Julius Bittner
Encyclopedia
Julius Bittner was an Austria
n composer
.
, in Lower Austria
. From 1920 to 1922 or 1923 he was an official in the Austrian Department of Justice.
In addition, Julius Bittner became one of the best known and most performed Austrian opera composers in the first half of the 20th Century. Many of his operas deal with Austrian-Alpine themes. He usually wrote his own libretti. After the Second World War, however, as a typical representative of late Romantic opera in the tradition of Richard Wagner
, he was gradually forgotten. Critics gave him the somewhat derogatory nickname "the Anzengruber
of the opera"; in importance he is comparable to his better known contemporary Wilhelm Kienzl
.
Bittner was married to the alto
Emilie Werner. As a leading member of Vienna's judiciary and close friend of Gustav Mahler
, he assessed Mahler’s estate for probate after his death. He later won the Mahler Prize in 1915. He composed many operas, two symphonies and many songs and was helped and promoted by Mahler and Bruno Walter
. He was also a close friend of Erich Wolfgang Korngold
and Franz Schmidt
. He was for a while editor of the Austrian music journal Der Merker and wrote music criticism for it and other newspapers. He was so influential that he was able to arrange Arnold Schoenberg
's release from active military service in the First World War.
He received numerous awards and honors and became a member of the German Academy of Arts
in Berlin
in 1925. In 1964, the archive containing almost all of his works (autograph sketches, text books, scores and piano reductions) was taken over by the Vienna City Library
.
Bittner is buried in an honorary grave
in Vienna's Central Cemetery
(Group 32C, Plot 15).
Julius Bittner also composed two symphonies, two symphonic poems and a work for two pianos and orchestra entitled Österreichische Tanze (Austrian Dances). He wrote incidental music to plays by Shakespeare, and for popular plays by Johann Nestroy
and Ferdinand Raimund
, chamber works (including two string quartets and a still unpublished Cello Sonata) many songs, and a Great Mass and Te Deum which was a cornerstone of the Austrian choral tradition until World War II. He also composed numerous operettas and three ballets, and assisted his friend Erich Wolfgang Korngold
in the creation of the most successful of the Johann Strauss
pastiches - Walzer aus Wien (premièred in Vienna on 30 October 1930), which became known in English as The Great Waltz
.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Life
The son of a judge, Bittner also initially pursued a career in law. Until 1920 he was a judge in Wolkersdorf im WeinviertelWolkersdorf im Weinviertel
Wolkersdorf im Weinviertel is a town in the district of Mistelbach in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is situated in the Weinviertel, about 15 km north of Vienna, on the main road from Vienna to Brno . The municipality consists of the subdivisions Wolkersdorf, Riedenthal, Pfösing,...
, in Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
. From 1920 to 1922 or 1923 he was an official in the Austrian Department of Justice.
In addition, Julius Bittner became one of the best known and most performed Austrian opera composers in the first half of the 20th Century. Many of his operas deal with Austrian-Alpine themes. He usually wrote his own libretti. After the Second World War, however, as a typical representative of late Romantic opera in the tradition of Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
, he was gradually forgotten. Critics gave him the somewhat derogatory nickname "the Anzengruber
Ludwig Anzengruber
Ludwig Anzengruber was an Austrian dramatist, novelist and poet. He was born and died in Vienna.- Origins:...
of the opera"; in importance he is comparable to his better known contemporary Wilhelm Kienzl
Wilhelm Kienzl
Wilhelm Kienzl was an Austrian composer.-Biography:Kienzl was born in the small, picturesque Upper Austrian town of Waizenkirchen. His family moved to the Styrian capital of Graz in 1860, where he studied the violin under Ignaz Uhl, piano under Johann Buwa, and composition from 1872 under the...
.
Bittner was married to the alto
Alto
Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...
Emilie Werner. As a leading member of Vienna's judiciary and close friend of Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
, he assessed Mahler’s estate for probate after his death. He later won the Mahler Prize in 1915. He composed many operas, two symphonies and many songs and was helped and promoted by Mahler and Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter was a German-born conductor. He is considered one of the best known conductors of the 20th century. Walter was born in Berlin, but is known to have lived in several countries between 1933 and 1939, before finally settling in the United States in 1939...
. He was also a close friend of Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austro-Hungarian film and romantic music composer. While his compositional style was considered well out of vogue at the time he died, his music has more recently undergone a reevaluation and a gradual reawakening of interest...
and Franz Schmidt
Franz Schmidt
Franz Schmidt was an Austrian composer, cellist and pianist of Hungarian descent and origin.- Life :Schmidt was born in Pozsony , in the Hungarian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire . His father was half Hungarian and his mother entirely Hungarian...
. He was for a while editor of the Austrian music journal Der Merker and wrote music criticism for it and other newspapers. He was so influential that he was able to arrange Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
's release from active military service in the First World War.
