Ernst Hermann Ludimar Meyer (8 December 1905 – 8 October 1988) was a German composer and
musicologist
Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...
, noted for his expertise on seventeenth-century English chamber music.
Life
Meyer was born in Berlin. He received his first piano lessons at the age of six, and started composing at eleven. After finishing school, he worked as an apprentice at a bank, and in 1926 he started the advanced study for music at
Heidelberg University
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Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
, where in 1930 he completed his Ph.D. on the 17th century chamber music of North German composers. He became a pupil of
Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...
and under his influence joined the Communist Party. Being a Jew and the composer of militant protest songs, he emigrated to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
in 1933 to avoid detention by the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
. There he eventually became a close friend of leftist composer
Alan Bush
Alan Dudley Bush (22 December 1900 – 31 October 1995) was a British composer, pianist, conductor, teacher and political activist. A committed communist, his uncompromising political beliefs were often reflected in his music. He composed pro ...
, who was also in contact with exiled composers Eisler and
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...
.
In the UK Meyer researched English chamber music of the 17th century, lectured for the Workers Educational Association and conducted the Labour Choral Union. In 1939 he began lecturing at
Bedford College, London
file:Bedford College in York place - photographer is unknown but guess 1908.png, Bedford College was in York Place after 1874
Bedford College was founded in London in 1849 as the first higher education college for education of women, women in th ...
; in 1945 he was given a guest professorship at
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...
. But unlike some of his fellow
émigré composers (such as
Hans May
Hans May (11 July 1886 – 1 January 1959) was an Austrian-born composer who went into exile in Britain in 1936 after the Nazis came to power in his homeland, being of Jewish descent.
May first gained attention as a composer during the 1920s a ...
), Meyer only ever worked on the fringes of British cinema, for which he produced some scores for documentaries and instructional films. He did some unique work on the use of sound effects, dubbing and editing.
[Huntley, John. ''British Film Music'' (1947), p. 217]
Meyer returned to
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
(GDR) in 1948 and became one of the most influential figures of music culture there. He was active politically as a communist, and his works include choral, orchestral, and chamber music written to display commitment to Marxist–Leninist ideals. In 1982 the second edition of his book ''Early English Chamber Music: The History of a Great Tradition from the Middle Ages to Purcell'' was published.
Meyer was head of the German Society of Composers and Musicologists, professor of musicology at Berlin's
Humboldt University
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiati ...
, chairman of the German Handel Society, and founder of the annual
Handel Festival, which is still celebrated in
Halle, Germany.
Works
Meyer composed numerous songs, as well as chamber music, two symphonies and other works for orchestra, an opera, and an oratorio. He wrote numerous musicological articles as well as a book on English chamber music. His pupils included
Serge Hovey. As a musicologist, he edited numerous manuscripts by English composers of the Tudor and Renaissance periods (for example, ''Englische Fantasien aus dem 17. Jahrhundert : für drei Streichinstrumente = English fantasias from the 17th century : for three string instruments'' ).
Selected Compositions
Among more than 300 songs, orchestral works, and other works:
* Symphony for Strings (1947)
* ''Mansfeld Oratorio'' (1950)
* String Quartet in G, Nr. 1 (1956)
* String Quartet Nr. 2 (1959)
* ''Poem,'' for Viola and Orchestra (1961)
* Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1964)
* Symphony in B (1967)
* String Quartet Nr. 3 (1967)
* Concerto for Harp and Chamber Orchestra (1968)
* ''Leinefelder Divertimento'' (1969)
* Toccata for Orchestra (1971)
* ''Reiter der Nacht'', opera (1972)
* Concerto for Viola and Orchestra (1978)
* Sonata for Viola and Piano (1979)
* ''Essay'' for Viola Solo (1983)
Selected books
Among many papers and essays:
* ''Die mehrstimmigie Spielmusik des 17. Jahrhunderts in Nord- und Mitteleuropa,'' Heidelberg 1930
* ''English Chamber Music: The History of a Great Art from the Middle Ages to Purcell,'' London 1946 ()
References
Further reading
* Gur, Golan. 2015. "Classicism as Anti-Fascist Heritage: Realism and Myth in Ernst Hermann Meyer’s Mansfelder Oratorium (1950)." In: Kyle Frackman and Larson Powell (ed.), ''Classical Music in the German Democratic Republic: Production and Reception.'' Rochester: Camden House, pp. 34–57
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Ernst Hermann
1905 births
1988 deaths
20th-century classical composers
German opera composers
Male opera composers
Musicians from Berlin
People from the Province of Brandenburg
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom
Heidelberg University alumni
Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin
German male classical composers
Academics of Bedford College, London
20th-century German composers
20th-century German male musicians
Recipients of the Medal of Merit of the GDR