Paul Dessau (19 December 189428 June 1979) was a German composer and conductor. He collaborated with Bertolt Brecht and composed incidental music for his plays, and several operas based on them.

Biography

Dessau was born in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

into a musical family. His grandfather, Moses Berend Dessau, was a

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

in the Hamburg synagogue. From 1909, Dessau majored in violin, studying with Florian Zajic at the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory in Berlin. In 1912 he became

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. A feminine form, , also appears but is comparatively rare. Opera In opera, a is the perso ...

at the Stadttheater Hamburg, the municipal theatre. He studied the work of the conductors

Felix Weingartner Paul Felix Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg (2 June 1863 – 7 May 1942) was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist. Life and career Weingartner was born in Zara, Dalmatia, Austria-Hungary (now Zadar, Croatia), to Austrian parents. ...

and

Arthur Nikisch Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungarian conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter of the music of B ...

and took classes in composition from . He was second Kapellmeister at the Tivoli Theatre in Bremen in 1914 before being drafted for military service in 1915 . After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he became conductor at the Kammerspiele Hamburg, and was répétiteur and later Kapellmeister at the

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

under

Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (14 May 18856 July 1973) was a 20th-century conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the US, Hungary and finally Britain. His early career was in opera houses, but he was later better known as a concer ...

between 1919 and 1923. In 1923 he became Kapellmeister at the Staatstheater Mainz and from 1925 Principal Kapellmeister at the Städtische Oper Berlin under

Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the U ...

. In 1933 Dessau emigrated to France, and 1939 moved further to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, where initially he lived in New York before moving to Hollywood in 1943 . Dessau returned to Germany with his second wife, the writer

Elisabeth Hauptmann Elisabeth Hauptmann (20 June 1897, Peckelsheim, Westphalia, German Empire – 20 April 1973, East Berlin) was a German writer who worked with fellow German playwright and director Bertolt Brecht. She got to know Brecht in 1922, the same year ...

, and settled in East Berlin in 1948. Starting in 1952, he taught at the Staatliche Schauspielschule (State drama school) in Berlin-Oberschöneweide where he was appointed professor in 1959. He became a member of the GDR Akademie der Künste in 1952 and was vice-president of this institution between 1957 and 1962. He taught many master classes, his students including

Friedrich Goldmann Friedrich Goldmann (27 April 1941 – 24 July 2009) was a German composer and conductor. Life Born on 27 April 1941 in Siegmar-Schönau (since July 1951 incorporated into Chemnitz), Goldmann's music education began in 1951 when he joined the Dr ...

, Reiner Bredemeyer, Jörg Herchet, ,

Friedrich Schenker Friedrich Schenker (23 December 19428 February 2013) was a German avant-garde composer and trombone player. Life Born in the German town of Zeulenroda, Schenker learned trombone and piano as a child and made his first compositional attempts at ...

, Luca Lombardi and Karl Ottomar Treibmann. Dessau was married four times: Gudrun Kabisch (1924), with whom he had two children, Elisabeth Hauptmann (1948), (1952), and choreographer and director

Ruth Berghaus Ruth Berghaus (2 July 1927 – 25 January 1996) was a German choreographer, opera and theatre director, and artistic director. Life and career Berghaus was born in Dresden and studied Expressionist dance and Dance direction with Gret Palucca the ...

(1954), with whom he had a son, Maxim Dessau (b. 1954) who became a film director. Dorotheenst Friedhof Dessau

Dessau died on 28 June 1979 at the age of 84, in

Königs Wusterhausen Königs Wusterhausen () is a town in the Dahme-Spreewald district of the state of Brandenburg in Germany a few kilometers outside Berlin. Geography Geographical location Königs Wusterhausen – or "KW" () as it is often called locally – ...

, on the outskirts of Berlin.

Works

Dessau composed

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 ...

s, scenic plays, incidental music, ballets, symphonies and other works for orchestra, and pieces for solo instruments as well as vocal music. From the 1920s on, he was fascinated by

film music A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

. He composed music for early movies of

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

, as well as background music for silent pictures and early German films. While in exile in Paris he wrote the oratorio ''Hagadah shel Pessach'' after a libretto by

Max Brod Max Brod ( he, מקס ברוד; 27 May 1884 – 20 December 1968) was a German-speaking Bohemian, later Israeli, author, composer, and journalist. Although he was a prolific writer in his own right, he is best remembered as the friend and biog ...

. In the 1950s in collaboration with Bertolt Brecht he focused on the musical theatre. During that time several of his operas were produced. He also wrote ''Gebrauchsmusik'' (utility music) for the propaganda of the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

. At the same time he lobbied for the musical avant-garde (e.g.

Witold Lutosławski Witold Roman Lutosławski (; 25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szyman ...

Alfred Schnittke Alfred Garrievich Schnittke (russian: Альфре́д Га́рриевич Шни́тке, link=no, Alfred Garriyevich Shnitke; 24 November 1934 – 3 August 1998) was a Russian composer of Jewish-German descent. Among the most performed and re ...

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 ...

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as ...

and

Luigi Nono Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music. Biography Early years Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono beg ...

). His compositions were published by Schott. The Akademie holds many of his works in its archives.

Operas

All operas by Dessau were premiered at the Staatsoper Berlin. * ''Die Reisen des Glücksgotts'' (fragment), 1945 (after Bertolt Brecht) * '' Die Verurteilung des Lukullus'', after Brecht's '' Das Verhör des Lukullus'', 1949–1951, world premiere on 17 March 1951 * '' Puntila'', 1956–1959, libretto by

Peter Palitzsch Peter Palitzsch (11 September 1918 – 18 December 2004) was a German theatre director. He worked with Bertolt Brecht in his Berliner Ensemble from the beginning in 1949, and was in demand internationally as a representative of Brecht's ideas. He ...

and

Manfred Wekwerth Manfred Wekwerth (né Weckwerth; 3 December 1929 – 16 July 2014) was a German theatre and film director and writer. He was the director of the Berliner Ensemble theatre from 1977 to 1991. He was also an informant for East Germany's Stasi from ...

after Brecht's play, 15 November 1966 * ''Die heilige Johanna der Schlachthöfe'' ragment 1961, after Brecht's play * '' Lanzelot'', 1967–69, libretto by

Heiner Müller Heiner Müller (; 9 January 1929 – 30 December 1995) was a German (formerly East German) dramatist, poet, writer, essayist and theatre director. His "enigmatic, fragmentary pieces" are a significant contribution to postmodern drama and postdr ...

and Ginka Tsholakova, 19 December 1969 * '' Einstein (opera)'', 1969–1973, libretto by Karl Mickel, 16 February 1974 * ''

Leonce und Lena (opera) ''Leonce und Lena'' is a 1979 opera by Paul Dessau after the play ''Leonce und Lena'' by Georg Büchner.Eric Salzman, Thomas Desi ''The New Music Theater: Seeing the Voice, Hearing the Body'' 2008- Page 161 "Dessau came from the world of opera and ...

'', 1976–1979, libretto by after

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 Büch ...

's play, 24 November 1979

Incidental music

* ''99%- eine deutsche Heerschau"'' ('' Furcht und Elend des Dritten Reiches'') 1938 * ''Guernica'' 1938 * '' Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder: Chronik aus dem Dreißigjährigen Krieg'' 1946–1949 * '' Der gute Mensch von Sezuan'' 1947–1948 * '' Die Ausnahme und die Regel'' 1948 * '' Herr Puntila und sein Knecht Matti'',

folk play Folk plays such as Hoodening, Guising, Mummers Play and Soul Caking are generally verse sketches performed in countryside pubs in European countries, private houses or the open air, at set times of the year such as the Winter or Summer solstices ...

, 1949 * ''Wie dem deutschen Michel geholfen wird.'' ''Clownspiel'' (clown play) 1949 * '' Der Hofmeister'' 1950 * '' Herrnburger Bericht'' for youth choir, soloists and orchestra 1951 * '' Mann ist Mann'' 1951–1956 * ''Urfaust'' 1952–1953 * ''

Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary, fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. Famous versions of the story include a 17th-century play, ''El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra'' ...

