Martin Greif, born Friedrich Hermann Frey (18 June 1839 – 1 April 1911) was a German freelance writer of poems and of dramas which were performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna and the Bavarian Court Theatre in Munich. His songs inspired compositions by Max Reger and Alban Berg, among others.

Career

Friedrich Hermann Frey was born in

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...

, the son of , who had served as ''Kabinettsrat'' of

Otto of Greece Otto (, ; 1 June 181526 July 1867) was a Bavarian prince who ruled as King of Greece from the establishment of the monarchy on 27 May 1832, under the Convention of London, until he was deposed on 23 October 1862. The second son of King Ludw ...

, and his wife Adelheid Friederike, née Ehrmann. The family moved to Munich, where he made the Abitur. He joined the Bavarian military and was promoted to ''Offizier'' in 1859. He retired from the military in 1867 to live as a freelance writer. His first publications, enabled by

Eduard Mörike Eduard Friedrich Mörike (8 September 18044 June 1875) was a German Lutheran pastor who was also a Romantic poet and writer of novellas and novels. Many of his poems were set to music and became established folk songs, while others were used by ...

were poems, published in 1868 by ''Cotta’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung'' unter the pen name Martin Greif, which he used as his official name from 1882 on. In 1869 he moved to Vienna, where many of his plays were successfully performed at the Burgtheater, thank to its artistic director

Heinrich Laube Heinrich Laube (18 September 1806 – 1 August 1884), German dramatist, novelist and theatre-director, was born at Sprottau in Prussian Silesia. Life He studied theology at Halle and Breslau (1826–1829), and settled in Leipzig in 1832. Here he ...

. When Laube left the post, Greif returned to Munich and wrote patriotic dramas performed at the Bavarian Court Theatre. He died in

Kufstein Kufstein (; Central Bavarian: ''Kufstoa'') is a town in the Austrian state of Tyrol, the administrative seat of Kufstein District. With a population of about 19,600 it is the second largest Tyrolean town after the state capital Innsbruck. The grea ...

Work

Greif's drama on

Agnes Bernauer Agnes Bernauer (c. 1410 – 12 October 1435) was the mistress and perhaps also the first wife of Albert, later Albert III, Duke of Bavaria. Because his father, Ernest, ruling Duke of Bavaria at the time, considered this liaison with a commone ...

has remained in the repertory of Bavarian lay theatre. Several of Greif's poems appeared in anthologies such as ''Hausbuch Deutscher Lyrik''. His poem "Das klagende Lied" possibly inspired Gustav Mahler's cantata of the same name, written from 1878 on with a libretto by the composer. Several of Greif's poems were set to music, for example "Der zerrißne Grabkranz" by Max Reger as part of his ''Sechs Lieder'', Op. 4. Alban Berg set his poem "Schattenleben" ("Phantom Life") in 1903 among his early songs, Anton Webern set his poem "Hochsommernacht". His works include: * ''Die Schlacht von Leipzig'', München, 1863;
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* ''Frühlingssturmlieder'', München, 1864
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* ''Hans Sachs'', Augsburg 1866;
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* ''Gedichte'', Stuttgart 1868;
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* ''Prinz Eugen'', Kassel 1880 * ''Agnes Bernauer, der Engel von Augsburg'', Leipzig 1894. * ''Neue Lieder und Mären'', Leipzig 1908

Literature

* Albert van Geelen: ''Martin Greif als Dramatiker in seinen Beziehungen zu Laube und zum Burgtheater unter Wilbrandt und Dingelstedt.'' Wächter-Verlag, Graz u. a. 1934. * Fritz Kastner: ''Martin Greif. Bibliographie zu seinem Leben und Werk.'' Pfälzische Landesbibliothek, Speyer 1959. * Laurenz Kiesgen: ''Martin Greif.'' Hesse u. Becker, Leipzig 1905. *

Wilhelm Kosch Wilhelm Franz Josef Kosch (2 October 1879 – 20 December 1960) was an Austrian historian of literature and theatre and lexicographer. The lexicon that he conceived and later revised several times, the ' is a references in the field of German ...

: ''Martin Greif in seinen Werken.'' Amelang, Leipzig 1907. * : ''Martin Greif. Versuch zu einer Geschichte seines Lebens und Dichtens mit besonderer Rücksicht auf seine Dramen und seiner Stellung in der deutschen Litteratur.'' Renger, Leipzig 1892. * Jocza Savits: ''Martin Greifs Dramen. Eine Studie.'' Engl, München 1911. * C. Stemplinger: ''Martin Greif als Lyriker.'' In: ''Alte und Neue Welt; Illustriertes katholisches Familienblatt.'' 1898/99, . * Antonia Kostretska (ed.): ''Martin Greif. Ausgewählte Gedichte in Deutsch und Russisch.'' Heidelberg 2011, . (German, Russian)

Career

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Literature

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