Eugen Papst (24 December 1886 – 2 January 1956) was a German composer and music teacher.

Life

Papst was born in

Oberammergau Oberammergau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. The small town on the Ammer River is known for its woodcarvers and woodcarvings, for its NATO School, and around the world for its 380-year tradition of ...

, the son of an educator and head teacher of the same name, Eugen Papst (1855-1923), after whom the Eugen-Papst-Förderschule in

Germering Germering (; Central Bavarian: ''Geamaring'') is a Town#Germany, town of approximately 40,500 within the Fürstenfeldbruck (district), district of Fürstenfeldbruck, in Bavaria, Germany. It is directly adjacent to the city of Munich and borders it ...

was later named. He then attended the teacher training seminar in

Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Isar river in ...

and studied at the

University of Music and Performing Arts Munich The University of Music and Theatre Munich (), also known as the Munich Conservatory, is a performing arts conservatory in Munich, Germany. The main building it currently occupies is the former ''Führerbau'' of the NSDAP, located at Arcisstr ...

from 1907. In 1910 he worked at the theater in

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ) is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with powiat rights, city with county rights. The population of the city was estimated at 169,793 residents Olsz ...

and from 1911 in Bern as

musical director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

of the city theater. In 1922 he was called to Hamburg, where he conducted the

Hamburg Philharmonic The Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg (Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra) is an internationally renowned symphony orchestra based in Hamburg. As of 2015, Kent Nagano has been General Music Director (''Generalmusikdirektor'') and chief ...

together with

Karl Muck Karl Muck (October 22, 1859 – March 3, 1940) was a Hessian-born conductor of classical music. He based his activities principally in Europe and mostly in opera. His American career comprised two stints at the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO). ...

until it was disbanded by the

Nazi 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 ...

s in 1934. Papst first went to Münster as General Music Director in the fall of 1934, but by 1935 he had already become director of the Cologne Men's Choral Society and shortly afterwards, with the support of his friend

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

, also became municipal General Music Director of the

Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne The Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne () is a German symphony orchestra based in Cologne. On some recordings, the orchestra goes under the name "Gürzenich-Orchester Kölner Philharmoniker". Its name comes from its past principal concert venue, the G ...

as successor to

Hermann Abendroth Hermann Paul Maximilian Abendroth (19 January 1883 – 29 May 1956) was a German conductor. Early life Abendroth was born on 19 January 1883, at Frankfurt, the son of a bookseller. Several other members of the family were artists in diverse dis ...

. He also taught conducting at the Cologne Academy of Music. After the end of the war, there were disputes over his position as General Music Director because the City of Cologne appointed

Günter Wand Günter Wand (7 January 1912, in Elberfeld, Germany – 14 February 2002, in Ulmiz near Bern, Switzerland) was a German orchestra conductor and composer. Wand studied in Wuppertal, Allenstein and Detmold. At the Cologne Conservatory, he was a ...

in 1946 despite an ongoing contract with Papst. In his opinion, Papst became more and more "the musical leading figure of the eternalists".Wolfgang Seifert: ''Günter Wand: so und nicht anders. Gedanken und Erinnerungen.''
Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 1998, , . Pope accepted an offer to the

Hochschule für Musik Detmold The Hochschule für Musik Detmold is a university-level music school situated in Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Academics The Hochschule offers performance degrees in composition, all orchestral instruments, piano, voice, opera, ar ...

, where he held

master class ''Master Class'' is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giac ...

es in

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or Choir, choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary d ...

. For the 1950

Oberammergau Passion Play The Oberammergau Passion Play () is a passion play that has been performed every 10 years from 1634 to 1674 and each decadal year since 1680 (with a few exceptions) by the inhabitants of the village of Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany. It was wr ...

, he created an arrangement of the Passion music by

Rochus Dedler Rochus Dedler (15 January 1779 – 17 October 1822) was a German composer. He is best known as the author of a stage music for the version of the ''Oberammergau Passion Play'' by Father . Life Dedler was born on 15 January 1779 in Oberammergau ...

(1779-1822), which was played unchanged until 1990 and is still in use today with revisions and additions by the present musical director Markus Zwink. His other works include orchestral works, choruses and Lieder, which have only been partially published. Papst died in Bern on 2 January 1956, aged 69.

Honours

* In 1933, Pabst was awarded the Johannes Brahms Medal of

Hambourg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Bibliography

* Letters von E. Papst from 1929 to 1934, , C.F.Peters Verlag.

Sources

Biography by Monika Reger
deutsche-biographie.de. Accessed 18 February 2024.

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Papst, Eugen 20th-century German composers German male conductors (music) 20th-century German conductors (music) 20th-century German male musicians 1886 births 1956 deaths People from Upper Bavaria Kapellmeisters of the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne