Richard Gustav Heinz Tiessen (10 April 1887 – 29 November 1971) was a German

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 ...

Biography

Tiessen was born at

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

, where he studied with composer Erwin Kroll before moving to Berlin. There, he enrolled at

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 ...

and at the Stern'sches Konservatorium, where he studied composition and

music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

. He worked as a music critic for ''Allgemeine Musikzeitung'' from 1911 to 1917 before becoming a theater '' Kapellmeister'' and composer for

Volksbühne The Volksbühne ("People's Theatre") is a theater in Berlin. Located in Berlin's city center Mitte on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (Rosa Luxemburg Square) in what was the GDR's capital. It has been called Berlin's most iconic theatre. About The Vol ...

in 1918. From 1920 to 1922, he conducted the Akademische Orchester and between 1925 and 1945, he taught music theory and composition at the Berliner Musikhochschule. He also co-founded the German division of the

International Society for Contemporary Music The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music. The organization was established in Salzburg in 1922 as Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM) following th ...

and served as conductor of the Junger Chor. During the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, his music was classified as "undesirable" by the Nazi authorities, and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he almost completely stopped composing. From 1946 to 1949 he directed the city Konservatorium and beginning in 1955, he headed the department of

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

and

theory A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be ...

at the Berliner Musikhochschule. His best-known pupils were

Eduard Erdmann Eduard Erdmann (5 March 1896 – 21 June 1958) was a Baltic German pianist and composer. Erdmann was born in Wenden (Cēsis) in the Governorate of Livonia. He was the great-nephew of the philosopher Johann Eduard Erdmann. His first musical ...

and

Sergiu Celibidache Sergiu Celibidache (; 14 August 1996) was a Romanian conductor, composer, musical theorist, and teacher. Educated in his native Romania, and later in Paris and Berlin, Celibidache's career in music spanned over five decades, including tenures ...

, another one was

Eva Siewert Eva Siewert (11 February 1907 – 3 December 1994) was a German journalist, writer, radio announcer and opera singer, who lived and worked mainly in Berlin. Childhood Eva Siewert was born in Breslau (today Wrocław, Poland), the daughter of tw ...

. He died in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. Tiessen composed two symphonies, a dance drama and incidental music for a number of

plays Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

, some ''Music for String Orchestra'', a

Totentanz The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ) (from the French language), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory of the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of ...

- Suite for small

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

chamber works 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 ...

, pieces for

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and organ, lieder, and choral music. The music of Richard Strauss, who in 1917 had helped Tiessen obtain a job at the

Berlin State Opera The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great from ...

, influenced much of his early works: the First Symphony is dedicated to Strauss. From 1918 onwards his musical idiom inclined more towards an individual form of

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

, to which his many theatre scores contributed in evolving a highly dramatic, free-form style.

Works

*Symphony No. 1 in C, 1910–11 *Symphony No. 2 "Stirb und Werde", op.17, 1911–12 *''Natur-Trilogie'' for piano, op.18 1913 *''Amsel-

Septet A septet is a formation containing exactly seven members. It is commonly associated with musical groups but can be applied to any situation where seven similar or related objects are considered a single unit, such as a seven-line stanza of poetry. ...

t'' (''Blackbird Septet''), op.20 1914-15 *''Hamlet-Suite'', 1919–21 *Incidental music for ''Merlin'' by

Karl Leberecht Immermann Karl Leberecht Immermann (24 April 1796 – 25 August 1840) was a German dramatist, novelist and a poet. Biography He was born at Magdeburg, the son of a government official. In 1813 he went to study law at Halle, where he remained, after t ...

*Incidental music for ''Die armseligen Besenbinder'' by Carl Hauptmann *Incidental music for ''

The Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

'' by

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

*Incidental music for ''

Antigone In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., & R ...

'' by

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or co ...

*Incidental music for ''Masse Mensch'' by

Ernst Toller Ernst Toller (1 December 1893 – 22 May 1939) was a German author, playwright, left-wing politician and revolutionary, known for his Expressionist plays. He served in 1919 for six days as President of the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic, ...

*Incidental music for ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, op.30 *Incidental music for ''

Cymbeline ''Cymbeline'' , also known as ''The Tragedie of Cymbeline'' or ''Cymbeline, King of Britain'', is a play by William Shakespeare set in Ancient Britain () and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concerning the early Celti ...

'' by Shakespeare *Incidental music for ''Advent'' by

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

*Incidental music for '' The Tempest'' by Shakespeare *Three Pieces for Piano, 1923 * String Quintet, op.32 *''Salambo'', dance drama, op.34 1924 *Incidental music for ''Abenteuer in Moll'' by Hanns Braun, 1924 * Duo- Sonate for

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and piano, 1925 *Incidental music for ''Don Juan und Faust'' by

Christian Dietrich Grabbe Christian Dietrich Grabbe (11 December 1801 – 12 September 1836) was a German dramatist of the ''Vormärz'' era. He wrote many historical plays conceiving a disillusioned and pessimistic world view, with some shrill scenes. Heinrich Heine ...

, 1925 *''Vorspiel zu einem Revolutionsdrama'', op.33 1926 *Incidental music for ''Musik'' by Hauptmann, 1934 *Concertante Variations for Piano and Orchestra, 1961

References

Biography from Ries & Erler Music Publishers (in German)
*Levitz, Tamara. "Tiessen, Heinz".
Grove Music Online
'' (subscription required). ed. L. Macy. Retrieved on March 8, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tiessen, Heinz 1887 births 1971 deaths Musicians from Königsberg German classical composers 20th-century classical composers German male conductors (music) Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany German male classical composers 20th-century German composers 20th-century German conductors (music) 20th-century German male musicians