Siegmund von Hausegger (16 August 1872 – 10 October 1948) was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

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 conductor.

Early life

Siegmund was born in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

, the son of Friedrich von Hausegger (1837-1899), a lawyer and writer on music. According to Siegmund's own account, Friedrich was "one of the first in Austria to recognize the greatness 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 ...

and to exert himself to the utmost in propagating his music and his ideas". Article "Hausegger, Siegmund". According to one account, the young von Hausegger may have been made the vehicle of his critic-father's ideals. Siegmund studied music initially under his father, and a strong Wagnerian tinge is found in his own compositions, which included masses,

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

s and symphonic poems as well as many choruses and songs. At the age of nineteen, von Hausegger composed a ''Mass'' for chorus and orchestra that he described as "my first serious composition". Originally intended to be performed at his college, the work proved too challenging for his fellow-pupils. His father helped him arrange a private performance before an invited audience. This event marked von Hausegger's debut both as a conductor and as a composer.

Reputation

He was talked of in Austria and Germany in the first years of the 20th century as one of the next great talents after Strauss and Mahler, but despite several successes before the First World War his music was forgotten when his full-blooded post-Wagnerian style went out of fashion. In 1922 the German critic Adolf Weissmann wrote:

The symphonic poetry of Siegmund von Hausegger is full of Wagner. His work originates in a resolute will to truth and honesty, but outworn theory cripples his imagination.Adolf Weissmann, ''The Problems of Modern Music'' (London: JM Dent, 1925), p. 77. This is an English translation of ''Die Musik in der Weltkrise'' (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, 1922).

Conducting career

Hausegger conducted orchestras in many German and Austrian cities including

;

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 ...

, where he shared the conductorship of the Kaim Orchestra with Felix Weingartner;

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

(1904-6);

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( Blüthner Orchestra, 1910–15); and

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(1910-20). After the First World War he served as conductor of the Scottish Orchestra in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and

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before returning to Munich as conductor of the Munich Philharmonic and president of the Munich Academy of Music. In 1920 he succeeded Max von Schillings as president of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Musikverein. He was the first conductor to perform Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 in its original form. The symphony had been posthumously premiered in a version which had been substantially edited by Ferdinand Löwe. Löwe had attempted to make the music more acceptable to the public by softening its abrupt modulations and climaxes and altering the phrasing to be more in the style of Wagner, whose music was popular with audiences. On 2 April 1932, Hausegger presented a concert in which the symphony was performed twice by the Munich Philharmonic; first in Löwe's version then using Bruckner's original autograph. Today the symphony is almost always presented in Bruckner's original form. Hausegger assisted Robert Haas and Alfred Orel in preparing the edition of Symphony published as Volume 9 of ''Anton Bruckner: Sämtliche Werke'' and he also made the first commercial recording of the symphony with the Munich Philharmonic in 1938 for

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

, using that edition. He retired from conducting in the same year. He died in

Personal life

Hausegger was twice married: first in 1902 to Hertha Ritter, daughter of Franziska Wagner (the niece of both

and Alexander Ritter, the librettist of Richard Strauss's opera '' Feuersnot'') and, after her death in 1913, to Helene von Bronsart.

Works (selected list)

* ''Helfrid'', opera (1890) * ''Dionysische Phantasie'' for orchestra (1896–1897) * ''Zinnober'', opera (1897–1898) * ''Barbarossa'', symphonic poem (1898–1899) * Mass (1899) * ''Drei Hymnen an die Nacht'', song cycle (1902) * ''Wieland der Schmied'', symphonic poem (1903) * Requiem (1907) * ''Natursymphonie'' for large orchestra with final chorus to words from

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 ...

's poem '' Prooemium'' (1911) * ''Aufklänge'', variations for orchestra on a children's song (1917)

Notes

External links

Biography
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hausegger, Siegmund von 1872 births 1948 deaths 19th-century Austrian people 20th-century Austrian people 19th-century Austrian conductors (music) 20th-century Austrian conductors (music) 20th-century Austrian male musicians Austrian male conductors (music) Austrian Romantic composers Austrian untitled nobility Musicians from Graz Austrian male classical composers Composers from Austria-Hungary Chief conductors of the Munich Philharmonic