough to make us suspect that the truth lies in the middle. We cannot do without objectivity. That is why we must not sign Richard Wagner's work on Judaism in music without reservation and leave it unmentioned. "

- Walter Dahms: Mendelssohn (1919), p. 13

“Believe me: the best national education for German youth would be to send them abroad to give them a lively idea of ​​the greatness of German culture. Truly, the unfortunate outcome of the war has increased the innate vanity of the Latin and Slavic, not to mention the Anglo-Saxon peoples, to the point of stupidity. As you know, I am no friend of war because the past war was a martyrdom for a permanent German under the senseless establishment of the authority of command of the stupid and mean. And I can never understand and forgive that it was our own national comrades who drove our love of the fatherland out of us, the intellectual prosperity and future of Germany under the knack of grooms. But a glance at the new map of Germany leaves no doubt for a moment that it needs correction. We'll have war again one day. My only wish is that it will not be led again at the expense of the intelligentsia and for the good of the usurers and workers. But who will vouch for it? I don't know anyone. At the moment when the first intoxication of the popular uprising is over, mechanization starts again under Mr. Rathenau's direction! "

- Walter Dahms to Heinrich Schenker March 11, 1922

"Every now and then a German newspaper reaches me (I read Italian less often) and I am amazed at the" progress "that is being made in Germany, I read with satisfaction how the new musical geniuses grow up in droves with atonal dog-ears, amazed that Germany is still celebrating its current “constitution” (in every sense of the word) in a great way and seeing that the rags and criminals are still doing well under the leadership of the ministers. Erzberger 's, Rathenaus, Liebknechts , Scheidemanns and Wirths Saat is in bloom, Stresemann has become a staunch republican, the war participants languish in prisons and the rabble triumphs across the board. When the first signs of energetic resistance on the Ruhr became known here, the Italian people were enthusiastic; because the hatred of the French is growing steadily. Then one saw with astonishment how the bureaucrats and socialists in Berlin contained the resistance, was disappointed that in Germany one accepted the whip of the negro off the leash with devotion, yes the patriots behind the castle and the like. Riegel set, or, as in the Schlageter case, surrendered to the French. No Italian understands this and every single one, without exception, tells me that it would be impossible in Italy (as impossible as the fact that an Italian would ever change his flag for the sake of other peoples). Here every man and woman would put up the bitterest passive resistance; but there would also be no government that condemns the active resistance of its own people to an army of burglars as “criminal acts”. This appalling cowardice Cuno , the front of the Pope's bugbear, this lazy, over rotten piece of the Middle Ages, so miserably capitulated (which what words would have Bismarck the perky plump parsons shown the door !!!), respect, Germany has completely extinguished. "

- Walter Dahms to Heinrich Schenker August 23, 1923

“The things that are going on in Germany can only be viewed with a feeling of shudder and horror. Completely stripped of a binding, religious idea, it staggers from party to party, from one clergy to another. The pre-war u. The time of war bears its bad fruits. In spite of all this, a new thought comes out of this ocean of filth and suffering, the ancient thought in a new form. A merciful heaven send over Europe and America a redeeming earthquake, the coal & swallow the iron so that man could live as man again; that would hasten salvation. Because before we destroy the cursed machine, we would sooner have no rest, no peace in front of the industrial people. This is my morning u. Evening prayer. "

- Walter Dahms to Heinrich Schenker November 1, 1923

“The election of Hindenburg as Reich President changed the position of Germany at one stroke. You can feel very clearly here that all of Europe has received a shock that is leading to a reorganization of the molecules. In Italy the decision of the German people made a great and beneficial impression. Mussolini is very happy with it as Italy is relieved and freed from the threat of French pressure. Now Germany's wise policy, and in 10 years it will be more powerful than ever, an empire in which all the conditions of the Deutschlandlied are met. The proof has once again been given that it is only the power of the personality, of the individual, that decides the fate of the peoples. If Germany now emerges from the mediocrity and unspirituality of aircraft manufacturers and industrialists into a higher sphere, where people of culture again set the tone, then we can hope again. But whether this will be? I can't believe it. "

