Emil Karl Gustav Alfred Mattiesen (23 January 1875Birth date given in his dissertation, Julian calendar: 11 January – 25 September 1939) was a

Baltic Germans Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declin ...

musician, music pedagogue, composer and philosopher. He composed

lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

er,

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...

s, ballads,

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 ...

and organ music, but is better known for standard works in German on

parapsychology Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near ...

. He was a professor of church music at the

University of Rostock The University of Rostock (german: link=no, Universität Rostock) is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in continen ...

from 1929.

Life

Mattiesen was born in

Dorpat Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern Europe, Northern Europe, European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres ...

. The son of Emil Karl Johann Mattiesen (1835–1888), an editor-in-chief and town councillor, and Emilie (née Strümpell; 1846–1917), daughter of the philosopher and pedagogue

Ludwig Strümpell Ludwig Strümpell, after his ennoblement in 1870 von Strümpell he attended a private school, the ''Kollmann'sche Privat-Lehranstalt'', in his hometown. He received musical instruction at age 16. He completed school with the

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

in 1892 at the gymnasium in

Mitau Jelgava (; german: Mitau, ; see also #Name, other names) is a state city in central Latvia about southwest of Riga with 55,972 inhabitants (2019). It is the largest town in the region of Zemgale (Semigalia). Jelgava was the capital of the unit ...

. He studied philosophy, natural sciences and music, first in Dorpat, then from 1893 at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

. He had to interrupt his studies due to illness in the fall of 1894, and continued in 1895, first again in Dorpat, and from October 1895 again in Leipzig, where he received a PhD in 1896, writing about the philosophical critique in the work of

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism ...

and

George Berkeley George Berkeley (; 12 March 168514 January 1753) – known as Bishop Berkeley (Bishop of Cloyne of the Anglican Church of Ireland) – was an Anglo-Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immate ...

. Mattiesen travelled in Asia and America from 1898 to 1903, learning several Asian languages and the basics of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

and other religions. From 1904 to 1908, he studied at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and in London. He wrote his first major book, completed in 1914 but not published until 1925: ''Der jenseitige Mensch. Eine Einführung in die Metapsychologie der mystischen Erfahrung'' (Man of the Next World. An Introduction to the Metapsychology of the Mystical Experience). When he returned to Germany in 1908, he lived in Berlin, where he married and focused on music. He lived in

Fürstenfeldbruck Fürstenfeldbruck () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, located 32 kilometres west of Munich. It is the capital of the district of Fürstenfeldbruck. it has a population of 35,494. Since the 1930s, Fürstenfeldbruck has had an air force base. Th ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, for several years. He founded an association for the publication of his works in

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 ...

in 1921. In 1925, he moved to the village of Gehlsdorf, now part of

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...

. He was a lecturer on church music at the Theological Faculty of the

from 1929. He was a composer of

Lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

er, especially

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s, and of chamber and organ music. His compositions were published by

Henri Hinrichsen Henri Hinrichsen (5 February 1868 – 17 September 1942) was a German music publisher and patron of music in Leipzig. He directed the music publishing house C. F. Peters, succeeding his uncle. He helped found the Hochschule für Frauen zu Leipzig, ...

, on a recommendation by

Hugo Wolf Hugo Philipp Jacob Wolf (13 March 1860 – 22 February 1903) was an Austrian composer of Slovene origin, particularly noted for his art songs, or Lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Ro ...

, including 17 ''Liederhefte'' (song collections). He composed lieder for the contralto

Lula Mysz-Gmeiner Lula Mysz-Gmeiner (born Julie Sophie Gmeiner; 15 August 1876 – 7 August 1948) was a German concert contralto and mezzo-soprano born in Transylvania, who performed lieder recitals in Europe and the United States. She was an academic voice teach ...

, and accompanied her in performances. These lieder included "Selige Sehnsucht" (Blissful longing), "Die kleine Passion" (The little passion) and "Philomele". A review in the journal ''Die Musik'' from February 1914 reports a recital in which she premiered five songs and mentions the composer's talent for humorous topics, such as "Jedem das seine" after a poem by

Eduard Mörike Eduard Friedrich Mörike (8 September 18044 June 1875) was a German Lutheran pastor who was also a Romantic poet and writer of novellas and novels. Many of his poems were set to music and became established folk songs, while others were used by ...

. He also researched and published in the field of

. His two main books in the field, ''Der jenseitige Mensch'' (published in 1925) and ''Das persönliche Überleben des Todes: eine Darstellung der Erfahrungsbeweise'' (The Personal Survival of Death: An Account of the Empirical Evidence) in three volumes (1936–1939), became standard works in German. In his

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

''Das persönliche Überleben des Todes'', he advocated the survival hypothesis, listing several phenomena which seem to prove empirically that the soul lives on after death. The Nazis objected to the topic, which caused his work to be neglected at first. Mattiesen died in Rostock of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

shortly after the beginning of World War II.

Work

Compositions

* 1910 ''Balladen vom Tode'' * 1910 ''Ballade von der Liebe'' * 1920 ''Sieben Gesänge nach Gedichten von

Ricarda Huch Ricarda Huch (; 18 July 1864 – 17 November 1947) was a pioneering German intellectual. Trained as an historian, and the author of many works of European history, she also wrote novels, poems, and a play. Asteroid 879 Ricarda is named in her hono ...

'' * 1922 ''Stille Lieder'' * 1930 ''Der Pilger. Ein Liederzyklus'' * ''Glockengießer zu Breslau'' * ''Pidder Lüng'' * ''Lenore'' after

Gottfried August Bürger Gottfried August Bürger (31 December 1747 – 8 June 1794) was a German poet. His ballads were very popular in Germany. His most noted ballad, '' Lenore'', found an audience beyond readers of the German language in an English and Russian ada ...

Philosophy

* 1897 ''Ueber philosophische Kritik bei Locke und Berkeley'' (Dissertation)Emil Mattiesen
at

Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

* 1926 ''Die Kunstkasse in Neukloster. Eine Geschichte und ein Aufruf'' in ''Mecklenburgische Monatshefte''

Parapsychology

* 1925
Der jenseitige Mensch. Eine Einführung in die Metapsychologie der mystischen Erfahrung
'. reprinted unchanged in 1987 by Walter de Gruyter-Verlag Berlin - New York * 1936–39 ''Das persönliche Ueberleben des Todes. Eine Darstellung der Erfahrungsbeweise'' (3 vols.). Reprinted in 1961 with a preface by Gebhard Frei, reprinted in 1987 with a preface by Bauer, both Walter de Gruyter-Verlag BerlinNew York

Literature

* * Werner F. Bonin: ''Lexikon der Parapsychologie und ihrer Grenzgebiete.'' Bern, München 1976, p. 328.

References

External links

* * *
SUB Göttingen

rodiehr.de
Emil Mattiesen
classicalvocalreprints.com

lieder.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Mattiesen, Emil 20th-century German composers 20th-century German philosophers Parapsychologists University of Tartu alumni Leipzig University alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge Academic staff of the University of Rostock 1875 births 1939 deaths People from Tartu Baltic-German people