He received numerous awards and honors and became a member of the German Academy of Arts
Akademie der Künste
The Akademie der Künste, Berlin is an arts institution in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1696 by Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg as the Prussian Academy of Arts, an academic institution where members could meet and discuss and share ideas...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in 1925. In 1964, the archive containing almost all of his works (autograph sketches, text books, scores and piano reductions) was taken over by the Vienna City Library
Wiener Stadtbibliothek
The Vienna City and State Library , founded in 1856, is located in the city of Vienna, capital of Austria. It is the official library of the City and State of Vienna and located at City Hall. It preserves 500,000 books, 2,000 newspapers and magazines, 300,000 posters, 500,000 autographs, notable...
.
Bittner is buried in an honorary grave
Ehrengrab
An Ehrengrab is a distinction granted by certain German, Swiss and Austrian cities to one of their citizens for extraordinary services or achievements in their lifetime. If there are no descendants or institutions to care for the gravesite, the communities or cities will take responsibility for...
in Vienna's Central Cemetery
Zentralfriedhof
The Zentralfriedhof is one of the largest cemeteries in the world, largest by number of interred in Europe and most famous cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries.-Name and location:...
(Group 32C, Plot 15).
Works
Operas (selection):- 1907 Die Rote Gred (premièred by Bruno WalterBruno WalterBruno Walter was a German-born conductor. He is considered one of the best known conductors of the 20th century. Walter was born in Berlin, but is known to have lived in several countries between 1933 and 1939, before finally settling in the United States in 1939...
at the Imperial Royal Court Opera, Vienna – today the Vienna State OperaVienna State OperaThe Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
) - 1909 Der Musikant (premièred by Bruno Walter at the Imperial Royal Court Opera, Vienna – today the Vienna State Opera)
- 1911 Der Bergsee
- 1916 Das Höllisch Gold (his most successful work)
- 1917 Der liebe Augustin (Viennese singspielSingspielA Singspiel is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera...
) - 1921 Die Kohlhaymerin
- 1923 Das Rosengärtlein
- 1928 Mondnacht
- 1934 Das Veilchen
Julius Bittner also composed two symphonies, two symphonic poems and a work for two pianos and orchestra entitled Österreichische Tanze (Austrian Dances). He wrote incidental music to plays by Shakespeare, and for popular plays by Johann Nestroy
Johann Nestroy
Johann Nepomuk Eduard Ambrosius Nestroy was a singer, actor and playwright in the popular Austrian tradition of the Biedermeier period and its immediate aftermath...
and Ferdinand Raimund
Ferdinand Raimund
Ferdinand Raimund was an Austrian actor and dramatist.- Life and work :...
, chamber works (including two string quartets and a still unpublished Cello Sonata) many songs, and a Great Mass and Te Deum which was a cornerstone of the Austrian choral tradition until World War II. He also composed numerous operettas and three ballets, and assisted his friend Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austro-Hungarian film and romantic music composer. While his compositional style was considered well out of vogue at the time he died, his music has more recently undergone a reevaluation and a gradual reawakening of interest...
in the creation of the most successful of the Johann Strauss
Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
pastiches - Walzer aus Wien (premièred in Vienna on 30 October 1930), which became known in English as The Great Waltz
The Great Waltz
The Great Waltz is a musical conceived by Hassard Short with a book by Moss Hart and lyrics by Desmond Carter, using themes by Johann Strauss I and Johann Strauss II. It is based on a pasticcio by Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Julius Bittner called Walzer aus Wien, first performed in Vienna in 1930...
.
Awards
- 1915 Gustav Mahler Prize
- 1918 Raimund Prize
- 1925 City of Vienna Arts Prize
- 1937 Austrian State Prize
Sources
- Richard SpechtRichard SpechtRichard Specht was an Austrian lyricist, dramatist, musicologist and writer.Specht is most well known for his writings on classical music, and in his time was seen as a leading music journalist...
. Julius Bittner. Zeitgenössische Komponisten 10. Munich: Drei Masken, 1921. - Julius KorngoldJulius KorngoldJulius Korngold was a noted music critic. He was regarded as the top critic in Vienna in the early twentieth century, when that city was viewed as the centre of classical music. He is most notable for championing the works of Gustav Mahler at a time when many did not think much of him...
. "Julius Bittner: 'Die rote Gred', 'Der Musikant', 'Der Bergsee', 'Das höllisch Gold'". In Deutsches Opernschaffen der Gegenwart. Kritische Aufsätze. Leipzig: Leonhardt, 1921. pp. 196–223. - Hermann Ullrich. Julius Bittner. Eine Studie. Österreichische Komponisten des 20. Jahrhunderts 13. Vienna: Lafite, 1968.
- Waltraud Zauner. "Studien zu den musikalischen Bühnenwerken von Julius Bittner: mit Beiträgen zur Lebensgeschichte des Komponisten". Dissertation, University of ViennaUniversity of ViennaThe University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
, 1983. - Waltraud Zauner. "Neues zur Lebensgeschichte von Julius Bittner". Studien zur Musikwissenschaft 35 (1984) 131–84.
- Waltraud Zauner. "'Meine tiefe und aufrichtige Verehrung für Ihre Person und Ihr Werk': Briefe an Julius Bittner". Österreichische Musikzeitung 44.2 (1989) 70–80.
External links
- Julius Bittner in the German National LibraryGerman National LibraryThe German National Library is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany...