Max Deutsch

Max Deutsch
Born	(1892-11-17)17 November 1892 Vienna,Austria-Hungary
Died	22 November 1982(1982-11-22)(aged 90) Paris,France
Occupations	Classical composer Conductor Academic teacher
Organizations	Sorbonne École Normale de Musique de Paris

Max Deutsch(17 November 1892 – 22 November 1982) was an Austrian-French composer, conductor, and academic teacher. He studied withArnold Schoenbergand was his assistant. Teaching at theSorbonneand theÉcole Normale de Musique de Paris,he influenced notable students such asPhilippe Capdenat,Donald Harris,György KurtágandPhilippe Manoury.

Career

Born in Vienna, Deutsch was a pupil of and assistant toArnold Schoenberg.He studied under him in Vienna before the First World War; and followed Schoenbergas his assistant to Amsterdam in 1921.Deutsch was a Fellow and taught at UNESCO, and taught at theSorbonne(Paris IV) from 1970 to 1971, and finally, from 1972 to theÉcole Normale de Musique de Paris.

He founded in Paris thetheaterDer Jüdische Spiegel(The Jewish Mirror), where many works of composers such as Schönberg,Anton WebernandAlban Bergwere first performed.

Konstantin Stanislavskycommissioned a work which was to become the operaSchach(Chess).His "film symphony"Der Schatz(The Treasure) came from a commission from German film directorGeorg Wilhelm Pabstto provide an original musical score for his 1923 film. In structure,Der Schatzwas crafted in two formats: afilm scoreand a stand-alone symphonic work. The five act symphony survived because the manuscript in the latter form was donated to theDeutsches Filminstitutin 1982, shortly before Deutsch died. A score of years later,DeutschlandRadio Berlincollaborated with theStaatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz,conducted byFrank Strobel,to produce a record of "this extremely rare and totally unknown symphonic work". The recording became the foundation of a "synchronized restoration" of the film.As film music the "piece is scored for a theater orchestra of the kind typically found in European cinemas of the day". It brings to mind the work ofKurt WeillandStefan Wolpe,and foreshadowsMax Steiner's modernist film scores, adoptingexpressionistatonaltwelve toneleitmotifs.Mood setting and character are developed; pianos appear throughout.

From 1940 to 1945, Deutsch served in theFrench Foreign Legion.He formed long lasting friendships withGeorges BernanosandJean Cassou.He was close toTristan Tzara,Jean CocteauandVladimir Jankelevitch.Max Deutsch was a friend ofFerruccio Busoni.He died in Paris.

After the Second World War, he devoted himself mainly to teaching music, chiefly following the principles of Schönberg. In Paris, among his hundreds of students, there were composers:Jorge Arriagada,Girolamo Arrigo,Colette Bailly,Sylvano Bussotti,Philippe Capdenat,Gérard Condé,Rudi Martinus van Dijk,Ahmed Essyad,Jacqueline Fontyn,Sylvia Hallett,Donald Harris,Félix Ibarrondo,Oswaldo González,György Kurtág,Philippe Manoury,Patrick Marcland,Luis de Pablo,Yves-Marie Pasquet,Kyriakos Sfetsas,Raymond Vaillant;American composersDavid Chaitkin,Edmund Cionek,Eugene Kurtz,Allen Shearer,andDean C. Taylor;British composerNicholas Maw;Canadian-bornSrul Irving Glick;the conductorAlexandre Myrat;and music criticHeinz-Klaus Metzger.

Family

A love of music andmusic theoryran in the family. His brother was Frederick Dorian (1902-1991). Frederick's name metamorphosed from Friederich Deutsch before he became anaturalizedAmerican. Both Deutsch brothers studied under Schoenbergin Vienna. Frederick too was amaster of musicand learned the subject from a number of other sources. Frederick was taught musicology byGuido Adler.He earned a PhD in 1924 with his thesis, "Fugue in the works of Beethoven" ( "Die Fugenarbeit in den Werke Beethoven's").Eduard Steuermanntaught him piano.Anton Weberntaught him how to conduct andmusic theory.He spent a four-year stint, beginning in 1930, as a music critic which was capped by a year as a correspondent of theFrankfurter Zeitungin Paris. Thereafter he became aCarnegie-Mellon Universitymusic professor.

Legacy

Before he died, Deutsch attempted to destroy all of his compositions, so that his only surviving legacy would be his students. However, some of his work survived.

In late 2013, a recording of Deutsch conducting theSuisse Romande Orchestrain a performance of three "master works" byArnold Schoenbergwas released. It includes short lectures by Deutsch on each of the pieces.

Works

• Schach,opera (1923)
• Der Schatz,revue (Moulin Rouge) and film music for Georg Wilhelm Pabsts (1923)
• Die freudlose Gasse(1925)
• Apotheosis,opera (1972)
• The Flight,incidental music for the playTristan Tzara
• Prayer for us carnal,choral symphony with a text by Charles Peguy
• Choirs of men from Vinci

See also

• See:List of music students by teacher: C to F#Max Deutsch.

References

Sources

• Adorno, Theodor W.; Lonitz, Henri (December 6, 2006).Towards a Theory of Musical Reproduction: Notes, a Draft and Two Schemata.Cambridge, UK Malden, Massachusetts:Polity.p. 239.ISBN9780745631998.RetrievedJanuary 2,2016.

External links

• Max DeutschatIMDb
• Max Deutsch photograph