Anna Erler-Schnaudt (11 March 1878 – 30 April 1963) was a German

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...

and voice teacher. She performed in the premiere of Mahler's Eighth Symphony and taught at the Folkwangschule.

Career

Anna Schnaudt was born in

Moers Moers (; older form: ''Mörs''; archaic Dutch language, Dutch: ''Murse'', ''Murs'' or ''Meurs'') is a German List of cities and towns in Germany, city on the western bank of the Rhine, close to Duisburg. Moers belongs to the district of Wesel (d ...

. She studied voice in Munich with Karl Erler, whom she later married, from 1903 to 1906. She made her concert debut in Munich in 1906. She was a soloist in the premiere of Mahler's Eighth Symphony on 12 September 1910, performing the parts Alto II and Maria Aegyptiaca. She sang concerts also in Berlin, Cologne, Leipzig, in France, the Netherlands, Poland and Czechoslovakia. The composer

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...

, who probably met her in 1906, dedicated his only

orchestral song The orchestral song (German ') is a late romantic genre of classical music for solo voices and orchestra. History What was effectively song with instrumental accompaniment – the cantata and the aria – had been part of music since the early bar ...

An die Hoffnung "An die Hoffnung" (To Hope), List of compositions by Max Reger#124, Op. 124, is a ''Lied'' for alto or mezzo-soprano and orchestra by Max Reger, setting a poem by Friedrich Hölderlin. He composed it in Meiningen in 1912 and dedicated it to Anna E ...

", Op. 124, to her and conducted the Meininger Hofkapelle in the first performance in

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...

on 12 October 1912. Reger requested the singer to perform in his memorial service in case of his death. She remained dedicated to him after his death, giving the autograph of the piano version of "An die Hoffnung" and several other memorabilia to the

Max-Reger-Institute The Max-Reger-Institute (MRI) is a musicological research institute and archive in Karlsruhe, Germany, dedicated to the work of the composer Max Reger, a representative of German music around the turn of the 20th century. An associated foundation ...

. She performed in a symphony concert in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

in 1914, with

Paul Sauer Paul Oliver Sauer ( 1 January 1898, Wynberg, Cape Town - 11 January 1976, Stellenbosch) was a South African Cabinet Minister and lifelong member of the National Party. Background Sauer was born in Wynberg near Cape Town in 1898 as the third ...

conducting the Städtisches Orchester playing works by

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

and Reger, including songs and Reger's

Piano Concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpiec ...

. The reviewer of the magazine ''Musik'' wrote: "... in den Liedern der beiden Meister zeigte sich Anna Erler-Schnaudt als glänzende Interpretin" (... in song by both masters, she appeared as a brilliant interpreter). She was the alto soloist in a performance of Bruckner's

Mass in F minor ''Mass in F Minor'' is the third studio album by American rock band The Electric Prunes, released in 1968. It consists of a musical setting of the mass sung in Latin and Greek and arranged in the psychedelic style of the band, and was written ...

and

Psalm 150 Psalm 150 is the 150th and final psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Praise ye the . Praise God in his sanctuary". In Latin, it is known as "Laudate Dominum in sanctis eius". In Psalm 150, the psalmist ...

at the Tonhalle Munich on 21 February 1924, performed by the Konzertvereins-Orchester und die Konzertgesellschaft für Chorgesang, conducted by Hanns Rohr, alongside Nelly Merz, Emil Graf, Julius Gieß and with the organist Hermann Sagerer. Erler-Schnaudt worked as a voice teacher first in Munich, then from 1928 at the Folkwangschule in Essen. Among her students are

Marga Höffgen Marga Anna Johanna Höffgen (26 April 1921 – 7 July 1995) was a German contralto, known for singing oratorios, especially the Passions by Johann Sebastian Bach, and operatic parts such as Erda in Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'', performed a ...

and her niece

Ruth Siewert Ruth Siewert (also Rut, Sievert-Schnaudt, Sievert; 1915 – July 2002) was a German contralto and voice teacher. She performed roles by Richard Wagner at major opera houses in Europe and at the Bayreuth Festival, and was known as a singer of ora ...

. Erler-Schnaudt died in

Viersen Viersen (; li, Veeëse) is the capital of the district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Viersen is situated approximately 8 km north-west of Mönchengladbach, 15 km south-west of Krefeld and 20 km east o ...

References

Sources * * * * * * *

External links

Contemporaries / Anna Erler-Schnaudt / (1878–1963)
gustav-mahler.eu * Hermann Wiebel
Erinnerungen an Max Reger
Internationale Max Reger Gesellschaft, pp. 5–11 {{DEFAULTSORT:Erler-Schnaudt, Anna German contraltos 1878 births 1963 deaths People from Moers Folkwang University of the Arts faculty