Julius Prüwer (20 February 1874 – 8 July 1943) was an Austrian conductor, pianist and academic teacher.

Life

Born in Vienna, Prüwer studied piano at the Vienna Conservatory from 1886 to 1891 with Arthur Friedheim and

Moriz Rosenthal Moriz Rosenthal (17 December 18623 September 1946) was a Polish pianist and composer. He was an outstanding pupil of Franz Liszt and a friend and colleague of some of the greatest musicians of his age, including Johannes Brahms, Johann Straus ...

and

music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...

with Robert Fuchs,

Franz Krenn Franz Krenn (26 February 1816 – 18 June 1897) was an Austrian composer and composition teacher born in Droß. He studied under Ignaz von Seyfried in Vienna, and served as organist in a number of Viennese churches, becoming Kapellmeister of St. M ...

, and (privately) with

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

. As a conductor, he was trained by Hans Richter and worked first at the

Bielitz Bielsko (, ) was until 1950 an independent town situated in Cieszyn Silesia, Poland. In 1951 it was joined with Biała Krakowska to form the new town of Bielsko-Biała. Bielsko constitutes the western part of that town. Bielsko was founded by ...

Municipal Theater in 1892/93, at the Esseg Municipal Theater in 1893/94, and at the

Cologne Opera The Cologne Opera (German language, German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers to both the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and its resident opera company. History of the company From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in the ...

in 1894/95. From 1895 to 1923, he was ''

Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

'' at the Stadttheater Breslau, and from 1913 to 1923, he was also director of the opera there. Among other things, he conducted the German premiere of Mussorgsky's ''

Boris Godunov Boris Feodorovich Godunov (; ; ) was the ''de facto'' regent of Russia from 1585 to 1598 and then tsar from 1598 to 1605 following the death of Feodor I, the last of the Rurik dynasty. After the end of Feodor's reign, Russia descended into t ...

'' there and in 1898 made a tour to St. Petersburg, where he arranged the Russian premiere of Wagner's ''

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...

''. In 1902, 1904, and 1906, he assisted Hans Richter 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 1909, he published a music guide to '' Elektra'' by Richard Strauss. In 1923/24 Prüwer was General Music Director at the Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar, then full professor at the

Berlin University of the Arts The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the second largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research uni ...

from 1924 to 1933. Here he was responsible for the training of kapellmeisters and directed the . In 1925, 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� ...

chose him to conduct their popular concerts, and he conducted on more than 700 evenings until 1933. In 1933, he lost his posts because of his Jewish origins. In 1936, he took over the symphony orchestra of the

Kulturbund Deutscher Juden The Cultural Association of the GDR (, 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 Volkskammer. The association had ...

in Frankfurt and taught at the Hollaender Jewish Private Music School in Berlin. In 1939, he emigrated to New York City, where he later taught at the College of Music and conducted the New York City Symphony Orchestra. He was married with the opera singer Fanchette Verhunc. Prüwer died in New York City at the age of 69.Otto Röse: Brief von Julius Prüwer
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Recordings

From 1928 to 1930, Prüwer made numerous recordings for the

Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft 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 ...

. He accompanied well-known singers in vocal recordings as well as the pianist

Alexander Brailowsky Alexander Brailowsky (16 February 1896 – 25 April 1976) was a Russian and French pianist who specialised in the works of Frédéric Chopin. He was a leading concert pianist in the years between the two World Wars. Early life Brailowsky was bor ...

in piano concertos by

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

and

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

, and recorded orchestral works by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

(''Unvollendete''),

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

(''Akademische Festouvertüre''),

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...

and others.

References

External links

*
Lexikon verfolgter Musiker und Musikerinnen der NS-Zeit

Tonaufnahme des ''Kaiser-Walzer'' von Johann Strauss (Sohn) - Julius Pruwer dirigiert die Berliner Philharmoniker 1928 auf Archive.org (english)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pruwer, Julius Austrian conductors (music) Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin Players of the Berlin Philharmonic Emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss 1874 births 1943 deaths Musicians from Vienna Academic staff of the Berlin University of the Arts

Life

Recordings

Further reading

References

External links