Edmund Nick (, Reichenberg – ,

Geretsried Geretsried (; ) is a town in the district Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, located in Bavaria, Germany. The town is the most populated town in the district, with 23,219 inhabitants as of 31 December 2012. History Geretsried was first mentioned in the ...

) was a German

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, conductor, and music writer.

Biography

The son of a

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

, Nick studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

from 1910 to 1915 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

. At the same time, he studied music at the Vienna Music Academy and at the Conservatorium

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

. He received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in law (''Dr. jur.'') from the University Graz in 1918. Nick moved to Breslau in 1919, working as concert accompanist,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

teacher and critic. He became

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

of the theatre in Breslau in 1921 and Head of the Music Department of Radio

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

in 1924. It was here that he first met

Erich Kästner Emil Erich Kästner (; 23 February 1899 – 29 July 1974) was a German writer, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poems and for children's books including '' Emil and the Detectives''. He received ...

; Nick wrote the music to a

radio play Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

by Kästner which became very successful. This was the beginning of a lifelong friendship. When he was dismissed in 1933, he moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, where he was Head of Music at the ''Theater des Volkes'' from 1936 to 1940. In 1945 he moved to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, starting as a

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

at the ''Neue Zeitung''. He then became Musical Director of the

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

''Die Schaubude'' where he continued his collaboration with Erich Kästner; eventually, he set more than 60 of Kästner's works to music. In 1947 he became for two years chief conductor of the Bavarian State Operetta. He was made

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

in 1949 at the

Hochschule für Musik und Theater München The University of Music and Performing Arts Munich (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater München), also known as the Munich Conservatory, is a performing arts conservatory in Munich, Germany. The main building it currently occupies is t ...

; from 1952 to 1956 he was head of the music department of the

Westdeutscher Rundfunk Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln (''West German Broadcasting Cologne''; WDR, ) is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the conso ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

. He then worked as a music critic for the paper ''

Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...

'', and since 1962 for the ''

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. History ...

''. He wrote

works,

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

s, and music for theatre and radio plays; he is mostly known for his

musical comedies Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

and

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

Stage works

Selected stage works:List of works
operone.de

Operettas

*''Über alles siegt die Liebe'' (, based on

Karl Gutzkow Karl Ferdinand Gutzkow ( in Berlin – in Sachsenhausen) was a German writer notable in the Young Germany movement of the mid-19th century. Life Gutzkow was born of an extremely poor family, not proletarian, but of the lowest and most menia ...

's ''Zopf und Schwert'') (1940 Berlin, Theater des Volkes) *''Das Halsband der Königin'' (Gerhard Metzner) (1 December 1948 Munich, Bavarian State Operetta)

Musical comedies

*''

Das kleine Hofkonzert ' (''The Little Court Concert'') is a musical comedy in three acts (ten scenes) "from the world of Carl Spitzweg", music by Edmund Nick, libretto by Paul Verhoeven and Toni Impekoven. It premiered on 19 November 1935 at the Munich Kammerspiele. ...

'' (

Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...

, Toni Impekoven) (19 November 1935 Munich,

Munich Kammerspiele The Munich Kammerspiele (German: Münchner Kammerspiele) is a state-funded German-language theater company based at the ''Schauspielhaus'' on Maximilianstrasse in the Bavarian capital. The company currently has three venues: the main stage of ...

) *''Die glücklichen Tage'' (1937 Bremen) *''Xantippe'' (1938 Frankfurt (Main)) *''Titus macht Karriere'' (based on ''Talisman'' by

Johann Nestroy Johann Nepomuk Eduard Ambrosius Nestroy (; 7 December 1801 – 25 May 1862) was a singer, actor and playwright in the popular Austrian tradition of the Biedermeier period and its immediate aftermath. He participated in the 1848 revolutions an ...

by Gerhard Metzner) (1939 Berlin, Theater an der Behrenstraße) *''Nur für Erwachsene'' (1941 Berlin) *''Dreimal die Eine'' (1941 Leipzig) *''Karussell! – Karussell!'' (Gustel Graepp, Rudolf Rieth) (1941 Darmstadt) *''Der Prinzgemahl'' (Fritz Schwiefert) (1938)

Revues

*''Freut euch des Lebens!'' (1936 Berlin)

References

*''Reclams Operettenführer'', pp. 272–273, (ed.), Stuttgart 1962

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nick, Edmund 1891 births 1974 deaths German opera composers Male opera composers 20th-century classical composers Musicians from Liberec University of Music and Performing Arts Munich faculty German male classical composers 20th-century German composers Burials at the Westfriedhof (Munich) 20th-century German male musicians German Bohemian people