Gustav Hermann Unger (26 October 1886 – 31 December 1958
) was a German composer.
Life
Born in
Kamenz
Kamenz () or Kamjenc ( Sorbian) is a town (''Große Kreisstadt'') in the district of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany. Until 2008 it was the administrative seat of Kamenz District. The town is known as the birthplace of the philosopher and poet Gotthol ...
, Unger was the son of the travelling theatre director Fritz Unger (1858-1922) and his wife Maria ''née'' Stein.
Unger attended the
Gymnasium St. Augustine and studied German, archaeology,
musicology and classical
philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...
at the universities of
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...
,
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
and
Munich
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 Ha ...
.
During his studies in Munich, He was musically educated by
Edgar Istel
Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and '' gar'' "spear").
Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, ...
and
Joseph Haas
Joseph Haas (19 March 1879 – 30 March 1960) was a German late romantic composer and music teacher.
Biography
He was born in Maihingen, near Nördlingen to teacher Alban Haas from his second marriage, being half-brother to the theologian and ...
.
The latter sent him in 1911 to
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, as a musical director at the Leipzig University Church, as a professor a ...
to the
Meiningen Court Orchestra
The Meiningen Court Orchestra (german: Meininger Hofkapelle) is one of the oldest and most traditional orchestras in Europe. Since 1952 the now 68-member orchestra has been affiliated to the Meiningen Court Theatre and in addition to their opera ...
.
Unger did his military service in Meiningen with the Regimentsmusik.
In 1910, he received his doctorate from
Otto Crusius in Munich with a thesis on the use of the dactylic
hexameter
Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek and Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of syllables). It w ...
in the
ancient Greek comedy
Ancient Greek comedy was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece (the others being tragedy and the satyr play). Athenian comedy is conventionally divided into three periods: Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, a ...
. Borna-Leipzig 1911.
In 1913 Unger came to Cologne as editor of the ''Rheinische Musik- und Theater-Zeitung''.
During World War I, he first came to
Champagne
Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...
.
After that, Unger was transferred to the theatres of war of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
and served in
Aleppo and
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
. After returning via Russia in 1918/1919, he directed the
Cologne Public Library
The Cologne Public Library (german: link=no, StadtBibliothek Köln) is among the biggest and most important public libraries in Germany. The central library is part of the 'Kulturquartier' (a cultural hub) near the Neumarkt. It is located at the ...
and gave lectures at the
University of Cologne
The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...
.
In 1919 Unger married the widow of the staff doctor Alexander Burger, Leonie ''née'' Debüser (1894-1970). From the marriage the son Klaus (1920-2012) was born.
From 1927 Unger was professor at the in Cologne,
which, since the reformation in 1925, had been transformed into a state college of music (master classes for instrumental playing and singing, composition,
music theory, music history, rhythmics, opera school, and the departments for Protestant and Catholic church music and school music) and the municipal Rheinische Musikschule (preparatory classes for the orchestra school, the opera choir school and classes for lay and youth music) with separate statutes and examination regulations.
[Heinrich Lindlar (ed.): 130 years Rheinische Musikschule Cologne: heritage and mission. Rheinische Musikschule, Cologne 1975 ] After the National Socialists seized power, the director of the university
Walter Braunfels
Walter Braunfels (; 19 December 1882 – 19 March 1954) was a German composer, pianist, and music educator.
Life
Walter Braunfels was born in Frankfurt. His first music teacher was his mother, the great-niece of the composer Louis Spohr. He c ...
was dismissed. The director of the music school
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 disc ...
was also expelled from his office a year later. In 1935
Martin Karl Hasse
Martin Karl ''Woldemar'' Hasse (20 March 1883 – 31 July 1960) was a German university lecturer, composer and music writer.
Life
Born in Dohna, Hasse was the son of the pastor Martin Hasse (1852-1915) and his wife Cora († 1922), ''née'' Wit ...
took over the management of the university. Unger was appointed director of the Rheinische Musikschule and Hasse's deputy.
Although Unger was still a journalist polemicising against the accumulation of offices and mismanagement in Cologne before 1933, he accepted 16 offices close to the system after the
seizure of power
An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much of the body with los ...
.
In January 1949, the
denazification
Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remo ...
main committee of the City of Cologne classified Unger in category IV (hanger-on) without blocking accounts and assets.
