Werner Wolf Glaser (14 April 1910 – 29 March 2006,

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås is the se ...

, Sweden) was a German-born Swedish 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 ...

, professor, music critic, and poet.

Life

Born in Cologne, Glaser studied

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, conducting, and

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

at the

Cologne Conservatory Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

, and

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

afterwards in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

. He finally continued his studies in composition with

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German 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 advocate of the ' ...

in Berlin, where he also took courses in psychology. From 1929 to 1931, he worked as a conductor at the Chemnitz Opera and went to Cologne in 1932 to conduct

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

s. Persecuted by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

due to his Jewish descent, he fled Germany for Paris in 1933. He subsequently moved to

Lyngby Kongens Lyngby (, Danish for "the King's Heather Town"; short form Lyngby) is the seat and commercial centre of Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Lyngby Hovedgade is a busy shopping street and the site ...

, Denmark and lectured at the Frederiksbergs Folkemusikhojskole in Copenhagen. In 1939, he opened a School of Music in Lyngbby with composer Irene Skovgaard. Glaser collaborated with Skovgaard and her brother Hjalte Skovgaard on several publications. He escaped during the

rescue of the Danish Jews The Danish resistance movement, with the assistance of many Danish citizens, managed to evacuate 7,220 of Denmark's 7,800 Jews, plus 686 non-Jewish spouses, by sea to nearby neutral Sweden during the Second World War.Gunnar Axén, until 1975. He also wrote music reviews and poems for the regional daily ''Vestmanlans Läns Tidning''. He died in 2006 and was buried in the Jewish Cemetery in Stockholm. Glaser left an extensive oeuvre which spanned many different genres. His tonal language revealed the influence of Hindemith, but he also developed his individual style.

Selected works

Orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
l

* Symphony No. 1, op. 10 (1933–34) * Symphony No. 3 (1936–40) * Trilogy for Orchestra No. 1 (1939) * 5 Pieces for Orchestra (1940–42) * Symphony No. 4 (1943) * 2 Short Orchestral Pieces (1945) * Prelude for Orchestra (1947) * Symphony No. 5 (1947–49) * Idyll, Elegy and Fanfare for Orchestra (1954) * Symphony No. 6 ''Sinfonia breve della transparenza'' (1955–57) * Concerto for Orchestra No. 2 (1957) * ''Sorgmusik över en flicka'' for String Orchestra (1957) * Symphony No. 7 ''Azione tardante'' (1959) * Symphony No. 8 ''Fyra dans-scener'' (''Four Dance Scenes'') (1964) * Violin Concerto (1964) * Concerto for Orchestra No. 3 ''Conflitti'' (1965–66) * ''Förvandlingar'' (''Transformations'') for Orchestra (1966) * ''Paradosso I'' for String Orchestra (1967) * 3 Symphonic Dances for Orchestra (1975) * Symphony No. 9 (1976) * Adagio for Strings ''Ruhe und Unruhe'' (1977) * Symphony No. 10 (1979–80) * Trilogy for Orchestra No. 2 (1981) * Symphony No. 11 (1983) * ''Nigeria'' (1986), suite based on ancient

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

n sculptures * Theme and Variations (1987) * Symphony No. 13 (1990) * Baritone saxophone Concerto (1992)

Chamber music

*Sonata for viola and piano (1939) *The Birds Sing: 20 Canons (1939) (for recorder; with Hjalte Skovgaard, text by Irene Skovgaard) *''Gamle man'' (1943) for voice and piano *''Dansvisa'' (1945) for voice and piano *''Tranquillo'' for violin (or flute) and viola (1946) *''Allegro, Cadenza e Adagio'' for saxophone and piano (1950) *''Capriccio No.2'' for viola and piano (1963) *''Duo'' for two violins (1966), ''recorded by Duo Gelland for Nosag'' *''Ordo Meatus'' (1967) for oboe d'amore *''Serioso'' (1969) for

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

and harpsichord *''Absurt divertimento'' (1974) for soprano and

wind quintet A wind quintet, also known as a woodwind quintet, is a group of five wind players (most commonly flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon). Unlike the string quartet (of 4 string instruments) with its homogeneous blend of sound color, the in ...

*''Sommar'' (1975) for soprano and flute *''Sommar'' (Version 2, 1976) for voice and piano *''Marsch i skrattspegel'' (1976) for wind quintet *''Per Sylvestrum'' (1977) for flute and piano *''Fågelliv'' (''Vie d'oiseau'') (1980), three pieces for soprano and

string trio A string trio is a group of three string instruments or a piece written for such a group. From at least the 19th century on, the term "string trio" with otherwise unspecified instrumentation normally refers to the combination violin, viola and cell ...

*''Pensieri'' for viola solo (1981) *''Fanfara per ASEA'' (1983) for 3

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

s and

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

*Solo for

Euphonium The euphonium is a medium-sized, 3 or 4-valve, often compensating, conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word ''euphōnos'', meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced" ( ''eu'' means "well" o ...

Concert band

*''Concerto della Capella'' (1960) for symphonic winds and piano *Concerto for Concert Band (1966) *''Marsch i blåsväder)'' (1974) *Symphony for Wind Instruments (1980) *3 Pieces for 11

Saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

s (1981) for 2 soprano, 4 alto, 2

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 ...

, 2 baritone, and 1 bass saxophones

Choral

*''Der Tod ist groß'' (1936) for mixed choir *''Melankolians visor'' Suite (1963) *''Dagen'' Suite (1964) *''Årskrets'' (1967) for children's choir *''Vårmosaik'' (1968) for mixed choir and string quartet

Stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

*''Persefone'' (1960),

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

in 3 acts *''En naken kung'' (1971),

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

in 2 acts *''Möten'' (1970), chamber opera for vocal soloists, flute, clarinet, and string orchestra *''Les cinq pas de l'homme'' (1973), ballet

Cantatas, and
religious music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as ritual. Relig ...

*''Tystnad'' (1966), cantata for soprano, flute, alto saxophone, bass clarinet, drums,

gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

, and reel-to-reel *''Porten'' (1968), Advent cantata for soprano and organ *''En aftonkantat'' (1973), cantata for vocal soloists, two mixed choirs, flute, clarinet, horn, and organ *''Meditations

psalm The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...

'' (1972) for mixed voices and organ

References

*Richter, Otfried.
"Glaser, Werner Wolf"
in '' Lexikon verfolgter Musiker und Musikerinnen der NS-Zeit'', 2006. (in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Glaser, Werner Wolf 1910 births 2006 deaths 20th-century classical composers German classical composers Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Sweden Jewish classical composers Swedish music educators Swedish art historians Swedish classical composers German male classical composers Swedish conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Swedish music critics Swedish male poets 20th-century Swedish poets 20th-century German composers Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln alumni 20th-century Swedish male writers 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century German male musicians