August Johannes Jaeger (18 March 1860 – 18 May 1909) was an Anglo-German music publisher, who developed a close friendship with the English composer

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

. He offered advice and help to Elgar and is immortalised in the ''Enigma Variations''.

Early life

He was the son of Gottfrid Jaeger (1821-80) and Carolina Obenstintenberg (1826-1910). His brother was Wilhelm Jaeger (9 February 1862 - 15 December 1934), who died at 205 Shirland Road in London. Wilhelm married Caroline Haarer (1869-1917), and had three children * Harold George Jaeger (1903-84) * Katie Dorothy Jaeger (1899 in Islington -) * William Percy Jaeger (1895-1969) August Johannes Jaeger was born in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, Germany (then the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

Career

He came to London in 1878, where he first worked at a map-printing firm. In 1890 he joined the London music publishing company Novello as a music reader. He became head of the publishing office. Elgar's relationship with Jaeger is documented in Percy M. Young's book showing eleven years of correspondence, ''Letters to Nimrod''. Jaeger met Edward Elgar in late 1897, when he was publishing office manager at Novellos, and their first correspondence was regarding the publication of Elgar's ''Te Deum and Benedictus''. His advice, friendship and encouragement became invaluable to Elgar, for example causing the composer to rework many famous musical passages, including the finale to his ''Variations on an Original Theme'' ('' Enigma Variations'') and the climax of '' The Dream of Gerontius''. Jaeger has been immortalized in the famous ninth variation "Nimrod" from the ''Variations'', recalling a conversation on the slow movements of Beethoven (

Nimrod Nimrod is a Hebrew Bible, biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles, the Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush (Bible), Cush and therefore the great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of Sh ...

was a Biblical hunter, a pun on the German word for hunter, ''Jäger''). Jaeger championed the work of the young composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, claiming to Elgar that Coleridge-Taylor was "a genius".

Personal life

In 1898 Jaeger married Isabella Donkersley (1864-1938) of Magdale, Honley near Holmfirth in West Yorkshire, an accomplished violinist and pupil of Henry Holmes in the Royal College of Music, on 22 December 1898 at St Mary Abbots in London. They had two children, including Mary Jaeger (26 April 1900 - September 1991, East Sussex). Her parents, Joseph Bedford Donkersley (1837 - 10 January 1889) and Mary Crowther, the second daughter of Abraham Crowther, had married on 2 March 1859 at St Paul's church in Armitage Bridge. Mary died on 25 December 1897, aged 61, in Honley. Martha Lucy Donkersley, her sister, married John William Tunstall of Little Broughton, in Cumbria, on 21 December 1896. Lucy (1859-1923) was a pianist. At the beginning of 1905 Jaeger was ill with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

and went to Davos in Switzerland, but he was still receiving a pension from Novellos. After the long and depressing illness, during which he and Elgar still corresponded about musical matters, Jaeger died in Muswell Hill on 18 May 1909 aged 49. The family later changed their name to the anglicized "Hunter" after the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Isabella Hunter died on Sunday 9 October 1938, at her daughter's house, in North Finchley.''Huddersfield Examiner'' Saturday 15 October 1938, page 11

Works

* Analytical and descriptive notes for works by Elgar: ''The Apostles'' (1903); ''The Dream of Gerontius'' (1904); ''The Kingdom'' (1906); ''Falstaff'' * Notes for Queens Hall concert programmes (1903-1906)

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaeger, August 1860 births 1909 deaths People from Muswell Hill Edward Elgar People from Düsseldorf English composers German music publishers (people) British music publishers (people) Businesspeople from London 19th-century English musicians 19th-century British male musicians German emigrants to the United Kingdom 19th-century English businesspeople