Michael Thomas Mann (April 21, 1919 – January 1, 1977) was a German-born musician and professor of German literature.

Life

Born in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Michael Mann was the youngest and sixth child of writer

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

and

Katia Mann Katia Mann (born Katharina Hedwig Pringsheim; 24 July 1883 – 25 April 1980) was the youngest child and only daughter (among four sons) of the German Jewish mathematician and artist Alfred Pringsheim and his wife Hedwig Pringsheim, who was an a ...

. His older siblings were Erika,

Klaus Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus * Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American base ...

, Golo, Monika and Elisabeth. He was of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

descent from his mother's side. Due to his being the grandson of

Júlia da Silva Bruhns Júlia da Silva Bruhns (14 August 1851, Paraty – 11 March 1923, Weßling) was the Brazilian mother of Thomas and Heinrich Mann and one of the matriarchs of the Mann family. Biography Da Silva Bruhns was born in Paraty, Rio de Janeiro stat ...

, he was also of Portuguese-

Indigenous Brazilian Indigenous peoples in Brazil or Native Brazilians () are the peoples who lived in Brazil before European contact around 1500 and their descendants. Indigenous peoples once comprised an estimated 2,000 district tribes and nations inhabiting what ...

partial descent. He studied

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

and

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

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 ...

GraveMichaelMann-CemeteryKilchberg RomanDeckert07042023

He was a viola player in the

San Francisco Symphony Orchestra The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Franci ...

from 1942 to 1947 as well as being a solo viola player. Accompanied by pianist

Yaltah Menuhin Yaltah Menuhin (7 October 1921 – 9 June 2001) was an American-born British pianist, artist and poet. Early life Yaltah was born in San Francisco, the youngest of three extraordinarily musically gifted children. Her siblings were Yehudi Menuhin ...

, he made a concert tour in 1951 and recorded the 1948 ''Viola Sonata'' by

Ernst Krenek Ernst Heinrich Krenek (, 23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including ''Music Here and Now'' (1939), a study of Johannes Ock ...

. He was forced to give up professional music due to a

neuropathy Peripheral neuropathy, often shortened to neuropathy, refers to damage or disease affecting the nerves. Damage to nerves may impair sensation, movement, gland function, and/or organ function depending on which nerve fibers are affected. Neuropa ...

. Mann gained a master's degree in musicology from

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( ; also known as Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a Private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of ...

and a PhD in German literature from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

before joining the German faculty at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in 1961. Mann published a number of books on musicology, short stories, an opera libretto and journal articles. Subjects of his publications included

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

, Schubart and his father's works. He was married to Gret and they had two sons, (born 1940) and Toni as well as an adopted daughter, Raju. He died of a heart attack at age 57 in

Orinda, California Orinda is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census is estimated at 19,514 residents. History Orinda is located within four Mexican land grants: Rancho La ...

on 1 January 1977. There is a stone with his name on it on his parents' grave in Kilchberg, Switzerland.

Discography

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

. Recorded in Hanover, Germany *

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...

– Sonata for viola and piano (1920); Michael Mann (viola);

Dika Newlin Dika Newlin (November 22, 1923 – July 22, 2006) was a composer, pianist, professor, musicologist, and punk rock singer. She received a Ph.D. from Columbia University at the age of 22. She was one of the last living students of Arnold Schoenberg ...

(piano); recorded 19 March 1952 *

– Sonata for viola and piano (1948); Michael Mann (viola);

(piano); recorded 9 April 1951 *

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (, ; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His composition ...

- Quatre Visages (1943); Michael Mann (viola);

(piano); recorded 21 May 1952 Reissue: Johanna Martzy/Michael Mann: ''Complete Deutsche Grammophon recordings''. Deutsche Grammophon/eloquence 484 3299 (2021)

References

External links

Michael Mann genealogy wiki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Michael 1919 births 1977 deaths American academics of German literature German emigrants to the United States German expatriates in France German expatriates in Switzerland German male violinists German people of Jewish descent German people of Portuguese descent Harvard University alumni Jewish American classical musicians Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Jewish violinists Literature educators

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

Scholars of German literature German Germanists University of California, Berkeley faculty University of California, Berkeley Department of German faculty 20th-century German violinists 20th-century German classical musicians 20th-century German male musicians

Life

Discography

See also

References

External links