Erich Katz
Encyclopedia
Erich Katz was a German-born musicologist
, composer, music critic, musician and professor. He fled the Nazis in 1939, arriving first in England, emigrating to the United States in 1943, where he became a citizen. He was a driving force behind the early music
and recorder
movements in the United States. Bernard Krainis
, a co-founder of New York Pro Musica
studied with Katz.
, then part of Prussia
, now Poznań
, Poland. His father was Albert Katz, a jeweler and watchmaker, the son of a baker.
In 1907, the family moved to Berlin, Germany. In 1918, Katz completed eight weeks of basic training
just before the Armistice
was signed, ending World War I
.
Katz initially began studying engineering, but switched to music after one semester. He was educated at the Stern Conservatory
and the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. He studied at the University of Berlin from 1918 to 1921 and then moved to Freiburg im Breisgau, where and studied with Wilibald Gurlitt
at the University of Freiburg
. He wrote his dissertation on 17th century music and received his doctorate
in 1926.
Kat was married to Adelheid Soltau, who was not Jewish, in 1926. In 1928, he co-founded the Freiburger Kurse für Musiktheorie and became its co-director. During this time, Katz also worked as a choral conductor, organist and music critic. He also edited Das neue Chorbuch, published in Mainz
in 1931. The Freiburg Kurse later became known as the Freiburg Music Seminary and Katz remained its director until 1933, when the Nazis seized power and began restricting the employment rights of Jews.
Until 1938, Katz was able to continue his other work as a music teacher, organist, composer and music critic, writing for such musical periodicals as Melos and the Austrian magazine, Musikblätter des Anbruch. As the situation became more difficult, his wife left him and Katz went into hiding. He was soon arrested, however, and was sent to Dachau concentration camp. At this point, the Nazis were releasing a number of prisoners, provided they left Germany immediately. In 1939, Katz fled Nazi Germany
with his daughter, Hanna, and went to England. Katz's wife kept their son, Klaus.
Katz worked at night as a fireman on the roof of a factory and during the day, he gave concerts in London churches, until they were bombed in the Blitz
. In 1940, the British government, fearing a "fifth column
", rounded up all "enemy alien
s", all German-speaking males over the age of 16 and some females, including many who had fled Nazism. Katz was also interned. In 1940, while still interned, he married his second wife, Hanna Labus, with guards acting as witnesses. On release from internment in 1941, Katz began working at Bunce Court School
, which had been evacuated to Wem
in Shropshire
from its original home in Otterden
, Kent
. Katz remained at Bunce Court until they received permission to emigrate to the United States in 1943.
Arriving via Canada with $3 and the clothes on their backs, his wife took a job as a night nurse, Katz copied music and his daughter painted vases. That same year, Katz became the music director of the American Recorder Society (ARS). In 1944, Katz became a professor of composition at the New York College of Music, later becoming chairman of the department. He also taught at the New School for Social Research and City College. Katz also directed the New York Musician's Workshop, a group of singers and instrumentalists which performed early and contemporary music. Most of those in the group were students of his from the college. He reorganized ARS in 1947 and remained its music director until 1959.
His classes were influential for many students. His music history class was described as including not just discussion and listening, but students also performed the music, better enabling them to learn about the music. His harmony and composition classes were described as equally inspiring and beneficial. Student LaNoue Davenport wrote, "Being educated by [Katz] involved not only a verbal-intellectual process, but the body and spirit as well." He was friends with composers Carl Orff
and Paul Hindemith
and his own compositions, particularly of chamber
and choral music, were influenced by their music.
Between 1947 and 1952, he corresponded with Hermann Hesse
. In 1959, Katz moved to Santa Barbara, California
, where he worked at the Santa Barbara City College
until his death in 1973.
Katz became a naturalized American citizen.
Katz' personal papers are archived in the Erich Katz Collection at the Recorder Music Center, Archives and Special Collections, Regis University
. The American Recorder Society has an Erich Katz Memorial Fund, which holds a composition contest.
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
, composer, music critic, musician and professor. He fled the Nazis in 1939, arriving first in England, emigrating to the United States in 1943, where he became a citizen. He was a driving force behind the early music
Early music
Early music is generally understood as comprising all music from the earliest times up to the Renaissance. However, today this term has come to include "any music for which a historically appropriate style of performance must be reconstructed on the basis of surviving scores, treatises,...
and recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
movements in the United States. Bernard Krainis
Bernard Krainis
Bernard Krainis is a musician and co-founder of New York Pro Musica. He plays recorder and studied with Erich Katz.- References :...
