Clemens Erwein Heinrich Karl Bonaventura Freiherr von und zu Franckenstein (14 July 1875 – 19 August 1942) was a German

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 libre ...

composer, studying in

Vienna, Austria en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and later in

Munich, Germany Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

, with Ludwig Thuille and at the

Hoch Conservatory Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium – Musikakademie was founded in Frankfurt am Main on 22 September 1878. Through the generosity of Frankfurter Joseph Hoch, who bequeathed the Conservatory one million German gold marks in his testament, a school for ...

in Frankfurt with Iwan Knorr. After a visit to the USA he conducted the Moody-Manners Opera Company, acted from 1902–1907 as opera conductor in London, then worked at the court theatres of

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

and

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, until the court theaters were abolished after the

First World War 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 fig ...

. He was the last royal general director of the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich (1912–1918 and 1924–1934) and the only one who exercised this office twice. He produced the

Munich Opera Festival The Munich Opera Festival (german: Münchner Opernfestspiele) takes place yearly in the Bavarian capital from late June to late July. Preceding on the calendar the two nearby festivals of Bayreuth and Salzburg, which both start in late July, the ...

through 1934 when he was forced out by

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

prohibitions. Franckenstein was born in Wiesentheid,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

to Karl Freiherr von und zu Franckenstein (1831–1898) and Elma Gräfin von Schönborn-Wiesentheid (1841–1884). His brother was Austrian

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to England, Georg von und zu Franckenstein (1878–1953). Georg's son, actor Clement von Franckenstein (1944–2019), was his nephew. Franckenstein died in Hechendorf am Pilsensee,

Oberbayern Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat ...

at age 67.

Stage works

*''Griseldis. Oper in 3 Akten'' ( Libretto: Oskar Mayer) *''Fortunatus. Oper in 3 Akten'' (Libretto :

Jakob Wassermann __NOTOC__ Jakob Wassermann (10 March 1873 – 1 January 1934) was a German writer and novelist. Life Born in Fürth, Wassermann was the son of a shopkeeper and lost his mother at an early age. He showed literary interest early and published ...

) *''Rahab. Oper in 1 Akt'' (Libretto: Oskar Mayer) *''Die Biene. Pantomime'' (Libretto:

Hugo von Hofmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist. Early life Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, the son of an upper-cla ...

) *''Li-Tai-Pe, der Kaisers Dichter.'' Oper in 3 Akten, Op. 43 (1920) (Libretto:

Rudolf Lothar Rudolf Lothar ú:dolf ló:tar(born Rudolf Lothar Spitzer; 25 February 1865 – 2 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born Austrian writer, playwright, critic and essayist. He was born and died in Budapest. Literary works * 1891 ''Der verschlei ...

)

Orchestral works

*''Rhapsodie für Orchester op. 47. *''Variations on a theme by Meyerbeer'' *''Dance suite'' *''Serenade'' *''Praeludium'' *''Symphonic suite'' *''Das alte Lied'' *''Four dances'' *''Festival Prelude''

References

*McCredie, Andrew D., ''Clemens von Franckenstein (1875–1942). A German Associate of the English Frankfort Group. The Orchesterlied and his settings from Hans Bethge's "Die chinesische Flöte",'' in Miscellanea Musicologica delaide Studies in Musicology, Vol. 13 1988. *McCredie, Andrew D., ''Clemens von Franckenstein'', Tutzing: Schneider, 1992 (in German) eries: Komponisten in Bayern, Vol. 26 . *McCredie, Andrew D., ''The comparative case histories of Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Clemens von Frankenstein and Paul von Klenau as variant examples of Innere Emigration: Problems and issues for German music historiography of the period 1918-1945.'' in: Glazba, ideje i drustvo: Svecani zbornik za Ivana Supicica/Music, ideas, and society: Essays in honour of Ivan Supicic, Zagreb, Croatia: Hrvatsko Muzikolosko Drustvo 1993, pp. 215-235 (in English). *Landfester, Ulrike, ''Briefwechsel mit Clemens von Franckenstein'' he correspondence with Clemens von Franckenstein: 1894-1928. Freiburg im Breisgau: Rombach 1998, . 1875 births 1942 deaths 20th-century classical composers Barons of Germany German opera composers Male opera composers German opera directors Hoch Conservatory alumni Pupils of Iwan Knorr German male classical composers 20th-century German composers 20th-century German male musicians {{germany-composer-stub

Stage works

Orchestral works

References

Further reading