Edmund Samuel Eysler (12 March 1874 – 4 October 1949), was an Austrian
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
.
Biography
Edmund Eysler was born in Vienna to a merchant family. He was supposed to enter the engineering profession, but his acquaintance with
Leo Fall
Leopold Fall (2 February 187316 September 1925) was an Austrian Kapellmeister and composer of operettas.
Life
Born in Olmütz (Olomouc), Leo (or Leopold) Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall (1848–1922), a bandmaster and composer, who sett ...
led him to study music at the
Vienna Conservatory, where he studied
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 ...
under
Robert Fuchs, and became educated as a piano teacher and
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 ...
. After completing his degree with many plaudits, Eysler made ends meet by teaching piano.
In 1898, he married Poldi Allnoch, with whom he had two daughters, and in 1901, he found a position as a Kapellmeister. After that, he composed chamber music and piano pieces, as well as the opera ''Fest auf Solhaug'' (''Celebration on Solhaug''), and the ballet ''Schlaraffenland''.
Through a magnanimous relative, Eysler met the librettist
Ignaz Schnitzer, who was compiling the text for ''Zigeunerbaron'' (''Gypsy King''). Eysler was given the task of setting this text to the opera ''Der Hexenspiegel'' (''The Witches' Mirror'') by Schnitzer. Originally, the work was supposed to be staged at the
Vienna Court Opera
The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by A ...
upon completion, but it was spurned by the director for having overly simple music.
Josef Weinberger encouraged Eysler to turn the music for ''Hexenspiegel'' into an operetta. It became the operetta ''
Bruder Straubinger'', which was a big success on its premiere on 20 February 1903, with
Alexander Girardi in the main role.
Eysler composed the operetta ''Der unsterbliche Lump'' (''The Immortal Blight''), with a libretto by , for the Vienna
Bürgertheater
The Bürgertheater was a theatre in Vienna.
The Wiener Bürgertheater was erected in 1905 in the Third District (3 Bezirk), at Vordere Zollamtsstraße 13. It was designed by the architects Franz von Krauss and Josef Tölk. The official opening ...
. On 14 October 1910, this work was performed for the first time, with overwhelming success. Critics claimed Eysler's operetta signalled a change in the genre. The composer's music was praised, especially the solid instrumentation and the simple harmonies. The success ensured that Eysler remained the Bürgertheater's "house composer". On 23 December 1911, his newest operetta, ''Der Frauenfresser'' (''The Woman-Eater'') was also well received. This was followed by the premiere of ''Der lachende Ehemann'' (''The laughing groom'') in March 1913. What was especially well received by reviewers were the catchy, unpretentious melodies. This work had been performed 1793 times by 1921. Even during the years of World War I, more and more of Eysler's operettas were staged at the Vienna Bürgertheater every season, such as ''Frühling am Rhein'' (''Rhine Spring''), ''Die – oder Keine!'' (''That One – Or No One'') und ''Der dunkle Schatz'' (''The Dark Treasure''). After the end of World War I, Eysler published one further, very successful operetta, ''
Die gold’ne Meisterin
Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life.
Die may also refer to:
Games
* Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers
Manufacturing
* Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...
'' (''The Golden Mistress''), which was very successful in Vienna.
Due to Eysler's Jewish background, his works were banned from being performed by the
Nazis
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
, leading Adolf Hitler to discover that his favourite operetta, ''Die gold'ne Meisterin'', was composed by a Jew. Instead of fleeing immediately, he found shelter with relatives and friends. The title of ''Honoured Citizen of Vienna'' gave him a certain protection. After the war, he achieved his last great success with the operetta ''Wiener Musik'' (''Viennese Music''), which premiered on 22 December 1947 at the Bürgertheater. For his 75th birthday, he was given the Ring of Honour by the city, and the memorial plaque on his birthplace in Thelemanngasse, which had been removed during the time of the Nazis, was reinstated.
Eysler died on 4 October 1949, in Vienna as a consequence of a fall from the stage, and was buried in a grave of honour at the central graveyard in Vienna. With a total of 60 operettas, Eysler's influence in shaping the Austrian music environment of the time was felt very strongly. International success was less forthcoming because Eysler's music was Vienna-centric and based on local folklore.
Awards
*''Bürger ehrenhalber der Stadt Wien'' (conferred on 7 October 1927) (''Honoured Citizen of the City of Vienna'')
*''Träger des Goldenen Ehrenzeichens der Republik Österreich'' (conferred on 27 March 1934) (''Bearer of the Golden Symbol of Honour of the Republic of Austria'')
*''Ehrenring der Stadt Wien'' (conferred in 1949) (''Ring of Honour of the City of Vienna'')
* ''Eyslergasse'', Wien-Hietzing (1955)
Selected works
Operas
* ''Der Hexenspiegel'' (1900) (''The Witches' Mirror'')
* ''Fest auf Solhaug'' (''Celebration on Solhaug'')
Operettas
*''Das Gastmahl des Lucullus'' (1901) (''Lucullus' Banquet'')
*''
Bruder Straubinger'' (1903) (''Brother Straubinger'')
*''Die Schützenliesel'' (1905)
*''Pufferl (Amor di Principe)'' (1905)
*''Künstlerblut'' (1906) (''Artists' Blood'')
*''Vera Violetta'' (1907)
*''Das Glücksschweinchen'' (1908) (''The Lucky Pig'')
*''Johann der Zweite'' (1908) adapted on Broadway as ''The June Bride''
*''Der unsterbliche Lump'' (1910) (''The Undying Blight'')
*''Das Zirkuskind'' (1911) (''The Circus Child'')
*''Der Frauenfresser'' (1911) (''The Woman-Eater'')
*''Ein Tag im Paradies'' (1913) (''One Day in Paradise''; adapted on Broadway as ''
The Blue Paradise
''The Blue Paradise'' is a musical in a prologue and two acts, with music by Edmund Eysler, Sigmund Romberg and Leo Edwards, lyrics primarily by Herbert Reynolds, and a book by Edgar Smith, based on the operetta ''Ein Tag im Paradies'' (''A D ...
'')
*''Der lachende Ehemann'' (1913) (''The Laughing Groom'')
*''Hanni geht tanzen!'' (1916) (''Hanni Goes Dancing!'')
*''Die fromme Helene'' (1921) (''Pious Helene'')
*''
Die gold'ne Meisterin'' (1927) (''The Golden Mistress'')
*''Donauliebchen'' (1932) (''Danube Sweetheart'')
*''Wiener Musik'' (1947) (''Viennese Music'')
References
* Eysler Edmund. In: ''Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). vol. 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1957, p. 278.
External links
Encyclopedia of Persecuted Musicians of the Nazi Era (in German)*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eysler, Edmund
1874 births
1949 deaths
19th-century Austrian classical composers
19th-century Austrian male musicians
20th-century Austrian classical composers
20th-century Austrian male musicians
Austrian opera composers
Austrian Jews
Austrian male opera composers
People from Hernals