, a co-founder of New York Pro Musica
New York Pro Musica
New York Pro Musica was a vocal and instrumental ensemble that specialized in Medieval and Renaissance early music. It was co-founded in 1952, under the name Pro Musica Antiqua, by Noah Greenberg, a choral director, and Bernard Krainis, a recorder player who studied with Erich Katz.The ensemble is...
studied with Katz.
Biographical details
Katz was born into a prosperous Jewish family in PosenPosen
Posen may refer to:Places in Europe:* Poznań, Poland * Grand Duchy of Posen, autonomous province of Prussia, 1815–1848* Province of Posen, Prussian province, 1848–1918...
, then part of Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
, now Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, Poland. His father was Albert Katz, a jeweler and watchmaker, the son of a baker.
In 1907, the family moved to Berlin, Germany. In 1918, Katz completed eight weeks of basic training
Basic Training
Basic Training may refer to:* Basic Training, a 1971 American documentary directed by Frederick Wiseman* Basic Training , an American sex comedy* Recruit training...
just before the Armistice
Armistice
An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
was signed, ending World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Katz initially began studying engineering, but switched to music after one semester. He was educated at the Stern Conservatory
Stern conservatory
The Stern Conservatory was a private music school in Berlin with many notable tutors and alumni.-History:It was originally founded in 1850 as the Berliner Musikschule by Julius Stern, Theodor Kullak and Adolf Bernhard Marx. Kullak withdrew from the conservatory in 1855 in order to create a new...
and the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. He studied at the University of Berlin from 1918 to 1921 and then moved to Freiburg im Breisgau, where and studied with Wilibald Gurlitt
Wilibald Gurlitt
Wilibald Gurlitt was a German musicologist.Gurlitt, son of the art historian Cornelius Gurlitt, graduated from Leipzig under Michael Reimann, working specifically on Michael Praetorius. In 1919 he became a lecturer in Freiburg, finally becoming professor in 1929...
at the University of Freiburg
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...
. He wrote his dissertation on 17th century music and received his doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in 1926.
Kat was married to Adelheid Soltau, who was not Jewish, in 1926. In 1928, he co-founded the Freiburger Kurse für Musiktheorie and became its co-director. During this time, Katz also worked as a choral conductor, organist and music critic. He also edited Das neue Chorbuch, published in Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
in 1931. The Freiburg Kurse later became known as the Freiburg Music Seminary and Katz remained its director until 1933, when the Nazis seized power and began restricting the employment rights of Jews.
Until 1938, Katz was able to continue his other work as a music teacher, organist, composer and music critic, writing for such musical periodicals as Melos and the Austrian magazine, Musikblätter des Anbruch. As the situation became more difficult, his wife left him and Katz went into hiding. He was soon arrested, however, and was sent to Dachau concentration camp. At this point, the Nazis were releasing a number of prisoners, provided they left Germany immediately. In 1939, Katz fled Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
with his daughter, Hanna, and went to England. Katz's wife kept their son, Klaus.
Katz worked at night as a fireman on the roof of a factory and during the day, he gave concerts in London churches, until they were bombed in the Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
. In 1940, the British government, fearing a "fifth column
Fifth column
A fifth column is a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group such as a nation from within.-Origin:The term originated with a 1936 radio address by Emilio Mola, a Nationalist General during the 1936–39 Spanish Civil War...
", rounded up all "enemy alien
Enemy alien
In law, an enemy alien is a citizen of a country which is in a state of conflict with the land in which he or she is located. Usually, but not always, the countries are in a state of declared war.-United Kingdom:...
s", all German-speaking males over the age of 16 and some females, including many who had fled Nazism. Katz was also interned. In 1940, while still interned, he married his second wife, Hanna Labus, with guards acting as witnesses. On release from internment in 1941, Katz began working at Bunce Court School
Bunce Court School
The Bunce Court School was an independent, private boarding school in the village of Otterden, in Kent, England. It was founded in 1933 by Anna Essinger, who had previously founded a boarding school, Landschulheim Herrlingen in the south of Germany, but after the Nazi Party seized power in 1933,...
, which had been evacuated to Wem
Wem
Wem is a small market town in Shropshire, England. It is the administrative centre for the northern area committee of Shropshire Council, which has its headquarters at Edinburgh House in the centre of Wem. Wem railway station is on the Shrewsbury to Crewe railway line...
in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
from its original home in Otterden
Otterden
Otterden is a village on the Kent Downs in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England.-History:Otterden is mentioned in the Domesday Book under Kent in the lands belonging to Adam FitzHubert...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. Katz remained at Bunce Court until they received permission to emigrate to the United States in 1943.
Arriving via Canada with $3 and the clothes on their backs, his wife took a job as a night nurse, Katz copied music and his daughter painted vases. That same year, Katz became the music director of the American Recorder Society (ARS). In 1944, Katz became a professor of composition at the New York College of Music, later becoming chairman of the department. He also taught at the New School for Social Research and City College. Katz also directed the New York Musician's Workshop, a group of singers and instrumentalists which performed early and contemporary music. Most of those in the group were students of his from the college. He reorganized ARS in 1947 and remained its music director until 1959.
His classes were influential for many students. His music history class was described as including not just discussion and listening, but students also performed the music, better enabling them to learn about the music. His harmony and composition classes were described as equally inspiring and beneficial. Student LaNoue Davenport wrote, "Being educated by [Katz] involved not only a verbal-intellectual process, but the body and spirit as well." He was friends with composers Carl Orff
Carl Orff
Carl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...
and Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
and his own compositions, particularly of chamber
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
and choral music, were influenced by their music.
Between 1947 and 1952, he corresponded with Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature...
. In 1959, Katz moved to Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, where he worked at the Santa Barbara City College
Santa Barbara City College
Santa Barbara City College is a two-year community college founded in 1909. It is located on a campus right over the beach in the city of Santa Barbara, California, USA. SBCC offers associate degrees in English, Social Sciences, Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, and occupational and...
until his death in 1973.
Personal
He and his second wife had a son, Michael, in 1946. His wife became a pediatrician in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York and his daughter, Hanna, was married and went to Puerto Rico. She had one son, Rene (Chris) Mosquera. A loyal friend and correspondent, Katz remained in contact with his first wife and their son. Katz also had a long friendship with Carl Orff, despite Orff's involvement with the Nazis.Katz became a naturalized American citizen.
Awards and legacy
Katz received the International Hausermann Composition Prize in Zurich, Switzerland in 1936. He influenced hundreds of performers and teachers and he arranged and wrote music for the recorder and other instruments, as well as for voice, writing hundreds of manuscripts. Katz was called "the true father of the recorder movement in [the United States]" and a "seminal figure".Katz' personal papers are archived in the Erich Katz Collection at the Recorder Music Center, Archives and Special Collections, Regis University
Regis University
Regis University is a private, co-educational Roman Catholic, Jesuit university in the United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1877, it is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
. The American Recorder Society has an Erich Katz Memorial Fund, which holds a composition contest.
Publications and recordings (selected list)
- "In the Beginning", American Recorder XIX/4 (February 1979), pp. 155-156
- Recorder Folk Songs (Minus Flute), (Audio CD) Traditions Alive, LLC (April 2011) ASIN B004K3L2IC
Further reading
- Betty Ransom Atwater, "Erich Katz: Teacher - Composer, 1900-1973", American Recorder, xiv/4 (1973), pp. 115-134
- Constance Primus, "Erich Katz: the Pied Piper Comes to America", American Music Research Center Journal, i (1991), pp. 1-19
- Mark Davenport, "Carl Orff: the Katz Connection", American Recorder, xxxvi/4 (1995), pp. 7-15, 34-39
- Martha Bixler and Marcia Blue, "Remembrances of Erich Katz (Interview with Hannah Katz)", American Recorder XXX/2 (May 1989), pp. 54-55
- "Erich Katz: A Profile", American Recorder XI/2 (Spring 1970), pp. 43-45
- Peter Seibert, "Remembrances of Erich Katz (Interview with Winifred Jaeger)", American Recorder XXX/2 (May 1989), pp. 52-53
External links
- "Playing The Recorder: Folk Songs of Many Nations (an instructional method for types of recorder)" Music Minus One. Retrieved November 1, 2011
- List of published arrangements by Erich Katz Sheet Music Plus. Retrieved November 1, 2011
- "the recorder music center archival collections" Regis University. Retrieved November 1, 2011