Michael Thomas Mann (April 21, 1919 – January 1, 1977) was a German-born musician and professor of German literature.
Life
Born in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, Michael Mann was the youngest child of writer
Thomas Mann
Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...
and
Katia Mann
Katia Mann (born Katharina Hedwig Pringsheim; July 24, 1883 – April 25, 1980) was the youngest child and only daughter (among four sons) of the German Jewish mathematician and artist Alfred Pringsheim and his wife Hedwig Pringsheim, who was ...
. He studied
viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
and
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 ...
in
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. On March 6, 1939, he married the Swiss-born Gret Moser (1916–2007) in New York. With her he had two sons, Fridolin ("Frido") and Anthony ("Toni"), as well as an adopted daughter, Raju.
Between 1942 and 1947 he was a violinist in the
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Fr ...
. In 1949 he made appearances as a viola soloist in the United States and Europe. Accompanied by pianist
Yaltah Menuhin, he made a concert tour in 1951 and recorded the 1948 ''Viola Sonata'' by
Ernst Krenek
Ernst Heinrich Krenek (, 23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer of Czech origin. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including ''Music Here and Now'' (1939), a study ...
.
New York Viola Society list of recordings
/ref> He was forced to give up professional music due to a neuropathy
Peripheral neuropathy, often shortened to neuropathy, is a general term describing disease affecting the peripheral nerves, meaning nerves beyond the brain and spinal cord. Damage to peripheral nerves may impair sensation, movement, gland, or o ...
.
Mann then studied German literature at Harvard, and later worked as a professor at the University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
.
Michael, like several of his siblings and at least two of his aunts, suffered from depression and died of a combined consumption of alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
and barbiturates
Barbiturates are a class of depressant drugs that are chemically derived from barbituric acid. They are effective when used medically as anxiolytics, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants, but have physical and psychological addiction potential as ...
in Orinda, California
Orinda is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city's population as of the 2020 census is estimated at 19,514 residents.
History
Orinda is located within four Mexican land grants: Rancho Laguna de los Palos Colorados ...
; it is considered likely that he committed suicide. There is a stone with his name on it on his parents' grave in Kilchberg, Switzerland.
Discography
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
. Recorded in Hanover, Germany
* Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 to ...
– Sonata for viola and piano (1920); Michael Mann (viola); Dika Newlin Dika Newlin (November 22, 1923 – July 22, 2006) was a composer, pianist, professor, musicologist, and punk rock singer. She received a Ph.D. from Columbia University at the age of 22. She was one of the last living students of Arnold Schoenberg ...
(piano); recorded 19 March 1952
* Ernst Krenek
Ernst Heinrich Krenek (, 23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer of Czech origin. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including ''Music Here and Now'' (1939), a study ...
– Sonata for viola and piano (1948); Michael Mann (viola); Yaltah Menuhin (piano); recorded 9 April 1951
*Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...
- Quatre Visages (1943); Michael Mann (viola); Dika Newlin Dika Newlin (November 22, 1923 – July 22, 2006) was a composer, pianist, professor, musicologist, and punk rock singer. She received a Ph.D. from Columbia University at the age of 22. She was one of the last living students of Arnold Schoenberg ...
(piano); recorded 21 May 1952
Reissue: Johanna Martzy/Michael Mann: ''Complete Deutsche Grammophon recordings''. Deutsche Grammophon/eloquence 484 3299 (2021)
See also
*Dohm–Mann family tree
The Mann family ( , ; ) is the most famous German novelists' dynasty.
History
Originally the Manns were merchants, allegedly already in the 16th century in Nuremberg, documented since 1611 in Parchim, since 1713 in Rostock and since 1775 in ...
References
External links
Michael Mann genealogy wiki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Michael
1919 births
1977 suicides
German emigrants to the United States
German people of Jewish descent
German violinists
German male violinists
Harvard University alumni
Literature educators
University of California, Berkeley faculty
Professors of German in the United States
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...
20th-century violinists
20th-century classical musicians
20th-century German musicians
20th-century German male musicians
Drug-related suicides in California
1977 deaths
German expatriates in Switzerland
German expatriates in France
German literature academics