Gottfried von Einem (24 January 1918 – 12 July 1996) was an Austrian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. He is known chiefly for his

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

s influenced by the music of

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

and

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

, as well as by

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. He also composed pieces for piano, violin and organ.

Biography

Einem was born in the Swiss capital Bern into the

noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the rea ...

. According to Einem's publisher, his father was William von Einem, military attaché of the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

embassy. According to another source, however, he was adopted by Einem, his natural father being the Hungarian aristocrat Count László von Hunyadi. His mother, Baroness Gerta Louise née Rieß von Scheurnschloss, an officer's daughter from Kassel, led a lavish lifestyle between Berlin and Paris. The family moved to

Malente Malente is a municipality in the district of Ostholstein, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is about 5 km northwest of Eutin and 35 km north of Lübeck. The cities belonging to this municipality are Timmdorf, KreuzfeldNeukirchen Siev ...

in the Prussian

Province of Schleswig-Holstein The Province of Schleswig-Holstein ( ) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia (from 1868 to 1918) and the Free State of Prussia (from 1918 to 1946). History It was created from the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, which had been conquere ...

, when Gottfried was four years old. After his school days in Plön and

Ratzeburg Ratzeburg (; Low German: ''Ratzborg'') is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by Ratzeburger See, four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the distri ...

, Gottfried von Einem went to Berlin in 1937, to study at the State School of Music with

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advo ...

who nevertheless resigned his post in October that year in protest against his modernist music being banned from public performances by

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...

. By the agency of the tenor Max Lorenz, he started an employment as a

répétiteur A (; from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. The feminine form is . Opera In opera, a is the person responsible for coaching singers ...

at the

Berlin State Opera The Staatsoper Unter den Linden ( State Opera under the Lime Trees), also known as the Berlin State Opera (), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of P ...

, where in 1939 Herbert von Karajan became ''Staatskapellmeister''. From 1938 onwards, Einem also worked as an assistant of director Heinz Tietjen at the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival () is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of stage works by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a special ...

. In 1941 he began to take

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

lessons with

Boris Blacher Boris Blacher (30 January 1975) was a German composer and librettist. Life Blacher was born when his parents (of German-Estonian and Russian backgrounds) were living within a Russian-speaking community in the Manchurian town of Niuzhuang () (h ...

; at that time he wrote his first work, ''Prinzessin Turandot'', at the suggestion of

Werner Egk Werner Egk (, 17 May 1901 – 10 July 1983), born Werner Joseph Mayer, was a German composer. Early career He was born in the Swabian town of Auchsesheim, today part of Donauwörth, Germany. His family, of Catholic peasant stock, moved to Augsb ...

. The ballet was first performed at the Dresden

Semperoper The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the Th ...

conducted by Karl Elmendorff in early 1944 and became a success. Previously in March 1943, Leo Borchard had first performed Einem's composition ''Capriccio'' ( Op. 2) with the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

orchestra. During World War II, in Berlin, Einem helped to both save the life and continue the professional development of young Jewish musician by employing him as a rehearsal assistant for ''Prinzessin Turandot'' and later helping him obtain other employment. Einem obtained a ration book and membership card of the Reich Musicians' Chamber for Latte, and lent him his own pass to the State Opera as well as introducing him to friends who could help his underground existence. Through Blacher, Einem met his first wife, Lianne Mathilde von Bismarck (1919–1962) of the Bismarck family, whom he married after the war in 1946. They had a son, Caspar Einem, who was an Austrian cabinet minister. In 1953, the family moved back to Vienna. Lianne von Bismarck died in 1962. In 1966 Einem married his

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

, the renowned Austrian playwright and author Lotte Ingrisch. Apart from Vienna, the couple spent much of their time in the

Waldviertel The ''Waldviertel'' (; ; Central Bavarian: ; ) is the northwestern region of the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is bounded to the south by the river Danube, to the southwest by Upper Austria, to the northwest and to the north by the Czech ...

of Lower Austria (specifically, at Oberdürnbach and Rindlberg/ Großpertholz), a virtually pristine region that clearly inspired not only his own work, but also the literature of Ingrisch. Von Einem died in Oberdürnbach in 1996.

Works

Einem composed mainly operas based on dramas. He was internationally recognized after the premiere of his opera '' Dantons Tod'' at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

of 1947, conducted by

Ferenc Fricsay Ferenc Fricsay (; 9 August 1914 – 20 February 1963) was a Hungarian conductor. From 1960 until his death, he was an Austrian citizen. Biography Fricsay was born in Budapest in 1914 and studied music under Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Ern ...

. His last operas, starting with ''Jesu Hochzeit'', are based on libretti by his second wife, Lotte. In 1973 he wrote as a commission of the UN to commemorate the 30th anniversary of its foundation the

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

''An die Nachgeborenen'' for mezzo-soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra, based on diverse texts. The title is taken of

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

, translated as ''To Those Who Follow in Our Wake''. The premiere in 1975 in New York with Julia Hamari,

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (; 28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music. One of the most famous Lieder (art song) performers of the post-war period, he is best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's ...

, the Chorus of

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

and the

Vienna Symphony The Vienna Symphony (Vienna Symphony Orchestra, ) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna. Its primary concert venue is the Vienna Konzerthaus. In Vienna, the orchestra also performs at the Musikverein and at the Theater an der Wien. History ...

was conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini. In England, Einem had two of his operas premiered within days of each other. In May 1973 ''The Trial'' ('' Der Prozeß'') received its premiere at the

Bloomsbury Theatre The Bloomsbury Theatre is a theatre located on Gordon Street in Bloomsbury, within the London Borough of Camden. It is owned by University College London. The Theatre has a seating capacity of 541 and offers a professional programme of innovati ...

, London, conducted by Leon Lovett, directed by Fuad Kavur. The following week, at Glyndebourne ''The Visit of the Old Lady'' ('' Der Besuch der alten Dame'') received its British premiere, conducted by John Pritchard and directed by John Cox. In May 1996, the chamber chorus Cantori New York, directed by Mark Shapiro, gave the U.S. premiere of Einem's

''Die träumenden Knaben'', for chorus, clarinet and bassoon, on a work by the painter

Oskar Kokoschka Oskar Kokoschka (1 March 1886 – 22 February 1980) was an Austrian artist, poet, playwright and teacher, best known for his intense expressionistic portraits and landscapes, as well as his theories on vision that influenced the Viennese Expre ...

. introduction by (in German, English, French)

Awards

* 1955 Theodor Körner Prize * 1958: (Prize of the City of Vienna for Music) * 1960 Associate Member of the Academy of Arts, West Berlin * 1965: Grand Austrian State Prize for Music (Großer Österreichischer Staatspreis für Musik) * 1974: Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art * 1975 Corresponding member of the Academy of Arts, East Berlin * 1979 Member of the Academy of Arts, West Berlin * 1993 Member of the

Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts () 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 founded in 1696 by Elector F ...

* 2002: posthumously ''

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

'' by

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

, for helping save the life of musician Konrad Latte

Operas

*'' Dantons Tod'' (1947) after the play by

Georg Büchner Karl Georg Büchner (17 October 1813 – 19 February 1837) was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose, considered part of the Young Germany movement. He was also a revolutionary and the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchn ...

*'' Der Prozeß'' (1953) after the novel by

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

*''Der Zerrissene'' (1964) after Johann Nestroy *'' Der Besuch der alten Dame'' (1971) after the play by

Friedrich Dürrenmatt Friedrich Dürrenmatt (; 5 January 1921 – 14 December 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant- ...

*''Kabale und Liebe'' (1976) after the play by

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

*' (1980), libretto by Lotte Ingrisch *' (1990), chamber opera, libretto by Lotte Ingrisch *''Luzifers Lächeln'' (1998), libretto by Lotte Ingrisch

References

External links

*
Gottfried von Einem
– his activity to save Jews' lives during the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, at

website *, Gottfried von Einem: ''Munich Symphony'', performed by the Sinfonieorchester des Norddeutschen Rundfunks conducted by Carlos Kalmar {{DEFAULTSORT:Einem, Gottfried Von 1918 births 1996 deaths 20th-century Austrian classical composers 20th-century Austrian composers Austrian opera composers Austrian male opera composers Austrian Righteous Among the Nations Austrian untitled nobility Austrian expatriates in Switzerland Musicians from Bern Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art Recipients of the Grand Austrian State Prize Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin Theodor Körner Prize recipients 20th-century Austrian male musicians Austrian expatriates in Germany