Julius Kapp (1 October 1883 – 18 March 1962) was a German

dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr ...

and writer.

Life

Kapp was born in Steinbach (today a district of

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

). After his doctorate Kapp published several books on

Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (5 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and Music criticism, critic in the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Best known for List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber, h ...

and

Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Meyer Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart and Richard Wa ...

(1920). He became known above all as editor of the writings of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

. In the years 1921 to 1945 Kapp worked as dramaturge of the Berlin

Staatsoper Unter den Linden The Staatsoper Unter den Linden ( State Opera under the Lime Trees), also known as the Berlin State Opera (), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Pr ...

and editor of the in-house papers of the Staatsoper. As a music writer he also made himself known with his great

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

biography. Since 1933 Kapp was a member of

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

. In 1937 he published a ''Geschichte der Berliner Oper'', to which

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

wrote a preface. Knapp also created adaptations. In

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

the opera ''

Nabucco ''Nabucco'' (; short for ''Nabucodonosor'' , i.e. "Nebuchadnezzar II, Nebuchadnezzar") is an Italian-language opera in four acts composed in 1841 by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera. The libretto is based on the biblic ...

'' was undesirable because of the theme from the

history of Israel The history of Israel covers an area of the Southern Levant also known as Canaan, Palestine (region), Palestine, or the Holy Land, which is the geographical location of the modern states of Israel and Palestine. From a prehistory as part ...

. In 1940 Knapp created an

Aryanized Aryanization () was the Nazi term for the seizure of property from Jews and its transfer to non-Jews, and the forced expulsion of Jews from economic life in Nazi Germany, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. It entailed the tra ...

version in which he replaced the Israelites with Egyptians. In the choir ''

Va, pensiero "" (), also known as the "Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves", is a chorus from the opera ''Nabucco'' (1842) by Giuseppe Verdi. It recollects the period of Babylonian captivity after the destruction of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BC. The libre ...

'' he replaced the ''Jordan'' with the ''Nile'' and ''Zion'' with ''Memphis''. This NS version ''Flieg, Gedanke, getragen von Sehnsucht'' with the text line ''Teure Heimat, wann seh ich dich wieder'' is still widespread today in sound recordings and on the Internet. After the Second World War, from 1948 to 1954, Kapp was dramaturge at the

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the ...

.Ernst Klee: ''Das Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945.'' S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, . Kapp died in

Sonthofen Sonthofen is the southernmost Town#Germany, town of Germany, located in the Oberallgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. Neighbouring Oberstdorf is situated 14 km farther south but is classified as a market town. In 2005, Sonthofen was awarded ...

at the age of 78.

Publications

*''Richard Wagner und Franz Liszt. Eine Freundschaft'', 1908 *''Liszt. Eine Biographie'', 1909 *''Frank Wedekind. Seine Eigenart und seine Werke'', 1909 *''Richard Wagner. Eine Biographie'', 1910 *''Richard Wagner und die Frauen. Eine erotische Biographie'', 1912 *''Paganini. Eine Biographie'', 1913 *''Berlioz. Eine Biographie'', 1917 *''Meyerbeer'', 1920 (later under the title ''Giacomo Meyerbeer. Eine Biographie'') *''Franz Schreker. Der Mann und sein Werk'', 1921 *''Weber'', 1922 (später unter dem Titel ''Carl Maria von Weber. eine Biographie'') *''Die Oper der Gegenwart'', 1922 *''Das Opernbuch. Eine Geschichte der Oper und ein musikalisch-dramatischer Führer durch die Repertoireopern'', 1923 *''Geschichte der Staatsoper Berlin'', 1937 *''Aus dem Reiche der Oper : ein Blick hinter die Kulissen'', 1949 *''Richard Wagners Gesammelte Schriften und Briefe'' (Herausgeberschaft)

External links

*
Literaturliste im Online-Catalog
of the

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin The Berlin State Library (; officially abbreviated as ''SBB'', colloquially ''Stabi'') is a universal library in Berlin, Germany, and a property of the German public cultural organization the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (). Founded i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapp, Julius Musicologists from Berlin 20th-century German musicologists German male dramatists and playwrights Nazi Party members 1883 births 1962 deaths People from Baden-Baden Berlioz scholars Liszt scholars Meyerbeer scholars Schreker scholars Wagner scholars Weber scholars