Carl Michael Ziehrer (more rarely spelled Karl Michael Ziehrer) (2 May 1843 – 14 November 1922)
[ In the 8th edition the article title changed without comment to Ziehrer, Carl Michael.] was an Austrian
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
. In his lifetime, he was one of the fiercest rivals of the Strauss family; most notably
Johann Strauss II
Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...
and
Eduard Strauss.
Biography
Born in
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. ...
,
Ziehrer was taught music by
Simon Sechter, a famous Viennese music theorist and pedagogue, and
Johann Emanuel Hasel. He was soon discovered by music publisher
Carl Haslinger,
[ one of Johann Strauss II's publishers, who had fallen out with Strauss regarding the receipts from the latter's lucrative Russian venture.
Haslinger sought to promote his promising young ward, and on 21 November 1863 the young conductor appeared as the head of a newly formed orchestra aimed at toppling the Strauss dynasty at the Dianabad-Saal in ]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. ...
. Not long after that, he secured a place at one of the Viennese military bands. As was the current trend, he took over as Kapellmeister of a large civilian orchestra in 1873. He also published the journal "Deutsche Musikzeitung" around the same time, and was credited as being one of the important sources of music study in the late 1870s.
Not long after founding the music journal, he changed his publisher to Döblinger, and toured Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
and Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
for many years, earning a good reputation as a strict yet efficient conductor. It was in 1881 that he met his future wife, Marianne Edelmann, a famous operetta singer, in Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
.
Throughout the period between 1885 and 1893, Ziehrer toured extensively and was a military bandmaster, having assumed the direction of the "Militärmusik des Infanterieregiments Hoch- und Deutschmeister",[ as well as the "Deutschmeister" decoration. His fame was such that he was invited to perform at the ]World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...
in Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
in 1893.[ After that, in a flurry of events, he toured 41 German cities and finally returned to Vienna, where he formed an even larger and successful orchestra that specialized in playing dance music. At this point, his works began to gain a wider circulation among the music-loving Viennese and work such as " Weaner Mad’ln", Op. 388, as well as the more famous " Wiener Bürger", Op. 419, were received with greater appreciation, the latter even temporarily triumphing over Strauss compositions when first published in 1890.
Despite being a strong challenger of the Strauss music dynasty, he was unable to triumph over them and remained under their influence, which numbered among them his personal appearance; he maintained a "Schnurrbart" (]moustache
A moustache (; mustache, ) is a growth of facial hair grown above the upper lip and under the human nose, nose. Moustaches have been worn in various styles throughout history.
Etymology
The word "moustache" is French language, French, and i ...
) as well as a similar hair-style. By the turn of the century, Ziehrer felt that he needed to devote his time and attention towards composing, and his military band participation waned until he relinquished his last position in 1899, the year Johann Strauss II
Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...
died.
Ziehrer enjoyed success in the operetta writing business, with stage works such as '' Die Landstreicher''[ in 1899, but it was with the operetta ''Fremdenführer'' (Tourist Guide) that he achieved stage success. He was one of the composers who bridged the 'Golden Age' of operetta with the new influence of the emerging 'Silver Age', with composers such as Franz Lehár, who would dominate the operetta scene for many years later on.
In 1909, he was awarded the honorary post of the 'KK Hofballmusikdirektor', which was created for ]Johann Strauss I
Johann Baptist Strauss I (; ; 14 March 1804 – 25 September 1849), also known as Johann Strauss Sr., the Elder or the Father (), was an Austrian composer of the Romantic music, Romantic Period. He was famous for his light music, namely waltzes, ...
more than half a century earlier, and subsequently dominated within the Strausses with Johann Strauss II
Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...
and Eduard Strauss also holding the office for many years. He was also the last person to hold this post, with the destruction of the Habsburg dynasty in World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
resulting in its dissolution. During the time before the war, he worked well with composers Franz Lehár, Oscar Straus, and Leo Fall, and was guest conductor at their concerts on many occasions.
The outbreak of the war sealed his career as a composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
, and most of his property was destroyed. He died a poor and forgotten man on 14 November 1922 in Vienna probably of a stroke. He was buried in the Zentralfriedhof in the graves of honour. His wife was buried beside him.
His rich musical heritage may not be comparable to the Strausses, who dominated for well over a century, but he was more prolific, having composed over 600 waltz
The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...
es, polkas and march
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...
es, which are still performed today. Some of his works are even more Viennese in nature than that of the Strausses. His works are vigorous and forceful, with cheerful melodies written even near the end of the Habsburg dynasty.
Ziehrer was the subject of 1945 biopic '' Viennese Girls'' and was played by Willi Forst who also directed the film.
Works
* List of dances and marches by Carl Michael Ziehrer
* List of operettas by Carl Michael Ziehrer
See also
* Peter Zauner (composer)
References
*Lamb, Andrew (1992), 'Ziehrer, C M' in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera
''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes.
The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...
'', ed. Stanley Sadie (London)
Notes
External links
Ziehrer Foundation
(in English and German)
List Complete list of Ziehrer's compositions from the Johann Strauss Society of Great Britain
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziehrer, Carl Michael
1843 births
1922 deaths
Austrian classical composers
Composers from Austria-Hungary
Composers from Vienna
Austrian opera composers
Austrian male opera composers
Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery