Werner Janssen (composer)

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Werner Janssen

Werner Janssen (born June 1, 1899 in New York City , † September 19, 1990 in Stony Brook , New York ) was an American conductor and composer of classical music and film music .

Life

Janssen was born in New York City . His father ran the Hofbräuhaus restaurant there and was of the opinion that his son would also have to see his professional future in the family business, although the young man was aiming for a musical career. After Janssen graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy , he had to take care of his own further education, with assistance from Dartmouth College . He earned the money for his training as a waiter and by selling his own compositions. Janssen continued his studies by studying at the New England Conservatory of Music , where composers George Chadwick and Frederick Shepherd taught Converse . He also studied piano with Arthur Friedheim , a student of Liszt .

During World War I , Janssen served in the US military in the infantry . After the war he continued his studies and graduated with a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College in 1921 . As a freelance composer, among other things, he wrote jazz songs for the music publishers of Tin Pan Alley and was also a pianist of his own music. From 1925 to 1926 he composed several songs for the Ziegfeld Follies that became national hits. This income helped him to further studies with Felix Weingartner in Basel and Hermann Scherchen in Strasbourg . He subsequently received a scholarship from the Juilliard School and the American Academy in Rome award for his tone poem for the large orchestra with the jazz idiom New York's Eve in New York . He was released early from engagements in 1927 and 1929, whereupon he decided to study for another three years at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome , where Ottorino Respighi became his mentor . This resulted in other new compositions including the Louisiana Suite and the string quartet American Kaleidoscope , performed by the Quartetto di Roma, which led to an engagement with the Royal Orchestra of Rome. This commitment took him to many cities in Europe ( Berlin , Budapest , Copenhagen , Riga , Stockholm and Turin ). In 1934 Janssen performed a concert with works by Jean Sibelius in Helsinki , which Sibelius was enthusiastic about. After his second concert, Janssen received the Order of the White Rose from the Finnish government in March 1936 for his contribution to Finnish music.

In the 1934/1935 season Janssen was also appointed director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra , making him the first American-born conductor to lead the orchestra. From 1937 to 1939 he then directed the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra .

During this time he was approached to compose film music. His first composition was for the film The General died at dawn (1936), which received an Oscar nomination , which was to be followed by five more for film music composed by him, namely for the films Blockade (1938), Magician of Love (1939) , Under the Black Flag , Guest in the House and The Man from the South (all 1945).

Except for the German television production Robin Hood, the noble knight , he wrote the music for other films. He also composed the Suite Foster (1937), the string quartet No. 2 (1938), the octet for five (1965) and the quintet for ten instruments (1968). In 1940 he founded the Janssen Symphony Orchestra in Los Angeles , which became a competitor to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. A forum for contemporary music was also created under Janssen's direction. Janssen was also the music director of the Utah Symphony and Oregon Symphony Orchestras and the San Diego Philharmonic. In the course of his career Janssen has held other positions in well-known orchestras ( Toronto Symphony Orchestra , Belgrade Philharmonic, Vienna State Opera and Vienna Volksoper ). The composer then returned to the USA in the early 1970s.

Private

In 1937 Janssen married the actress Ann Harding , who brought a child into the connection. The marriage ended in divorce in 1963. Christina Heintzmann became his second wife. The marriage lasted until his death. The couple had three children together. Janssen died on September 19, 1990 in Stony Brook, New York State, and left behind his wife, three children, two sisters, four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Awards and honors

Oscar nominations

Film compositions

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Werner Janssen at filmportal.de
  2. ↑ Portland Symphony Booked March 18 at School Gym The Bulletin March 13, 1948 (English). Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  3. ↑ a b c d Werner Janssen at answers.com. (English) Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  4. ↑ a b c d e Janssen, Werner at liamasbridge.com. (English) Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  5. ↑ a b c d Werner Janssen Biography at imdb. (English) Retrieved January 2, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Janssen, Werner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American conductor and composer
DATE OF BIRTH June 1, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , United States
DATE OF DEATH September 19, 1990
Place of death Stony Brook , New York United States