'' 1953 * ''

Der kaukasische Kreidekreis ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' (german: Der kaukasische Kreidekreis) is a play by the German Modernism, modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and be ...

'' 1953–1954 * '' Coriolan'' 1964

Film music

* ''Alice the Fire Fighter'' ''(Alice und ihre Feuerwehr)'' (21.8.1928), ''Alice's Monkey Business'' ''(Alice und die Flöhe)'' (25.9.1928), ''Alice in the Wooly West'' ''(Alice und die Wildwest-Banditen)'' (18.10.1928) and ''Alice Helps the Romance'' ''(Alice und der Selbstmörder)'' (31.1.1929) by

* ''L'Horloge Magique. 2. La Forêt enchanté'' ''(Der verzauberte Wald)'' (7 September 1928) and ''L'Horloge Magique. 1. L'Horloge Magique'' ''(Die Wunderuhr)'' (12 November 1928) by Ladislas Starewitch * ''Doktor Doolittle und seine Tiere'' (15 December 1928) by

Lotte Reiniger Charlotte "Lotte" Reiniger (2 June 1899 – 19 June 1981) was a German film director and the foremost pioneer of silhouette animation. Her best known films are ''The Adventures of Prince Achmed'', from 1926, the first feature-length animated fil ...

with arrangements of music by Kurt Weill,

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 ' ...

and a private composition * Musical director in musical and operetta films together with

Richard Tauber Richard Tauber (16 May 1891 – 8 January 1948) was an Austrian tenor and film actor. Early life Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria, to Elisabeth Seifferth (née Denemy), a widow and an actress who played soubrette roles at the local theat ...

(among others ''

The Land of Smiles ''The Land of Smiles'' (German: ') is a 1929 romantic operetta in three acts by Franz Lehár. The German language libretto was by and Fritz Löhner-Beda. The performance duration is about 100 minutes. This was one of Lehár's later works, and ...

'', '' Melody of Love''). with melodies by

Franz Lehár Franz Lehár ( ; hu, Lehár Ferenc ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is ''The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe''). Life a ...

and Bronislaw Kaper * ''400 cm^3'' documentary * '' Storm over Mont Blanc'', '' The White Ecstasy'' and '' S.O.S. Eisberg'' by

Arnold Fanck Arnold Fanck (6 March 1889 – 28 September 1974) was a German film director and pioneer of the mountain film genre. He is best known for the extraordinary alpine footage he captured in such films as '' The Holy Mountain'' (1926), '' The White He ...

* ''

White Cargo ''White Cargo'' is a 1942 film drama starring Hedy Lamarr and Walter Pidgeon, and directed by Richard Thorpe. Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it is based on the 1923 London and Broadway hit play by Leon Gordon, which was in turn adapted from ...

'' (by

Robert Siodmak Robert Siodmak (; 8 August 1900 – 10 March 1973) was a German film director who also worked in the United States. He is best remembered as a thriller specialist and for a series of films noirs he made in the 1940s, such as ''The Killers'' (194 ...

), ''

Yoshiwara was a famous (red-light district) in Edo, present-day Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1617, Yoshiwara was one of three licensed and well-known red-light districts created during the early 17th century by the Tokugawa shogunate, alongside Shimab ...

'' (by

Max Ophüls Maximillian Oppenheimer (; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls (; ), was a German-French film director who worked in Germany (1931–1933), France (1933–1940 and 1950–1957), and the United States (1947–1950). He made near ...

), ''

The Novel of Werther ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (by Ophüls) * '' Crossroads'' (1938) * ''

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

'' (1938) * '' The White Slave'' (1939)

Works for choir

* ''Deutsches Miserere'' for mixed choir, children's choir, soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, large orchestra, organ and

trautonium The Trautonium is an electronic synthesizer invented in 1930 by Friedrich Trautwein in Berlin at the Musikhochschule's music and radio lab, the Rundfunkversuchstelle. Soon afterwards Oskar Sala joined him, continuing development until Sala's de ...

