Martin Greif, born Friedrich Hermann Frey (18 June 1839 – 1 April 1911) was a German freelance writer of poems and dramas which were performed at the

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (; literally: "Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater", originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in ...

in Vienna and the Bavarian Court Theatre in Munich. His texts inspired compositions by

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( ; ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

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 ...

Erna Schorlemmer Erna Schorlemmer Loebell (30 June 1875 – 1945) was a German composer who published ballet music, marches, music for piano, and songs under the name Erna Schorlemmer and the pseudonym Erny Chaloix. Schorlemmer was born in Dessau to Mathilde Hipp ...

, and

Pauline Volkstein Pauline Volkstein (19 January 1849 – 6 May 1925) was a German composer of more than 1,000 songs. Biography Volkstein was born in Quedlinburg, Germany. She had little formal music training, but came from a musical family. Her mother had studied ...

, among others.

Career

Friedrich Hermann Frey was born in

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...

, the son of , who had served as ''Kabinettsrat'' of

Otto of Greece Otto (; ; 1 June 1815 – 26 July 1867) was King of Greece from the establishment of the Kingdom of Greece on 27 May 1832, under the Convention of London, until he was deposed in October 1862. The second son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Ott ...

, and his wife Adelheid Friederike, née Ehrmann. The family moved to Munich, where he made the

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

. He joined the Bavarian military and was promoted to ''Offizier'' in 1859. He retired from the military in 1867 to live as a freelance writer. His first publications, enabled by

Eduard Mörike Eduard Friedrich Mörike (; 8 September 18044 June 1875) was a German Lutheran pastor who was also a Romantic poet and writer of novellas and novels. Many of his poems were set to music and became established folk songs, while others were used b ...

were poems, published in 1868 by ''Cotta’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung'' unter the pen name Martin Greif, which he used as his official name from 1882 on. In 1869 he moved to Vienna, where many of his plays were successfully performed at the

, thank to its artistic director

Heinrich Laube Heinrich Laube (18 September 1806 – 1 August 1884), German dramatist, novelist and theatre-director, was born at Szprotawa, Sprottau in Prussian Silesia. Life He studied theology at university of Halle, Halle and university of Breslau, Breslau ...

. When Laube left the post, Greif returned to Munich and wrote patriotic dramas performed at the Bavarian Court Theatre. He died in

Kufstein Kufstein (; ) is a town in the Austrian state of Tyrol, the administrative seat of Kufstein District. With a population of about 20,000 it is the second largest Tyrolean town after the state capital Innsbruck. The greatest landmark is Kufstein For ...

Work

Greif's drama on

Agnes Bernauer Agnes Bernauer (c. 1410 – 12 October 1435) was the mistress and perhaps also the first wife of Albert, later Albert III, Duke of Bavaria. Because his father, Ernest, ruling Duke of Bavaria at the time, considered this liaison with a commone ...

has remained in the repertory of Bavarian lay theatre. Several of Greif's poems appeared in anthologies such as ''Hausbuch Deutscher Lyrik''. His poem "Das klagende Lied" possibly inspired Gustav Mahler's cantata of the same name, written from 1878 on with a libretto by the composer. Several of Greif's poems were set to music, for example "Der zerrißne Grabkranz" by

as part of his ''Sechs Lieder'', Op. 4. Alban Berg set his poem "Schattenleben" ("Phantom Life") in 1903 among his early songs, Anton Webern set his poem "Hochsommernacht". His works include: * ''Die Schlacht von Leipzig'', München, 1863;
work online
* ''Frühlingssturmlieder'', München, 1864
book online
* ''Hans Sachs'', Augsburg 1866;
work online
* ''Gedichte'', Stuttgart 1868;
poem collection online
* ''Prinz Eugen'', Kassel 1880 * ''Agnes Bernauer, der Engel von Augsburg'', Leipzig 1894. * ''Neue Lieder und Mären'', Leipzig 1908

Literature

* Albert van Geelen: ''Martin Greif als Dramatiker in seinen Beziehungen zu Laube und zum Burgtheater unter Wilbrandt und Dingelstedt.'' Wächter-Verlag, Graz u. a. 1934. * Fritz Kastner: ''Martin Greif. Bibliographie zu seinem Leben und Werk.'' Pfälzische Landesbibliothek, Speyer 1959. * Laurenz Kiesgen: ''Martin Greif.'' Hesse u. Becker, Leipzig 1905. *

Wilhelm Kosch Wilhelm Franz Josef Kosch (2 October 1879 – 20 December 1960) was an Austrian historian of literature and theatre and lexicographer. The lexicon that he conceived and later revised several times, the ''Deutsches Literatur-Lexikon'' is a refere ...

: ''Martin Greif in seinen Werken.'' Amelang, Leipzig 1907. * : ''Martin Greif. Versuch zu einer Geschichte seines Lebens und Dichtens mit besonderer Rücksicht auf seine Dramen und seiner Stellung in der deutschen Litteratur.'' Renger, Leipzig 1892. * Jocza Savits: ''Martin Greifs Dramen. Eine Studie.'' Engl, München 1911. * C. Stemplinger: ''Martin Greif als Lyriker.'' In: ''Alte und Neue Welt; Illustriertes katholisches Familienblatt.'' 1898/99, . * Antonia Kostretska (ed.): ''Martin Greif. Ausgewählte Gedichte in Deutsch und Russisch.'' Heidelberg 2011, . (German, Russian)

References

External links

*
Martin Greif
goethezeitportal.de
Martin Greif / Neue Lieder und Mären

Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

Martin-Greif-Stube
memorial in Speyer
Martin Greif
Literaturportal Bayern * {{DEFAULTSORT:Greif, Martin 19th-century German poets German male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century German dramatists and playwrights 19th-century German male writers People from Speyer 1839 births 1911 deaths