Julius Burger (Bürger) (

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

11 March 1897 -

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, 12 June 1995) was an Austrian then American composer, pianist and conductor. He studied at the

Vienna Academy of Music The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university established in 1817 located in Vienna. With a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of t ...

under

Franz Schreker Franz Schreker (originally ''Schrecker''; 23 March 1878 – 21 March 1934) was an Austrian composer, conductor, librettist, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, Schreker developed a style characterized by aesthetic pluralit ...

, and was one of the group of Schreker's pupils -

Alois Hába Alois Hába (21 June 1893 – 18 November 1973) was a Czech composer, music theorist and teacher. He belongs to the important discoverers in modern classical music, and to the major composers of microtonal music, especially using the quarter-to ...

Jascha Horenstein Jascha Horenstein (; – 2 April 1973) was an American conductor. Biography Horenstein was born in Kiev, Russian Empire (now Kyiv, Ukraine), into a well-to-do Jewish family; his mother (Marie Ettinger) came from an Austrian rabbinical famil ...

, Ernst Křenek, Karol Rathaus - who followed Schreker to Berlin when Schreker was appointed Director of the

Hochschule für Musik A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

. He had a long association with the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

, New York first dating from his apprenticeship in 1924–1927, when

Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a Germany, German-born Conducting, conductor, pianist, and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French people, French cit ...

recommended him as assistant to

Artur Bodanzky Artur Bodanzky (also written as Artur Bodzansky) (16 December 1877 – 23 November 1939) was an Austrian-American conductor particularly associated with the operas of Wagner. He conducted Enrico Caruso's last performance at the Metropolitan Ope ...

. He was an assistant to

Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (; 14 May 18856 July 1973) was a German conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the United States, Hungary and finally, Great Britain. He began his career as an opera conductor, but he was later bet ...

at the Kroll Opera, then following 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 ...

ban on Jewish artists in 1933, drifted between Vienna, Brussels and Paris as well as visits to London to work for the BBC as an orchestrater. In February 1938 Bürger and his wife exited a train to Vienna in Paris, and in 1939 they departed permanently for America. His mother and four of his brothers were sent to

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

, his mother being shot by the roadside and the brothers murdered in the camp.

Works, editions and recordings

* ''Stille der Nacht'', for baritone and orchestra. Scherzo for Strings. Cello Concerto. Variations on a Theme of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. ''Legende'', for baritone and orchestra.

Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (''Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin'') is a German symphony orchestra based in Berlin. In Berlin, the orchestra gives concerts at the Konzerthaus Berlin and at the Berliner Philharmonie. The orchestra has a ...

, conducted by

Simone Young Simone Margaret Young AM (born 2 March 1961) is an Australian conductor and academic teacher. She is currently chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Biography and career Young was born in Sydney, of Irish ancestry on her father' ...

Toccata Classics Toccata Classics is an independent British classic music label founded in 2005. The founder of Toccata Classics is Martin Anderson, a music journalist. The label was founded primarily to promote unrecorded works by lesser-known composers, inc ...

(2006) * ''A Journey in Exile : The Lieder of Julius Burger''. First recordings of lieder composed from 1915-1988. Performed by Ryan Hugh Ross - Baritone, Siân Màiri Cameron - Mezzo Soprano, Nicola Rose - Pianist, Dr. Daniel Rieppel - Pianist. Spätlese Musik Records (2019). https://www.rediscoveredbeauty.org/burgerlieder-album

References

Musicians from Vienna 1897 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Austrian composers 20th-century Austrian conductors (music) 20th-century Austrian male musicians Austrian composers Austrian male composers Male conductors (music) Pupils of Franz Schreker University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United States {{Austria-composer-stub