1943–1944 * ''Internationale Kriegsfibel'' for soloists, mixed choir and instruments 1944–45 * ''Die Erziehung der Hirse'', musical epic for one narrator, one solo voice, mixed choir, youth choir and large orchestra 1952–1954 * ''Vier Grabschriften.'' ** ''Grabschrift für Gorki'' for one or several male voices and brass (1947) ** ''Grabschrift für Rosa Luxemburg'' for mixed choir and orchestra ** ''Grabschrift für Liebknecht'' ** ''Grabschrift für Lenin'' * 5 Songs for three female voices a cappella: ** "Die Thälmannkolonne" ** "Mein Bruder war ein Flieger" ** "Vom Kind, das sich nicht waschen wollte" ** "Sieben Rosen hat der Strauch" ** "Lied von der Bleibe" *" Appell der Arbeiterklasse" for alto and tenor solo, narrator, children's and mixed choir and large orchestra, 1960–1961

Songs

* "Kampflied der schwarzen Strohhüte" 1936 * "

Freiheit ' is the German word for both liberty and political freedom. Freiheit may also refer to: Political parties * Freie Demokratische Partei, a liberal party in Germany * South Tyrolean Freedom (', STF), a nationalist political party active in South ...

" (also known as "Thälmann-Kolonne") 1936 * "Lied einer deutschen Mutter" 1943 * "Das deutsche Miserere" 1943 * "Horst-Dussel-Lied" 1943 * "Wiegenlied für Gesang und Gitarre" 1947 * "Aufbaulied der FDJ" 1948 * "Zukunftslied" 1949 * "Friedenslied" for one solo voice with one accompanying voice (text: Bertolt Brecht after Pablo Neruda) 1951 * "Der Augsburger Kreidekreis" A dramatic ballad for music 1952 * "Jakobs Söhne ziehen aus, im Ägyptenland Lebensmittel zu holen" for children's choir, soloists and instruments 1953 * "Der anachronistische Zug" ballad for song, piano and percussion 1956 * "Kleines Lied" for song and piano 1965 * "Historie vom verliebten Schwein Malchus" for solo voice 1973 * "Spruch für Gesang und Klavier" 1973 * "Bei den Hochgestellten" 1975

Other compositions

* ''In memoriam Bertolt Brecht'' for large orchestra 1956–1957 * ''Bach-Variationen'' for large orchestra 1963 * ''Symphonic Mozart-Adaptation'' (after the Quintet, K.614) 1965 * ''Lenin'', music for orchestra no. 3 with concluding chorus "Grabschrift für Lenin" 1969 * ''Für Helli'', small piece for piano 1971 * ''Bagatelles'' for viola and piano (1975) * ''Sonatine'' for viola and piano (1929) * 2 symphonies * 7 string quartets and others

Awards

* Award of the music publisher Schott 1924 * National Prize III. Category 1953 * National Prize II. Category 1956 * National Prize I. Category 1965 * Vaterländischer Verdienstorden (''Decoration of Honour for Services to the GDR) in Gold 1965 * Karl-Marx-Orden (Karl-Marx–Decoration) 1969 * National Prize I. Category 1974

Sources

* Dessau, Paul. ''Notizen zu Noten'', ed. Fritz Henneberg (Reclam, Leipzig 1974). * Dessau, Paul. ''Aus Gesprächen'' (VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1974). * Henneberg, Fritz. ''Dessau – Brecht. Musikalische Arbeiten''. (Henschel, Berlin 1963). * Hennenberg, Fritz. ''Paul Dessau. Eine Biographie.'' (VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1965). * Lucchesi, Joachim (ed.). ''Das Verhör in der Oper: Die Debatte um die Aufführung "Das Verhör des Lukullus" von Bertolt Brecht und Paul Dessau'' (BasisDruck, Berlin 1993).

References

Cited sources

External links

* * *
Paul Dessau (Composer)
Bach Cantatas Website

(in German) cinegraph.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Dessau, Paul 1894 births 1979 deaths German male classical composers German opera composers Male opera composers German film score composers Male film score composers 20th-century classical composers Jewish classical composers Jewish classical musicians Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Musicians from Hamburg German military personnel of World War I Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany 20th-century German composers Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory alumni 20th-century German male musicians East German musicians