Willy Mattes

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Willy Mattes (born January 4, 1916 in Vienna as Wilhelm Franz Josef Mattes ; † July 30, 2002 in Salzburg ) was an Austrian composer , arranger and conductor who composed well-known hits as well as numerous film scores .

Life

After graduating from high school in 1935 and taking Felix Weingartner's conducting class at the Vienna Music Academy in 1937 , Mattes was theater conductor in Oldenburg and Leipzig until 1939 . He then worked as an arranger and composer for the film companies Ufa and Tobis , for which, in addition to his duties as assistant to Lothar Brühne, he wrote his first independent film music . He also conducted and arranged recordings for record companies and worked for the German Dance and Entertainment Orchestra in Prague .

From 1944 to 1951 Mattes was employed as a conductor at Sveriges Radio in Stockholm , then at Bayerischer Rundfunk in Munich and from 1964 to 1974 at Süddeutscher Rundfunk in Stuttgart . In 1960/1961 he worked with Walter Felsenstein on the new version of the Millöcker operetta The poor Jonathan . His most famous work of his own is the concert piece for piano and orchestra Swedish Rhapsody , which was played by all the major orchestras in the USA , was recorded several times there and can be heard in the MGM film Madame X in 1966 . In the credits he hides behind the pseudonym Charles Wildman, which he occasionally used in international film works. From 1975 to 1980 he was head of department for light music at RIAS in Berlin . From 1981 he was a guest conductor at Norddeutscher Rundfunk in Hanover .

Mattes was married to the actress and dancer Margit Symo in his first marriage and to the former Miss Germany and Miss Europe Christel Schaack in his second marriage . He is the father of actress Eva Mattes .

Pop compositions (selection)

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Lexical entries

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personal data
SURNAME Mattes, Willy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mattes, Wilhelm Franz Josef (maiden name); Wildmann, Charles (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian composer, arranger and conductor
DATE OF BIRTH January 4, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH July 30, 2002
Place of death Salzburg