- Walter Dahms to Heinrich Schenker about April 29, 1925

“We're going to leave Berlin as soon as possible and head south. [...] Germany is no longer the country of Beethoven , Goethe , Schopenhauer , it is the country of Stresemann and the Catholic priests, the party secretaries and sport idiots. We have nothing more to look for and hope for. All that remains is to close oneself in. It should no longer be possible to ignite any spark. All of this is easier to bear in the south. We know that barbarism is general, that politics and sport come first and don't get upset about it, because everything is much easier to bear in a light, light climate. The faces of the Germans are, for the most part, simply terrifying: I didn't think so much greediness and doggedness were possible. In addition, the laws of German 'morality', which stink too much for me. Murderers enjoy all leniency and consideration, but for decent people life is destroyed and made impossible with a lust that only the Prussian 'systematics' and the Kantian Prussian 'imperative' know. The people lied to and deceived, exploited in a shameless way, what is this country, which can be governed in this way, supposed to have for the spirit, for justice and personal freedom? There are painful things to be learned here. The more painful, the stronger one has lost that truly German, the spirit and the greatness, forever! [...] It is better to keep your faith to yourself. "

- Walter Dahms to Heinrich Schenker April 13, 1927

“While the other European colonial powers were selling their colonies in quick succession and making them independent, Salazar left no doubt from the outset that Portugal considered its colonial property to be its rightful property and would defend it weapon in hand. In order to emphasize Portuguese, primarily the large African possessions of Guinea , Angola and Mozambique , the word 'colonies' was removed from the Portuguese vocabulary. The previous colonies were declared to be 'provinces' of Portugal and the number of natives, which numbered in the millions, were declared Portuguese citizens. [...] The originally predominantly hostile, but at least critical, attitude of the western world towards Portugal [...] has changed noticeably in favor of Portugal over the course of time. And not without reason [...] Salazar has now, correctly aware of the situation, favored the cooperation of other countries and thus created a community of interests that allows him to successfully continue his Africa policy. "

- Walter G. Armando: History of Portugal , p. 335 f.

Works

• Schubert . Schuster & Loeffler, Berlin and Leipzig 1912 (music classics) 6th to 9th edition 1919 digitized version (18th - 20th edition Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt , Stuttgart 1923)
• Schumann . Schuster & Loeffler, Berlin and Leipzig 1916 (music classics) 4th to 6th edition, digital version (6th - 9th edition, 1923)
• Mendelsohn . Schuster & Loeffler, Berlin and Leipzig 1919 (master biographies) (6th - 9th ed. 1922 digitized )
• The revelation of music. An apotheosis of Friedrich Nietzsche . Publishing house of the Nietzsche Society in Musarion Verlag, Munich 1921 (Writings of the Nietzsche Society Volume 1)
• Music of the south . Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart and Berlin 1923
• Chopin . Otto Halbreiter Musikverlag, Munich 1924
• Johann Sebastian Bach. A picture of his life . Musarion-Verlag, Munich 1924
• The musician. Almanac 1927 . Edited by Walther Dahms. Panorama-Verlag, Berlin-Steglitz 1926 W. Dahms: Beethoven's death .
• Hanseatic songbook for sociable circles. High and Low German songs with the participation of Wilh. Steel, among other things. by W. Dahms. Borchers, Lübeck 1927
• Walter G. Armando: Paganini. A biography . Rütten & Loening, Hamburg 1960
• Walter Gualterio Armando: winds blow, ships go. The most beautiful sea stories. Illustrated by Dietrich Lange . Verlag Freizeit-Bibliothek, Hamburg 1961
• Walter G. Armando: Franz Liszt. A biography . Rütten & Loening , Hamburg 1960
• Walter G. Armando: Richard Wagner. A biography. Rütten & Loening, Hamburg 1962.
• Walter G. Armando: History of Portugal . W. Kohlhammer , Stuttgart, Berlin Cologne Mainz 1966

Translations (selection)