Nevertheless, there were numerous public events on Unger's seventieth birthday. Even his native town of Kamenz, then part of the
Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
, organized a festive concert in 1956 in the Gaststätte Stadt Dresden, as it had done before in 1936, under the musical direction of the Kamenz music director Höhne.
Among the works performed were ''Niederrheinische Tänze und Lieder'' (Op. 100) and ''Schönsteiner Schlossmusik'' (
Suite
Suite may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Suite (music), a set of musical pieces considered as one composition
** Suite (Bach), a list of suites composed by J. S. Bach
** Suite (Cassadó), a mid-1920s composition by Gaspar Cassadó
** ''Suite' ...
in five movements after medieval tunes; Op. 105), both composed for chamber orchestra. The necessary sheet music and documents were sent personally to Kamenz by Unger, who was delighted with the honour.

The
Deutscher Tonkünstlerverband
The Deutscher Tonkünstlerverband is the oldest and largest professional association for musicians in Germany. The umbrella organization with headquarters in Munich and a branch office in Passau is the professional representative for all music pro ...
suggested several times that Unger be awarded the
Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...
first class, first about a month before Unger's seventieth birthday.
The
Nordrhein-Westfalen
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhab ...
's Ministry of Culture rejected this on several occasions. Only after a letter addressed directly to the Minister of Culture
Paul Luchtenberg
Paul Luchtenberg (1890–1973) was a German cultural scientist, educator and politician for the Free Democratic Party, as well as Culture Minister for North Rhine-Westphalia.
Career
Paul Luchtenberg was born 3 June 1980 in Burscheid and attend ...
at the end of 1957 did the latter decide to confer the order, which, however, only took place shortly before Unger's death by Luchtenberg's predecessor and successor
Werner Schütz Werner may refer to:
People
* Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name
Fictional characters
* Werner (comics), a German comic book character
* Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Ra ...
on "December 5, 1958 at about 7:00 p.m." in Unger's apartment without informing the press. In January 1959, Schütz had to comment in detail on the circumstances of the awarding of the Order.
On 31 December 1958 Unger died at the age of 72 in his apartment in
Cologne-Bayenthal.
The burial place of the Unger family is located in the Cologne
Südfriedhof. (corridor 43).
Honours
*
Eisernes Kreuz
The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...
II. und I. Klasse.
*
Eiserner Halbmond.
*
Hanseatenkreuz
The Hanseatic Cross (German: ''Hanseatenkreuz'') was a military decoration of the three Hanseatic city-states of Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck, who were members of the German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September ...
.
* Bundesverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse
Work
* ''Bilder aus dem Orient'': op. 17
* ''Levantinisches Rondo'': op. 22
* ''Hymnus an das Leben'': op. 25 (text
Émile Verhaeren
Émile Adolphe Gustave Verhaeren (; 21 May 1855 – 27 November 1916) was a Belgium, Belgian poet and art critic who wrote in the French language. He was one of the founders of the school of Symbolism (arts), Symbolism and was nominated fo ...
)
* ''Jahreszeiten'': op. 26 (First performance in Berlin and Leipzig by
Arthur Nikisch
Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungarian conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter of the music of Br ...
)
* ''
Richmodis von Aducht'': op. 50, Legendary folk opera in one prelude and three acts
* ''Kleine Fuge'' (Study of thirds and sixths) op. 129
References
[Norbert Portmann: Kamenz und seine berühmten Söhne - Kamenz ist mehr als Lessing. Part I. Norbert Portmann, Kamenz 2012.]
Michael Custodis
Michael Custodis (born 1973) is a German musicologist, sociologist and university lecturer at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster.
Career
Born in Cologne, Custodis studied musicology, sociology, comparative politics, educatio ...
: Entnazifizierung an der Kölner Musikhochschule am Beispiel by Walter Trienes and Hermann Unger. Pages 61–83 in Albrecht Riethmüller (ed.): Deutsche Leitkultur Musik? Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 2006. .
[Dietmar von Capitaine: Conservatorium der Musik in Cöln. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2009. .]
Heinrich Lindlar
Heinrich Lindlar (6 August 1912 – 23 March 2009) was a German musicologist and music educator.
Life
Lindlar was born in Bergisch Gladbach. After studying music and musicology in Cologne, Bonn and Berlin, Lindlar was awarded the title of Dr. ph ...
(1956): Hermann Unger 70 Jahre. Musica (Kassel) 10: 713–714.
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unger, Hermann
1886 births
1958 deaths
People from Kamenz
German choral conductors
German conductors (music)
Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln
German composers
Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class
Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany