Carl Franz Edmund Kretschmer (31 August 1830 – 13 September 1908) was a German organist and composer who worked for the Dresden Court and composed several operas and masses.

Career

Born in

Ostritz Ostritz (, , ; Polish: ''Ostrowiec'' ) is a town in the district Görlitz, in Saxony, in eastern Germany. It is situated on the border with Poland, on the left bank of the Lusatian Neisse, 16 km south of Görlitz. It is located next to the ...

, Lausitz, the son of the rector of the municipal school, Kretschmer received first musical instruction from his father. From 1846, he studied in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, composition with Ernst Julius Otto and organ with Johann Gottlieb Schneider. He first worked as a teacher, and in 1854 became the organist of the

Katholische Hofkirche Dresden Cathedral, or the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Dresden, previously the Catholic Church of the Royal Court of Saxony, called in German ''Katholische Hofkirche'' and since 1980 also known as ''Kathedrale Sanctissimae Trinitatis'', is the ...

. In 1863, he was appointed ''Hoforganist'' (Court Organist) and instructor of the Kapellknabeninstitut, and in 1880 also choral conductor of the Hofkirche. He composed around 80 stage works and several orchestral works, including four

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

s and four

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

es. The King awarded him the title of ''Hofkirchen-Componist''. His composition ''Die Geisterschlacht'' won a prize at the first Deutsches Sängerfest in 1865. He received a prize for a mass at an international competition in Brussels in 1868. He then composed his first opera, ''Die Folkunger'', from a libretto by Salomon Hermann Mosenthal. Kretschmer died in 1908 and was buried in the Old Catholic Cemetery in Dresden. He was an honorary citizen of his hometown, where a street is named after him.

Works

* ''Die Folkunger'', opera in 5 acts, premiered on 21 March 1874 at the Dresden Hofoper * ''Heinrich der Löwe'', opera in 4 acts, premiered on 8 December 1877 in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

* ''Der Flüchtling'', opera in 3 acts, begun in 1870, completed in 1880, premiered in 1881 in

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

* ''Schön Rotraut'', opera in 4 acts, premiered in 1887 in Dresden * Op. 1 ''Diebstahl: für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte'' (1890) * Op. 3 '' Frühlingslied: für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte'' (1870) * Op. 4 ''Die Geisterschlacht: in Musik gesetzt für Männergesang und Orchester'' (1865) * Op. 8 ''Du bist wie eine stille Sternennacht: Lied für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Piano-Forte'' (1880) * Op. 9 ''Novelletten : 4 Klavierstücke'' (1868) * Op. 10 ''Der Himmel hat eine Thräne geweint: für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte'' (publ. 1868) * Op. 11 ''Gebt mir vom Becher nur den Schaum: für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte'' (publ. 1870) * Op. 12 ''Die Pilgerfahrt nach dem gelobten Lande, für Männerchor, Solostimmen und Orchester'' (Bote und Bock, 1869) * Op. 14 ''Nachts am See: Lied für eine tiefe Stimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte'' (1870) * Op. 15 ''Vier Hymnen (Veni Creator Spiritus, Justorum Animae, Alma Redemptoris Mater, Pange Lingua): für vierstimmigen gemischten Chor'' * Op. 17 ''Zwei Motetten: Laudate Dominum; Oster-Motette; für achtstimmigen gemischten Chor'' (1876) * Op. 18 ''4 Hymnen für gemischten Chor'' (1870) * Op. 20 ''Ave Maria: Lied für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte oder des Harmonium oder der Orgel'' (1875) * Op. 23 ''Missa in honorem Sancti Francisci Seraphici: ad quatour voces inaequales, organe comitante ad libitum'' * Op. 25 ''Drei Gesänge für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte'' (1877) * Op. 28 ''Melodie: Concertstück für Orchester'' (publ. 1880) * Op. 32 ''Dramatisches Tongedicht, g-moll, für Grosses Orchester'' (1882) * Op. 34 ''Fünf Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte'' (1885) * Op. 40 ''Sextett in vier Sätzen für Flöte, 2 Violinen, Viola, Violoncell u. Contrabass'' (1888) * Op. 43 ''Zwölf fugirte Präludien für die Orgel'' (publ. 1892) * Op. 50 ''Missa a 8 voci'' (1896) * Op. 62 ''Ländlicher Tanz, Liebe und trübe Gedanken'' * ''Festgesang'' * ''Sieg im Gesang'' * ''Orpheus in der Kinderstube'' (publ. 1868)

Literature

* Adolph Kohut: ''Das Dresdner Hoftheater in der Gegenwart''. E. Pierson's Verlag. Dresden & Leipzig 1888, pp 486 ff,
Digitalisat
. * Otto Schmid: ''Edmund Kretschmer. Sein Leben, Schaffen und Wirken''. Hönsch & Tiesler, Dresden 1890. * Michael Heinemann: ''Was Messen auszeichnet: Edmund Kretschmers Beitrag zu einem Preisausschreiben für Kirchenmusik'', in ''Die Dresdner Kirchenmusik im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert'', ed.

Matthias Herrmann Matthias Herrmann (born 14 October 1955) is a German musicologist and university professor. Life Born in Mildenau, Herrmann became a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor conducted by Kreuzkantor Rudolf Mauersberger, later Martin Flämig. He then s ...

, Laaber 1998, (''Musik in Dresden'' 3),

External links

*
Edmund Kretschmer
BImages in the ''Sammlung Manskopf'' of the

Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kretschmer, Edmund German Romantic composers German opera composers German male opera composers Classical organists 1830 births 1908 deaths Burials at Old Catholic Cemetery, Dresden 19th-century German male musicians 19th-century German organists