Nathan "Noto" Notowicz (31 July 1911 – 15 April 1968) was a German

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

and composer.

Leben

Born in Tyczyn, Notowicz was the son of a merchant. The family moved to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

in 1913, where Notowicz attended primary schools. In

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

he studied at the conservatory, among others musicology with

Ernst Bücken Ernst Bücken (2 June 1884 – 28 July 1949) was a German musicologist and university teacher. Life Born in Aachen, Bücken, son of a director of a textile factory,Fred K. Prieberg: ''Handbuch Deutsche Musiker 1933-1945'', Kiel 2004, . first beg ...

and composition with Hermann Unger, and became a teacher for music theory in 1932. After the Machtergreifung by the Nazis, he emigrated to Amsterdam in 1933, where he studied with

Willem Andriessen Willem Andriessen ( Haarlem, October 25, 1887 – Amsterdam, March 29, 1964) was a Dutch pianist and composer. His compositional output was small due to the demands of performance and teaching, but he was nonetheless awarded a number of compositio ...

and Stefan Askenase and worked as a music teacher and musician. At the same time, he was active in the communist resistance in Holland; in 1940 he joined the KPD and was head of the KPD group in Holland in 1944/45 under the alias "Gerard Fischer". In 1946, he returned to Germany. First he worked as a KPD functionary in Düsseldorf; in 1948, he moved to the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a ...

in the

DDR DDR or ddr may refer to: *ddr, ISO 639-3 code for the Dhudhuroa language *DDr., title for a double doctorate in Germany *DDR, station code for Dadar railway station, Mumbai, India *' (German Democratic Republic), official name of the former East ...

founded the following year, he worked as a musicologist and composer. In 1950, he became professor of music history and vice-rector of the newly founded

Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

in East Berlin. Along with the founding rector of the university,

Georg Knepler Georg Knepler (21 December 1906 – 14 January 2003) was an Austrian pianist, conductor and musicologist. Life Born in Vienna, Knepler was a son of the composer and librettist and nephew of the music publisher and impresario . He studied pi ...

, his professorial colleague

Harry Goldschmidt Harry Goldschmidt (17 June 1910 in Basel – 19 November 1986) was a Swiss musicologist. Life 1910–1949: Basel, Weimar Republic, France, West Africa, Switzerland Goldschmidt was born in Basel on 17 June 1910, the second child of Siegfried ...

, the editor-in-chief of the journal '' Musik und Gesellschaft'', Eberhard Rebling, and the professor of music sociology at the

Humboldt University of Berlin 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 initiative ...

, Ernst Hermann Meyer, Notowicz was one of the leading Marxist musicologists of the young GDR. At the same time, he distinguished himself as an association functionary: The GDR Composers' Association (VDK) headed the

SED sed ("stream editor") is a Unix utility that parses and transforms text, using a simple, compact programming language. It was developed from 1973 to 1974 by Lee E. McMahon of Bell Labs, and is available today for most operating systems. sed w ...

-member Notowicz as First Secretary since its foundation in April 1951. In the founded on 9 May 1962, Notowicz was elected Secretary General; the President was

Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...

. Notowicz was also a member of the presidency of the

Cultural Association of the GDR The Cultural Association of the GDR (german: Kulturbund der DDR, KB) was a federation of local clubs in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It formed part of the Socialist Unity Party-led National Front, and sent representatives to the Volksk ...

. In June 1964, he became president of the newly founded . After Hanns Eisler's death, Notowicz promoted the founding of the ''Hanns Eisler Archive'' at the

Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts (german: Akademie der Künste) is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The Academy's predecessor organization was fo ...

in 1963. The archive, managed by Notowicz, aimed to publish a scholarly and critical complete edition; the first volume of the ''Gesammelte Werke'' (EGW) was a volume of music completed by Notowicz shortly before his death in 1968. As early as January 1958 (and thus before Eisler's better-known conversations with Hans Bunge), Notowicz had conducted several lengthy conversations with Eisler for the

Rundfunk der DDR Rundfunk der DDR (, 'GDR Broadcasting'; from about 1948 to 1972 Deutscher Demokratischer Rundfunk, 'German Democratic Broadcasting') was the collective designation for radio broadcasting organized by the State Broadcasting Committee in the Germa ...

, which appeared in book form in 1971. His wife Ann Notowicz was a staff member of the

Women's International Democratic Federation Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) is an international organization with the stated goal of working for women's rights. It was established in 1945 and was most active during the Cold War. It initially focussed on anti-fascism, worl ...

and later chairman of the in Berlin-Köpenick. Notowicz died in East-Berlin at the age of 57.

Awards

* 1956 Preis für künstlerisches Volksschaffen II. Classe * 1959

Patriotic Order of Merit The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...

in Silver * 1961

Johannes-R.-Becher-Medaille The Johannes-R.-Becher-Medaille was a civil decoration of East Germany created in homage to the poet and politician Johannes R. Becher. It was awarded by the Cultural Association of the GDR. Description The medal is made of bronze, with a dia ...

* Medal for Fighters Against Fascism

Publications

* (as editor)

Alexander Serov Alexander Nikolayevich Serov (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Серо́в, Saint Petersburg, – Saint Petersburg, ) was a Russian composer and music critic. He is notable as one of the most important music critics in ...

: ''Aufsätze zur Musikgeschichte''. Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 1955 (translated byFelix Loesch) * ''Erlebnisse in der Sowjetunion. Komponisten und Musikwissenschaftler der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik berichten von ihrer Studienreise''. Gesellschaft für Deutsch-Sowjetische Freundschaft, Berlin 1955 (with

Walther Vetter Walther Hermann Vetter (10 May 1891 – 1 April 1967) was a German musicologist. From 1946 to 1958, he was professor at the Humboldt University of Berlin. Life Born in Berlin, Vetter, Lutheran, was the son of the Kapellmeister Johannes Vetter ...

, Ottmar Gerster,

Walther Siegmund-Schultze Walther Siegmund-Schultze (6 July 1916 – 6 March 1993) was a German musicologist. He was the elder brother of musicologist Hella Brock. Biography Siegmund-Schultze was born in Schweinitz (Elster). In July 1940 he was promoted to Dr. ph ...

and Ernst Hermann Meyer) * (as editor with

Jürgen Elsner Jürgen Elsner (born 22 April 1932) is a German music ethnologist and author. Life Born in Finsterwalde, Elsner studied music theory, musicology and Arabic studies at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" and the Humboldt-Universität zu ...

) ''

: Quellennachweise''. On behalf of the Hanns Eisler Archive at the German Academy of Arts in Berlin. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1966 * (as editor) Hanns Eisler: ''Gesammelte Werke, Serie 1, vol. 18: Neue deutsche Volkslieder, Chansons, Kinder- und Jugendlieder''. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1968 * ''Wir reden hier nicht von Napoleon. Wir reden von Ihnen! Gespräche mit Hanns Eisler und

Gerhart Eisler Gerhart Eisler (20 February 1897 – 21 March 1968) was a German politician, editor and publicist. Along with his sister Ruth Fischer, he was a very early member of the Austrian German Communist Party (KPDÖ) and then a prominent member of the Co ...

''. Verlag Neue Musik, Berlin 1971 (übertragen und kommentiert von Jürgen Elsner)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Notowicz, Nathan 20th-century classical composers German composers 20th-century German musicologists Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver Socialist Unity Party of Germany members 1911 births 1968 deaths People from Rzeszów

Leben

Awards

Publications

Further reading

References

External links