Hans Erich Apostel (22 January 1901 – 30 November 1972) was a German-born Austrian

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 ...

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

. From 1916 to 1919 he studied piano, conducting and music theory in Karlsruhe with Alfred Lorenz. In 1920 he was Kapellmeister and Répétiteur at the Badisches Landestheater in Karlsruhe. He studied in Vienna with

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

from 1921 to 1925, and from 1925 to 1935 with

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( , ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

, two prominent members of the Second Viennese School. At the same time, he taught piano, composition and music theory privately. Some of his compositions demonstrate his particular affinity with expressionist painting—he was friends with

Emil Nolde Emil Nolde (born Hans Emil Hansen; 7 August 1867 – 13 April 1956) was a German-Danish painter and printmaker. He was one of the first Expressionists, a member of Die Brücke, and was one of the first oil painting and watercolor painters of th ...

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and

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. During the Nazi period his music was proscribed as "degenerate", but he continued to live in Vienna until his death in 1972. Apostel was active as a pianist, accompanist, and conductor of contemporary music in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. After the war, he was prominent in the Austrian branch of the Gesellschaft für Neue Musik, of which he was president from 1947 to 1950. He was an editor for the

Universal Edition Universal Edition (UE) is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, they originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market (which had until then been dominated by Leipzig-bas ...

, and was responsible for new editions of the

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

s of Alban Berg, ''

Wozzeck ''Wozzeck'' () is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. The opera is based on the drama '' Woyzeck'', which the German playwright Georg Büchner left incomplete at ...

'' (published in 1955) and ''

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'' (published in 1963). Although he won numerous prizes for his compositions (including the

Grand Austrian State Prize The Grand Austrian State Prize () is a decoration given annually by Austria to an artist for exceptional work. The recipient must be an Austrian citizen with a permanent residence in Austria. It was originally created in 1950 by then education mi ...

in 1957), his works have rarely been performed. He is buried in the

Zentralfriedhof The Vienna Central Cemetery (german: Wiener Zentralfriedhof) is one of the largest cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its ...

in Vienna, Group 32C, No. 57.

References

*Burton, Anthony. 2002. "Apostel, Hans Erich". ''The Oxford Companion to Music'', edited by Alison Latham. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. *Gruber, Gerold W. 1989. "Hans Erich Apostel: ''Fischerhausserenade'' op. 45 (1971)". In ''Dodekaphonie in Österreich nach 1945'', edited by Gottfried Scholz. Vienna: Verband der Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaften Österreichs. *Gruber, Gerold W. 2001. "Apostel, Hans Erich". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...

and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers. *Kaufmann, Harald. 1965. ''Hans Erich Apostel: eEne Studie''. Österreichische Komponisten des XX. Jahrhunderts 4. Vienna: Österreichischer Bundesverlag. {{DEFAULTSORT:Apostel, Hans Erich Austrian classical composers Austrian male composers German classical composers German emigrants to Austria Musicians from Karlsruhe Pupils of Arnold Schoenberg Pupils of Alban Berg 1901 births 1972 deaths 20th-century classical composers German male classical composers 20th-century German composers Twelve-tone and serial composers 20th-century German male musicians

References

Further reading