Georg Gräner (20 November 1876 – 30 April 1945) was a German composer and

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

Life

Born in Berlin, Gräner studied composition and horn. From 1899 until 1906, he was a performing musician and music correspondent of the ''

Vossische Zeitung The (''Voss's Newspaper'') was a nationally known Berlin newspaper that represented the interests of the liberal middle class. It was also generally regarded as Germany's national newspaper of record. In the Berlin press it held a special role d ...

'' in London, then until 1914 he worked as a music consultant. In 1920, he joined the ''Deutsche Musiker-Zeitung'', which closed in 1933. From 1930 until his death, he taught harmony and piano at the

Stern Conservatory The Stern Conservatory (''Stern'sches Konservatorium'') was a private music school in Berlin with many distinguished tutors and alumni. The school is now part of Berlin University of the Arts. History It was founded in 1850 as the ''Berliner Mu ...

(1936 renamed to ''Conservatory of the Reich Capital Berlin''). As a composer, Gräner stood in the tradition of

Anton Bruckner Joseph Anton Bruckner (; ; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer and organist best known for his Symphonies by Anton Bruckner, symphonies and sacred music, which includes List of masses by Anton Bruckner, Masses, Te Deum (Br ...

. As a journalist he was one of the first to promote

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University Chu ...

's works. He also became known with a biography about his cousin

Paul Graener Paul Graener (11 January 1872 – 13 November 1944) was a German composer and conductor. He composed numerous operas and orchestral works in the Romanticism style. Biography Graener was born in Berlin and orphaned as a young child. A boy s ...

, published in 1922, which he had written without his knowledge. Paul Graener was dissatisfied with this; nevertheless the two worked together in the following period: Georg Gräner wrote the libretto to Paul Graener's opera ''Hanneles Himmelfahrt'' (1927), after the eponymous play by

Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of Naturalism (literature), literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into h ...

. Like his cousin, Gräner also turned to

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

and wrote propagandistic articles such as ''Deutsche und undeutsche Musik''.Josef Wulf: ''Musik im Dritten Reich'', Reinbek 1966 Gräner died in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

aged 68.

Work

Compositions

* ''12 Christmas carols'' for voice and piano (or

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

) * ''Das kommende Reich'', symphony for solos,

mixed choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

, orchestra and organ * ''Symphony No. 1 in one movement Resurrection'' * ''Symphony No. 2 in one movement Sinfonia patetica'' * ''Symphony No. 3'' * ''Ibsengesänge'' for baritone and small orchestra * ''Legende'' for chamber orchestra * ''Variationen'' for large orchestra

Libretto

* ''Hanneles Himmelfahrt''. Two-act opera (after the play of the same name by

). Music:

Premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

d 17 February 1927 in Dresden

Semperoper The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the Th ...

References

External links