August Johannes Jaeger (18 March 1860 – 18 May 1909) was an Anglo-German music publisher, who developed a close friendship with the English composer

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

. He offered advice and help to Elgar and is immortalised in the ''Enigma Variations''.

Biography

August Johannes Jaeger was born in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, Germany. He came to London in 1878, where he first worked at a map-printing firm. In 1890 he joined the London music publishing company Novello as a music reader. He became head of the publishing office. Elgar's relationship with Jaeger is documented in Percy M. Young's book showing eleven years of correspondence, ''Letters to Nimrod''. Jaeger met Edward Elgar in late 1897, when he was publishing office manager at Novellos, and their first correspondence was regarding the publication of Elgar's ''Te Deum and Benedictus''. His advice, friendship and encouragement became invaluable to Elgar, for example causing the composer to rework many famous musical passages, including the finale to his ''Variations on an Original Theme'' (''

Enigma Variations Edward Elgar composed his ''Variations on an Original Theme'', Op. 36, popularly known as the ''Enigma Variations'', between October 1898 and February 1899. It is an orchestral work comprising fourteen variations on an original theme. Elgar ...

'') and the climax of ''

The Dream of Gerontius ''The Dream of Gerontius'', Op. 38, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment b ...

''. Jaeger has been immortalized in the famous ninth variation "Nimrod" from the ''Variations'', recalling a conversation on the slow movements of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

(

Nimrod Nimrod (; ; arc, ܢܡܪܘܕ; ar, نُمْرُود, Numrūd) is a biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush and therefore a great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of ...

was a Biblical hunter, a pun on the German word for hunter, ''Jäger''). Jaeger championed the work of the young composer

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (15 August 18751 September 1912) was a British composer and conductor. Of mixed-race birth, Coleridge-Taylor achieved such success that he was referred to by white New York musicians as the "African Mahler" when ...

, claiming to Elgar that Coleridge-Taylor was "a genius". In 1898 Jaeger married Isabella Donkersley of Magdale, Honley near

Holmfirth Holmfirth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, on the A635 and A6024 in the Holme Valley, at the confluence of the River Holme and Ribble, south of Huddersfield and west of Barnsley. It mostly consist ...

in West Yorkshire, an accomplished violinist and pupil of Henry Holmes in the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

, and they had two children. At the beginning of 1905 Jaeger was ill with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

and went to

Davos , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch , twintowns = } Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alpine resort town and a municipality in the Prättigau/Davos R ...

in Switzerland, but he was still receiving a pension from Novellos. After the long and depressing illness, during which he and Elgar still corresponded about musical matters, Jaeger died in

Muswell Hill Muswell Hill is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross. Neighbouring areas include Highgate, Hampstead Garden Suburb, East Finchl ...

on 18 May 1909. The family changed their name to "Hunter" after World War I.

Works

* Analytical and descriptive notes for works by Elgar: ''The Apostles'' (1903); ''The Dream of Gerontius'' (1904); ''The Kingdom'' (1906); ''Falstaff'' * Notes for Queens Hall concert programmes (1903-1906)

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaeger, August 1860 births 1909 deaths People from Muswell Hill Edward Elgar People from Düsseldorf English composers German music publishers (people) British music publishers (people) Businesspeople from London 19th-century English musicians 19th-century British male musicians German emigrants to the United Kingdom 19th-century English businesspeople