• Sly, or the legend of the resurrected sleeper . Opera in 3 acts and 4 pictures. Text book by Giovacchino Forzano . German translation by Walter Dahms. Music by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari. Casa Musicala Sonzogno, Milano 1927 (also 1929)
• Sly, or the legend of the resurrected sleeper. Opera in 3 acts and 4 pictures. Text book by Giovacchino Forzano . German translation by Walter Dahms. Music by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari. Piano excerpt with singing by the composer. Casa Musicala Sonzogno, Milano 1928
• Guilt and atonement . Musical drama in 3 acts and 4 pictures by Giovacchino Forzano. (Based on the novel by F. Dostoevsky ) . German translation by Walter Dahms. Music by Arrigo Pedrollo . Casa Musicala Sonzogno, Milano 1929 (also 1930)
• The king. Fable in three pictures by Giovacchino Forzano . Music by Umberto Giordano . German translation by Walter Dahms. Music by Arrigo Pedrollo . Casa Musicala Sonzogno, Milano 1929
• The ornamental dolls. Comic opera in one act by Arturo Rossato . ( Based on the comedy Les précieuses ridicules by Molière ). Music by Felice Lattuada . German translation by Walter Dahms. Casa Musicala Sonzogno, Milano 1929
• The mischievous widow. Comic opera in three acts by Mario Ghisalberti . Music by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari . German translation by Walter Dahms. Casa Musicala Sonzogno, Milano 1931
• Florentine spring. Opera by Mario Ghisalberti. Text by Arrigo Pedrollo . German translation by Walter Dahms. Casa Musicala Sonzogno, Milano 1932
• Adriana Lecouvreur . Dramatic play by E. Scribe and E. Legouvé in four acts for the opera stage, arranged by A. Colautti . Music by Francesco Cilea . German translation by Walter Dahms. Casa Musicala Sonzogno, Milano 1938
• Fedora . Drama by Victorien Sardou for the opera stage in three acts arranged by Arturo Colautti . Music by Umberto Giordano . Piano reduction with text. German translation by Walter Dahms. Casa Musicala Sonzogno, Milano 1938
• Walter G. Armando: Peregrinacam or the strange adventures of Fernao Mendes Pinto . Edit and transfer. 1st to 4th thousand. Hans Dulk, Hamburg 1960

Articles (selection)

• Musical arrangements . In: Neue Preussische Kreuz-Zeitung from July 15, 1913
• Musical 'progress . In Neue Preussische Kreuz-Zeitung of April 9, 1914
• New music literature . In: Neue Preussische Kreuz-Zeitung from June 14, 1916
• Obituary for Max Reger . In: Stage and World. Journal for theater, literature and music. Official journal of the German Stage Association. Verlag Bühner and Welt, Hamburg Vol. 18 (1916), pp. 241–243
• Heinrich Schenker . on his 50th birthday on June 19, 1918 . In: Conservative monthly . June 1918, pp. 647-49
• Two worlds of music . In: The music. Combat sheet for German music and music care . Edited by Alfred Heuss. Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Berlin, Vol. 15.1922, 1, pp. 160–176
• Heinrich Schenker's personality . In: Allgemeine Musik-Zeitung . Aug. 3, 1923, pp. 511-512
• Open letter to the composer Arnold Schönberg . In: Musikblätter des Anbruch (1924), pp. 323-324
• The Biology of Music . In: Musical quarterly . Oxford University Press, Oxford 11. (1925), pp. 36-54 ISSN  0027-4631
• The Gallant Style of Music . In: Musical quarterly . Oxford University Press, Oxford 11. (1925), pp. 356-372 ISSN  0027-4631
• Alessandro Scarlatti . In: The music . Monthly for a spiritual renewal of music . Edited by Alfred Heuss . Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Berlin, Vol. 18.1925, 1, pp. 97-103
• Heads in profile. Mattia Battistini . In: The music. Monthly for a spiritual renewal of music . Edited by Alfred Heuss. Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Berlin, vol. 18.1925, vol. 18.1925, 1, pp. 128-131
• Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari on his 50th birthday (January 12, 1926). In: The music. Monthly for a spiritual renewal of music . Edited by Alfred Heuss. Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Berlin, Vol. 18.1925, 1, pp. 258–263

Compositions

• Three poems by Alfred Mombert ( winter evening ; slumber song ; asleep I am carried to my home country ). Mus. Hs. 1259: V, pf, 1925
• Quartet for strings (1939/40)
• Concertino op.11 for oboe (violin) and string orchestra

Letters

• Walter Dahms to Heinrich Schenker Letters and documents from Walter Dahms (Gualterio Armando)
• Walter Dahms to the composer Otto Dorn (* 1848; † 1931) February 25, 1915 ( Berlin State Library - music department, signature: N.Mus.ep. 2858)
• Walter Dahms (Gualterio Armando) to Musikverlag N. Simrock, Leipzig from Lisbon on February 15, 1940.

literature

• Riemann-Musik-Lexikon ed. by Wilibald Gurlitt . 12., completely reworked. Edition of the supplementary volume.
• Annkatrin Dahm: The Topos of the Jews. Studies on the history of anti-Semitism in German-language music literature . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007 (Jewish Religion, History and Culture Volume 7) ISBN 978-3-525-56996-2 , p. 236 ff.

