Baron Raimund von zur-Mühlen (sometimes "Raymond", "Raimund von Zur Mühlen") (10 November 1854 in Uusna Manor (''Neu-Tennasilm''), Viljandi Parish (now in

Viiratsi Parish Viiratsi Parish ( et, Viiratsi vald) was a rural Municipalities of Estonia, municipality of Estonia, in Viljandi County. After the 2013 Estonian municipal elections, municipal elections held on 20 October 2013, Viiratsi Parish was merged with Pa ...

Viljandi County Viljandi County ( et, Viljandi maakond or ''Viljandimaa''; german: Kreis Fellin) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in southern Estonia bordering Pärnu, Järva, Jõgeva, Tartu and Valga counties. History Viljandimaa, under the ...

Governorate of Livonia The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a Baltic governorate of the Russian Empire, now divided between Latvia and Estonia. Geography The shape of the province is a fairly rectangular in shape, with a maximum ...

– 11 December 1931 in Wiston, near

Steyning Steyning ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It is located at the north end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, four miles (6.4 km) north of the coastal town of Shoreham-by-Sea. The smaller ...

, England) was a celebrated

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

Lieder singer who also became a famous teacher of singing, instructing many famous artists. His Lieder-interpretations are legendary.

Life and carrier

He was a student of Auguste Hohenschildt, Felix Schmidt, Adolf Schulze,

Julius Stockhausen The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the c ...

and

Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she exerted her influence over the course of a ...

. He made his debut in 1878, together with Hans Schmidt, in Riga. After this he continued working on his capabilities as a singer, above all with Manuel Garcia, Beniamino Carelli and

Pauline Viardot Pauline Viardot (; 18 July 1821 – 18 May 1910) was a nineteenth-century French mezzo-soprano, pedagogue and composer of Spanish descent. Born Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García, her name appears in various forms. When it is not simply "Pauli ...

.This paragraph derived from German wikipedia. He is recognised as a founder of the Lieder-abend or evening recital of the German concert Lieder as a distinct performance entity. His interpretation of Lieder and his specialist study of Lieder interpretation were of the utmost importance in the evolution of the Lieder genre itself. He gave Schumann Lieder-recitals with Clara Schumann. She set him on the path to London, where he gave his first concert in 1883. At one of his concerts, Johannes Brahms shouted out, 'Endlich, endlich habe ich meinen Sänger gefunden!' (At last, at last, I have found my singer). Thereafter he spent much time in London. In 1907 he emigrated to England, with homes in London and Steyning. His last stay in Germany must have been in 1913–1914 in Berlin, where he gave a course of Masterclasses. Thereafter he lived in England for the remainder of his life. Here he met for the last time

Monika Hunnius Monika Adele Elisabeth Hunnius (14 July 1858 - 30 December 1934) was a German-Baltic writer, one of the most famous German authors of the Baltic states in the 20th century. Life Hunnius grew up in Riga where she was born and spent the long sum ...

, author and singing-teacher, who had regularly studied with him in 1904–1911 at the Schloss Fellin or at Neuhausen, and developed a deep friendship with him. In his younger days he usually appeared with his habitual accompanist and kindred spirit Hans Schmidt. Among his later accompanists were

Victor Beigel Victor Beigel (19 May 1870 – 7 November 1930) was an English pianist and singing teacher of Hungarian descent. Beigel was an internationally renowned vocal pedagogue. Friendships connected him with the painter John Singer Sargent, the interio ...

and

Coenraad V. Bos Coenraad Valentijn Bos (7 December 1875 - 5 August 1955) was a Dutch pianist, most notably as an accompanist to singers of lieder. His peers such as Gerald Moore considered him the doyen of accompanists in his day. Life He was born in Leiden ...

. Bos mentions him in his book: the singer gave his young accompanist no encouragement, but criticized him severely. After their fifth concert together he was told 'You must have played well today, ''for I did not notice you''.' He was the teacher of Lula Mysz-Gmeiner (who taught

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Dame Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike Schwarzkopf, (9 December 19153 August 2006) was a German-born Austro-British soprano. She was among the foremost singers of lieder, and is renowned for her performances of Viennese operetta, as well as the op ...

), of Mark Raphael, Hans Lissman, Eva Jekelius-Lissman, Rose Walter, Eidé Norena, Georg A. Walter, Fanny Opfer,

Naima Wifstrand Naima Wifstrand (; 4 September 1890 – 23 October 1968) was a Swedish film actress, operetta singer, troubadour, director and composer. In her later years, she was cast in several supporting roles in Ingmar Bergman films. Biography Born Siri ...

, and Hermann Weißenborn, among many others. He was considered an ideal Lieder singer. He is also described as an eccentric. He was born of an aristocratic family. His valuable collection of documents, musical and artistic papers were destroyed in 1930 in a great fire at his house near Steyning.German wikipedia.

Sources

* Dorothea von zur-Mühlen, ''Der Sänger Raimund von zur-Mühlen'' (Hannover, 1969). *

, ''Mein Weg zur Kunst''. * W. and R. Elwes, ''Gervase Elwes, The Story of his Life'' (Grayson and Grayson, London 1935). *

Gerald Moore Gerald Moore CBE (30 July 1899 – 13 March 1987) was an English classical pianist best known for his career as a collaborative pianist for many distinguished musicians. Among those with whom he was closely associated were Dietrich Fischer-Di ...

, ''Am I too Loud'' (Harmondsworth 1966). * H. Arnold Smith, 'Baron Raimund von zur-Mühlen: The Passing of a great Artist', ''Musical Times'' Vol 73 no 107 (1 April 1932), 316–320. * Obituary, in ''Music and Letters'' 1932, .

External links

Biographical essay, in Germa

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zur-Muhlen, Raimund Von 1854 births 1931 deaths People from Viljandi Parish People from the Governorate of Livonia Livonian nobility 19th-century male opera singers from the Russian Empire 20th-century German male opera singers Baltic German people from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom 20th-century British male opera singers People from Steyning Baltic-German people