Ludwig Strecker Jr., also Ludwig Strecker der Jüngere, (13 January 188315 September 1978) was a German music publisher, and an author of opera librettos which he wrote under the pen name Ludwig Andersen. He authored, and published through the Schott publishing house, two of the most successful German contemporary operas of the 1930s, Egk's '' Die Zaubergeige'' and Reutter's '' Doktor Johannes Faust''.

Life

Born Ludwig Emanuel Strecker in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

, he was interested in poetry and literature early in life. He studied law at the

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

, the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

, where he obtained 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 ''li ...

in 1906. After a stay abroad, Strecker became co-owner of the Schott music publishing house in Mainz in 1909, which his father Ludwig Strecker had inherited from in 1874. Strecker and his brother Wilhelm Strecker became directors in 1920, and opened the publishing house for contemporary composers such as

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...

and

Carl Orff Carl Orff (; 10 July 1895 – 29 March 1982) was a German composer and music educator, best known for his cantata '' Carmina Burana'' (1937). The concepts of his Schulwerk were influential for children's music education. Life Early life Carl ...

. They took over the management of Schott together when their father died in 1943. Under the pseudonym ''Ludwig Andersen'', he also worked as a

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

and translator of libretti. Among the libretti he wrote for notable composers of the period, and then published, were Werner Egk's '' Die Zaubergeige'', premiered in 1935 by the

Oper Frankfurt The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Shrek's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, '' Fennimore und Gerda'' by Frede ...

, and Hermann Reutter's '' Doktor Johannes Faust'', premiered also in Frankfurt in 1936; the two works were among the most successful German contemporary operas during the Nazi regime, ''Die Zaubergeige'' being performed 198 times and ''Doktor Johannes Faust'' 116 times in Germany until 1945. This success established Schott as a leading publisher of stage works. Strecker translated Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's opera '' Gli dei a Tebe'' for its world premiere at the

Staatsoper Hannover Hanover State Opera (german: Staatsoper Hannover) is an opera company in Hanover, the state capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. The company is resident in the Hanover Opera House (), and is part of a publicly-funded umbrella performing arts organ ...

in 1943. Strecker's first wife was Friedel Preetorius (1884-1938), the daughter of the Mainz entrepreneur and politician . Strecker died in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

at age 95.

Awards

* 1953:

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

* 1955: of

Rheinland-Pfalz Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

* Honorary senator of the

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 st ...

Librettos

* '. Music: Hermann Reutter. Premiere 1933, revised version 1970 Stuttgart. * '' Die Zaubergeige''. Music:

Werner Egk Werner Egk (, 17 May 1901 – 10 July 1983), born Werner Joseph Mayer, was a German composer. Early career He was born in the Swabian town of Auchsesheim, today part of Donauwörth, Germany. His family, of Catholic peasant stock, moved to A ...

. Premiere 1935

. * '' Doktor Johannes Faust''. Music: Reutter. Premiere 1936 Oper Frankfurt, revised version 1955 Stuttgart * '. Music:

Joseph Haas Joseph Haas (19 March 1879 – 30 March 1960) was a German late romantic composer and music teacher. Biography He was born in Maihingen, near Nördlingen to teacher Alban Haas from his second marriage, being half-brother to the theologian a ...

. Premiere 1937 Kassel. * '. Music: Haas. Premiere 1944 Dresden. * '. Music: Cesar Bresgen. Premiere 1948 Esslingen, revised version 1951

Staatstheater Nürnberg The Staatstheater Nürnberg is a German theatre company in Nuremberg, Bavaria. The theatre is one of four Bavarian state theatres and shows operas, plays, ballets and concerts. History Its main venue, the opera house ("Opernhaus Nürnberg"), i ...

.''Der Igel als Bräutigam''
on WorldCat

Literature

References

External links

Strecker, Ludwig
on BMLO * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Strecker, Ludwig II German music publishers (people) German librettists Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1883 births 1978 deaths Writers from Mainz Businesspeople from Mainz