Web links

• Hugo Riemann's Music Lexicon . Vol. 1 (reprint of the 1916 edition) ISBN 978-3-8460-0084-7 digitized

Individual evidence

1. ↑ “Baker, 8th ed. (Dahms, Walter); b. 6-9-1887, Berlin, d. 10-5-73, Lisbon; German music critic "
2. ↑ Between 1903 and 1917 there are only students named Willi Dahs (medicine) and Arthur Dahms (chemistry).
3. ^ Probably because of his: Obituary for Max Reger (1916).
4. ^ To my esteemed teacher, Mr. Adolf Schultze, Hofkapellmeister a. D. dedicated . In: Walter Dahms: Schumann .
5. ^ Walter Dahms to Heinrich Schenker at the end of June / beginning of July 1926.
6. ↑ The divorce took place in 1928 (Walter Dahms to Heinrich Schenker February 7, 1931).
7. ↑ "43. Armierungs-Bat. 4th company, 6th corporal body ”. (Walter Dahms to Heinrich Schenker April 5, 1915).
8. ^ Walter Dahms to Heinrich Schenker October 2, 1915.
9. ^ Walter Dahms to Heinrich Schenker May 21, 1926 and end of June / beginning of July 1926.
10. ↑ “I was supposed to write a book about Nietzsche and music for a Munich publishing house that intended to publish a series of books about Nietzsche following the large complete edition of Nietzsche's works. At first I resisted it; later this work became very attractive to me, as the subject is very closely related to questions of worldview. ”Walter Dahms to Heinrich Schenker December 29, 1920.
11. ↑ Ernst Hilmar (Ed.): Schubert Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Schneider, Tutzing 2004, p. 105 ISBN 3-7952-1155-7 .
12. ↑ History of Portugal , p. 8.
13. ↑ “Now I heard the name Castiglione mentioned here. This man is said to be Austrian, incredibly rich, an entrepreneur and money man of the greatest style, who recently married an artist. At least that's what I was told. My question, dear master, is now this: could you (as the only person I know in Vienna) try to find out where this Castiglione lives from a very occasional survey among your friends? what kind of man it is and how you can get hold of him? ”(Walter Dahms to Heinrich Schenker November 20, 1923).
14. ↑ Reprint: Salzwasser Verlag, Paderborn 2012 ISBN 978-3-9549102-7-4 .
15. ↑ Reprint Schuster & Loeffler, Berlin 1976.
16. ↑ Dahms' personal dedication: “Mr. Hans Tessmer as a reminder of the fat weeks in Wasserburg / Inn. 18.XI.1919. "(Musikantiquariat Dr. Michael Raab)
17. ↑ Reviewed in: Die Musik. Combat sheet for German music and music care . Edited by Alfred Heuss. Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Berlin, Vol. 15.1922, The Music. Combat sheet for German music and music care . Edited by Alfred Heuss. Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Berlin, Vol. 15.1922, pp. 58–59.
18. ^ Licensed edition: Bertelsmann, Lemgo 1962
19. ^ Licensed edition: Bertelsmann Lesering , Gütersloh 1964; Book guild Gutenberg, Zurich o. J.
20. ↑ Walter G Armando: Schip ahoy! De mooiste van de zee . JH Gottmer, Haarlem 1969. (Dutch)
21. ^ Licensed edition: Bertelsmann Lesering, Gütersloh 1962.
22. ^ Licensed edition: Bertelsmann Lesering, Gütersloh 1963.
23. ^ German premiere of the Deutsches Nationaltheater, Weimar July 7, 1929.
24. ^ Reprint Milan 1975.
25. ^ German premiere on October 13, 1928 in Dresden. Contribution to the Tamino Klassikforum
26. ^ Reprint Milan 1988.
27. ↑ The mischievous widow. Comic opera in three acts by Mario Ghisalberti . Music by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari . German translation by Walter Dahms. Apollo-Verlag, Zurich 1950 (text books and music literature 200)
28. ^ Edition for the German premieres in Berlin and Cologne on October 21, 1931. ( Reclams Opern- und Operettenführer . Stuttgart 1982, p. 505).
29. ^ Performance of the German National Theater, Weimar January 10, 1932.
30. ^ Reprint Milan 1977 and 1985.
31. ↑ German premiere Stadttheater Dortmund October 27, 1938.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
32. ^ Mohn & Co GmbH, Gütersloh. no year
33. ^ First printing in Das Kleine Journal. Berliner Wochenblatt for theater, film and music . Berlin 1912.
34. ^ Karlsruhe music manuscripts / Badische Landesbibliothek.
35. ^ Autograph in the Saxon State Archives in Leipzig .
36. ^ Sächsisches Staatsarchiv Leipzig