Eugen Schmitz (12 July 1882 – 10 July 1959) was a German

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 ...

and

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

Life

Schmitz was born in

Neuburg an der Donau Neuburg an der Donau (Central Bavarian: ''Neiburg an da Donau'') is a town which is the capital of the Neuburg-Schrobenhausen district in the state of Bavaria in Germany. Divisions The municipality has 16 divisions: * Altmannstetten * Bergen, Neu ...

. The descendant of the violin virtuoso, composer and court kapellmeister

Louis Spohr Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, ...

first studied law, then music and musicology in Munich with Anton Beer-Walbrunn,

Adolf Sandberger Adolf Wilhelm August Sandberger (19 December 1864 in Würzburg – 14 January 1943 in Munich) was a German musicologist and composer, with a particular interest in 16th-century music. He founded the School of Musicology at the University of Munic ...

and Theodor Kroyer. There he published the article ''Zum hundertjährigen Geburtstag Franz Lachner's'' in the ''Münchener Zeitung'' already in 1903. 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 1905 and was a music critic for the Munich ''Allgemeine Zeitung''. After a study stay in Italy, he worked as a private

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

in Munich from 1909, where he

habilitated Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

in musicology in 1910, and from 1914 to 1915 he was director of the

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

Mozarteum Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the “Mozarteum” moniker in Salzburg municipality; the International Moz ...

. In 1915 he went to

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 ...

, was music editor of the ''Dresdner Nachrichten'' until 1939 and taught as a lecturer of musicology from 1916, and from 1918 as professor at the

Technische Universität Dresden TU Dresden (for german: Technische Universität Dresden, abbreviated as TUD and often wrongly translated as "Dresden University of Technology") is a public research university, the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, th ...

. From 1939 to 1955 he was director of the in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

. Schmitz was NSDAP member No. 2.442.825 and in November 1933 signed the

Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State Bekenntnis der Professoren an den Universitäten und Hochschulen zu Adolf Hitler und dem nationalsozialistischen Staat officially translated into English as the Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Ad ...

. He wrote for the ''Dresdner Nachrichten'' and the Nazi journal '. Schmitz died in Leipzig at age 76.

Writings

chronological * ''Zum hundertjährigen Geburtstag Franz Lachner's.'' ''Münchener Zeitung'' dated 2 April 1903 * ''

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 ...

'' (Musiker-Biographien Band 26/Universal-Bibliothek Nr. 4853), Leipzig 1906 * ''

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 ...

als Musikdramatiker. Eine ästhetisch-kritische Studie.'' Munich 1907 * ''

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

''. (Wissenschaft und Bildung Band 55), Leipzig 1909, 1918 * ''Harmonielehre als Theorie, Aesthetik und Geschichte der musikalischen Harmonik'' (Sammlung Kösel Band 49), Kempten/Munich 1911, 1917 * ''

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina ( – 2 February 1594) was an Italian composer of late Renaissance music. The central representative of the Roman School, with Orlande de Lassus and Tomás Luis de Victoria, Palestrina is considered the leading ...

''. (Breitkopf & Härtels Musikbücher / Kleine Musikerbiographien), Leipzig 1914 * ''

Orlando di Lasso Orlande de Lassus ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palest ...

'' (Breitkopf & Härtels Musikbücher / Kleine Musikerbiographien), Leipzig 1915 * ''Musikästhetik.'' (Handbuch der Musiklehre. XIII), 1915 * '' Schuberts Auswirkung auf die deutsche Musik bis zu

und

Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...

''.''Schuberts Auswirkung auf die deutsche Musik bis zu Hugo Wolf und Bruckner''
on WorldCat Leipzig 1954 * ''Orlando di Lasso'', Leipzig 1954 * ''Giovanni Pierluigi Palestrina'', Leipzig 1954 * ''Das mächtige Häuflein'' (Musikbücherei für jedermann Nr. 4), Leipzig 1955 * ''Unverwelkter Volksliedstil. J. A. P. Schulz und seine „Lieder im Volkston“'', Leipzig 1956.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitz, Eugen German male journalists 20th-century German musicologists Academic staff of TU Dresden Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich German music critics Nazi Party members 1882 births 1959 deaths People from Neuburg an der Donau