Bernhard Sekles (20 March 1872 – 8 December 1934) was a German composer, conductor,

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken a ...

Life and career

Bernhard Sekles was born in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, the son of Maximilian Seckeles and Anna (née Bischheim). The family name Seckeles was changed by Bernhard Sekles to Sekles. From 1894 to 1895 he was the third Kapellmeister at the ''Stadttheater'' 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 ...

. In 1896 he became a teacher at the Hoch'sche Konservatorium in Frankfurt am Main; here he started the first

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

class anywhere in 1928. He was the director of the Hoch'sche Konservatorium from 1923 to 1933. For his composition students, He was one of the first German Jewish academics to lose his job when

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

came to power in Germany. He died in his native Frankfurt am Main.

Selected compositions

Publishers: Schott, Eulenberg, Leukart, Brockhaus, Oehler, Rather.

Stage works

* ''Der Zwerg und die Infantin'', (The Birthday of the Infanta), ballet, op. 22, 1913, based on an Oscar Wilde fairy tale * ''Scheherazade'', opera, op. 26, 1917 * ''Die Hochzeit des Faun'', comic opera, 1921 * ''Die zehn Küsse'', comic opera, 1926

Orchestra

* ''Aus den Gärten der Semiramis'', symphonic poem, op. 19 * ''Kleine Suite, dem Andenken E. T. A. Hoffmanns'', op. 21 * ''Die Temperamente'', 4 symphonic movements for large orchestra, op. 29, 1916 * ''Passacaglia und Fuge'' for large orchestra and organ, op. 17, 1922 * ''Gesichte'', miniatures for small orchestra, op. 29, 1923 * ''Der Dybuk'', prelude for orchestra, op. 35, 1928 * ''Symphony N° 1'', op. 37, 1930

Chamber music

* ''Trio'' for clarinet, violoncello and piano, op. 9 * ''Skizzen'' for piano, op. 10 * ''Serenade'' for 11 solo instruments, op. 14, 1907 * ''Divertimento'' for string quartet, op. 20, 1911 * ''Passacaglia und Fuge im vierfachen Kontrapunkt'' for string quartet, op. 23, 1914 * ''Sonate in d-moll" for violoncello and piano, op. 28, 1919 * ''String Quartet'', op. 31, 1923 * ''Suite Nr. 1'' for piano, op. 34 * ''Der Musik-Baukasten'' for piano (3 or 4 hands), 1930 * ''Chaconne über ein achttaktiges Marschthema'' (Chaconne on an Eight-Beat March Theme) for viola and piano, op. 38, 1931 * ''Sonata'' for violin and piano, op. 44

Vocal music

* "Lieder", op. 6 * ''Volkspoesien aus dem Rumänischen'', for baritone and piano, op. 7, 1900 * ''Aus >Hafis<'', 4 songs for baritone and piano, op.11, 1902 * ''Aus dem Schi-King'' (Friedrich Rückert), 18 Lieder for high voice and piano, op. 15, 1907 * ''4 Lieder auf Gedichte von Friedrich Rückert'' for baritone and piano, op. 18, 1911 * ''4 Lieder'' for female choir and piano, op. 6, 1899 * ''6 volkstümliche Gesänge'' for soprano, male choir and piano, op. 12, 1904 * ''Variationen über >Prinz Eugen<'' for male choir, wind and percussion instruments, op. 32, 1926 * ''Vater Noah'' for male choir, op. 36 * ''Psalm 137'' for mixed choir, soprano and organ, 1933/1934 (Edited by Edmund Brownless - Laurentius-Musikverlag)

Theoretical publications

* ''Musikdiktat'', dictation exercises, Mainz 1901 * ''Instrumentations-Beispiele'', examples of instrumentation, Mainz 1912 * ''Musikalische Geduldspiele – Elementarschule der Improvisation'', Mainz 1931 * ''Grundzüge der Formenlehre'' (rules of harmony) * ''Harmonielehre'' (manual of harmony)

Students

Literature

*Articles in

Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik (MGG)'' is one of the world's most comprehensive encyclopedias of music history and musicology, on account of its scope, content, wealth of research areas, and reference t ...

(Kassel 2006) and

New Grove ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theor ...

(London 2001) *Peter Cahn: ''Das Hoch'sche Konservatorium 1878-1978'', Frankfurt am Main: Kramer, 1979, pages 257-270, 295-297. *Joachim Tschiedel: ''Der "jüdische Scheindirektor" Bernhard Sekles und die Gründung der ersten europäischen Jazz-Klasse 1928'', in: mr-Mitteilungen Nr. 20 - September 1996 *Joachim Tschiedel: ''Bernhard Sekles 1872 - 1934. Leben und Werk des Frankfurter Komponisten und Pädagogen'', Schneverdingen 2005 *Theodor W. Adorno: ''Bernhard Sekles zum 50. Geburtstag'', in ''Gesammelte Schriften Band 18'', Frankfurt/Main 1984, S. 269 f. *Theodor W. Adorno: ''Minima Moralia'', Frankfurt/M. 1951, page 291 ff. *Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, (Nicolas Slonimsky, Editor) New York: G. Schirmer, 1958

Selected discography

* Chamber Music: Rhapsody, Sonata op. 44, Sonata op. 28, Capriccio; Zuk Records 334, 2011.

References

External links

academic paper including some info on Sekles
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sekles, Berhard 1872 births 1934 deaths German opera composers Male opera composers German conductors (music) German male conductors (music) 19th-century German Jews Hoch Conservatory faculty Jewish classical musicians Musicians from Frankfurt German male classical composers Pupils of Iwan Knorr