Gerhart von Westerman (19 September 1894 – 14 February 1963) was a German composer, artistic director and music writer.

Life

Born in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, after graduating from high school Westerman studied composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where

Paul Juon Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

was his teacher. From 1918 he continued his studies with Walter Courvoisier and August Reuß in Munich and received his doctorate in 1921 with a thesis on " Giovanni Porta als Opernkomponist". In Munich he became head of department at the radio station in 1925, later at the radio stations in Berlin and Saarbrücken. In 1939 the Berlin Philharmonic appointed him as its artistic director (as successor to

Hans von Benda Hans von Benda (22 November 1888, in Strasbourg – 13 August 1972, in Berlin) was a German conductor. A direct descendant of the eighteenth-century composer Franz Benda, he operated in the shadow of better-known German maestri of his genera ...

). He held this office until 1945 and then again from 1952 onwards until 1959 from. In 1951 he founded the

Berliner Festwochen The Berliner Festspiele (German for Berlin Festivals) are a series of festivals, art exhibitions, and other cultural events organized all year long by a common organization in Berlin. Events are held at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, a pre-ex ...

, which he organized every year from then on until 1959. Westerman died in Berlin at the age of 68. He is buried at the

Waldfriedhof Dahlem The Waldfriedhof Dahlem ( Dahlem forest cemetery) is a cemetery in Berlin, in the district of Steglitz-Zehlendorf on the edge of the Grunewald forest at Hüttenweg 47. Densely planted with conifers and designed between 1931 and 1933 after the ...

. His grave is marked as dedicated as

Works

Orchestral pieces

*''Serenade'', op. 7, 1928 *''Intermezzi'', op. 9, 1929 *''Divertimento'', op. 16, 1940

Operas

*''Prometheische Phantasie'', composition and libretto,

premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

1960 in Dortmund *''Rosamunde Floris'', libretto, music by Boris Blacher, premiere 1960 in Berlin

Books

* ''Das russische Volkslied, wie es heute gesungen wird''. Orchis Verlag, 1922 * ''Knaurs Konzertführer''. Droemersche Verlagsanstalt, 1951 * ''Knaurs Opernführer'', Droemersche Verlagsanstalt, 1952

Awards

* 1962: Berliner Kunstpreis

References

External links

*
Bild des Komponisten und Ausführungen zu seinem KompositionsstilBücher von Westerman

Gerhart-von-Westerman-Archiv
at the Academy of Arts, Berlin *

Baltische Historische Kommission Baltische Historische Kommission ('Baltic Historical Commission'; abbreviated BHK) is an organization which deals with history related to Baltic Germans/Germany and Baltic states. BHK is located in Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chötti ...

br>Westerman(n), Gerhart v. (1894-1963)
on ' {{DEFAULTSORT:Westerman, Gerhart von 1894 births 1963 deaths Musicians from Riga 20th-century German composers 20th-century classical composers German opera composers German opera librettists Baltic-German people