Richard Mohaupt (14 September 1904 – 3 July 1957) was a German composer and

Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

Life and career

Richard Mohaupt was born in Breslau, where he studied music at Breslau University with Julius Prüwer and Rudolf Bilke. After his studies he worked as a

répétiteur A (; from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. The feminine form is . Opera In opera, a is the person responsible for coaching singers ...

and music director at

opera house An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

s in Breslau, Aachen and Weimar. After a concert tour as pianist and conductor through the Soviet Union in 1931–1932, he settled Berlin in 1932 where he began working for the UFA film company. Four years later he had his first success with his ballet ''Die Gaunerstreiche der Courasche''. The work was performed during the ballet festival which was part of the supporting programme of the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

in Berlin, but shortly after this success the Nazis denounced him with the expression " Music Bolshevism" and he was excluded from the Reichsmusikkammer. With this exclusion Richard Mohaupt could not work in Germany anymore and so emigrated to the US in 1939 and settled in New York. During his time in the United States Mohaupt composed for a variety of mediums, including opera, ballet, film, radio, television and orchestral music. Two of his works became very popular during the 1940s and 1950s: the 1939 orchestral work ''Stadtpfeifermusik'' (''Town Piper Music'') and his 1944 opera '' Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten''; the latter of which premiered at Theater Bremen in 1949. He wrote one other opera while in America: ''Double Trouble'', which premiered at the Kentucky Opera in 1954. While in America, Mohaupt also composed music for the ballets ''

Max und Moritz ''Max and Moritz: A Story of Seven Boyish Pranks'' (original: ''Max und Moritz – Eine Bubengeschichte in sieben Streichen'') is a German language illustrated story in verse. It was written and illustrated by Wilhelm Busch and published in 186 ...

'' (a "dance-burlesque" composed in 1945, 1949 premiere by Karlsruhe ballet) and ''The Legend of the Charlatan'' (1949, premiered in New York). His works were performed by renowned American orchestras like the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

and the

NBC Symphony Orchestra The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra conceived by David Sarnoff, the president of the Radio Corporation of America, the parent corporation of the National Broadcasting Company especially for the conductor Arturo Toscanini. The NBC ...

. Mohaupt created his last opera, '' Der grüne Kakadu'', after moving back to Europe in 1955 where he ultimately settled in Austria. This opera used a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. He is considered one of the most significant representatives of Viennese Modernism. Schnitzler’s works, which include psychological dramas and narratives ...

and had its 1958 world premiere at the

Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: ) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''Generalmusikdirektor'' ...

shortly after Mohaupt's death in

Reichenau an der Rax Reichenau an der Rax is a market town in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, situated at the foot of the Rax mountain range on the ''Schwarza (Leitha), Schwarza'' river, a headstream of the Leitha. History Reichenau castle was first mentioned ...

, Austria on 3 July 1957.

Compositions

Operas

* ''Die Wirtin von Pinsk'' (world premiere 1938 in Dresden, revised 1956) * ''Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten'' (world premiere 1949 in Bremen) * ''Double-Trouble'' or ''Die Zwillings-Komödie'' (world premiere 1954 in Louisville, Kentucky) * ''Der grüne Kakadu'' (world premiere 1958 in Hamburg)

Ballets

* ''Die Gaunerstreiche der Courasche'' (after Grimmelshausen; world premiere 1936 in Berlin) * ''

'' (after Wilhelm Busch; world premiere 1949 in Karlsruhe) * ''Der Weiberstreik von Athen'' (after ''Lysistrata''; world premiere 1957 in Karlsruhe)

Orchestral works

* ''Drei Episoden'' (world premiere 1938 in Amsterdam) * Concerto for piano and orchestra (world premiere 1938 in Warsaw; world premiere of the revised version at the IGNM festival in Frankfurt/Main in 1951) * ''Town Piper Music'' (world premiere 1941 in New York) * ''Symphony No. 1 "Rhythm and Variations"'' (world premiere 1942 in New York) * ''Concerto for Orchestra (Based on Red Army Themes)'' (world premiere 1943 in New York) * Concerto for violin and orchestra (world premiere 1954 in New York) * ''Banchetto musicale'' (world premiere 1956 in Berlin)

References

Notes Sources * Ulf-Martin Keller: ''Richard Mohaupt: Concerto for Orchestra (Based on Red Army Themes) (1942–43) – Gattungskontext, Analyse, Rezeption.'' Magisterarbeit Universität Hamburg, 2012 * Nico Alexander Schneidereit: ''Richard Mohaupts Chormusik.'' Magisterarbeit Universität Hamburg, 2010 * Friedrich Geiger: ''Amerika im Musiktheater – Musiktheater in Amerika. Das Beispiel Richard Mohaupt.'' In Peter Petersen and Claudia Maurer Zenck (edit.): ''Musiktheater im Exil der NS-Zeit.'' Hamburg 2007 * Friedrich Geiger: ''Mohaupt, Richard.'' In Ludwig Finscher (edit.): '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.'' 2., völlig neu bearb. Ausgabe, Kassel usw. 2004 * Mathias Lehmann: ''Der Dreißigjährige Krieg im Musiktheater während der NS-Zeit: Untersuchungen zu politischen Aspekten der Musik am Beispiel von Karl Amadeus Hartmanns "Des Simplicius Simplicissimus Jugend", Ludwig Mauricks "Simplicius Simplicissimus", Richard Mohaupts "Die Gaunerstreiche der Courasche", Eberhard Wolfgang Möllers und Hans Joachim Sobanskis "Das Frankenburger Würfelspiel" und Joseph Gregors und Richard Strauss’ "Friedenstag".'' Hamburg 2004 * Otto Friedrich Regner, Heinz-Ludwig Schneiders: ''Reclams Ballettführer.'' 8th edition, Stuttgart 1980 * Friedrich Herzfeld: ''Das Lexikon der Musik.'' Frankfurt am Main/Berlin/Wien 1976 * Kurt Stone: ''Mohaupt, Richard.'' In Friedrich Blume (editor): ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.'' Kassel etc. 1961 * Heinrich Lindlar: ''In Memoriam Richard Mohaupt (3.7.).'' In ''Musica 11'' (1957), * Rudolf Bilke: ''Richard Mohaupt.'' In ''Musica 4'' (1950),

External links

Programs and images of Richard Mohaupt
in the New York Philharmonic Archives
Obituary by Walter Abendroth: ''Zum Tode Richard Mohaupts.'' In: ''Die Zeit'' from July 11, 1957
(in German)
YouTube video of a performance of ''Double-Trouble'' (reduced orchestra) at the University of Central Florida from April 12, 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohaupt, Richard 1904 births 1957 deaths 20th-century German classical composers German opera composers German male opera composers German ballet composers 20th-century German male musicians