Leopold Schefer
Encyclopedia
Leopold Schefer German poet
, novelist, and composer
, was born in a small town in Upper Lusatia
(then under Saxon rule), only child of a poor country doctor.
of the local Earl of Callenberg, Johann Justus Röhde. From 1799 up to 1805 he visited the secondary school (“Gymnasium”) at Bautzen
. During this time he started writing diaries, poems, and compositions, the last under the influence of his teacher Johann Samuel Petri. After that he returned to Muskau, helping his widowed mother along, while writing and composing.
During Napoleon's failed campaign in Russia, 1812, Schefer was appointed manager of the big estates of his newly-won friend, Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau
, doing well under hard circumstances until 1816. The prince, recognizing the literary abilities of his friend, encouraged his early poetical efforts. Having visited England
together with Pückler for studying landscape gardens (and being deeply impressed by Eliza O'Neill
on the stage), Schefer studied composition under Antonio Salieri
in Vienna
1816-17, and travelled to Italy
, Greece
, Egypt
, Palestine
, and Turkey
. Schefer returned in 1819 to Muskau, where he remained for all his life, married, fathering one son and four daughters, due to his literary success in easy - after the lost German revolution 1848/49 in poor - circumstances, following his literary pursuits until his death, 1862.
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Schefer wrote a large number of novels, short novels, and narratives which appeared mostly in literary almanac
s. Some of his novels have been published in English, as e.g. Künstlerehe (1828, with deep insights into marriage life).
Schefer was well known for his novels and their observative power, but even more for a single volume of poems, Laienbrevier (1834–1835). These, owing to their warmth of feeling, keen psychology, and fascinating descriptions of the beauties of nature, at once established his fame as a poet. This vein he followed in later years with the poems Vigilien (1843), Der Weltpriester (1846), and Hausreden (1869). Encouraged by his friend, the poet Max Waldau
(1822–1855), he published Hafis in Hellas (Hamburg, 1853) and Koran der Liebe (Hamburg, 1855) containing with their glowing descriptions of the East love poetry of a realistic and high order. But, due to his pantheistic
beliefs, his poetry and novels were barred from the curricula of the Prussian elementary and secondary schools, which resulted in his being forgotten after 1910.
Having been a scholar of Antonio Salieri
, Schefer raised interest as a composer only in the very last years, especially when his 222nd birthday was celebrated in Bad Muskau
, as a part of the Lausitzer Musiksommer.
There are no studies about Schefer in English, but consult Bettina Clausen & Lars Clausen
, 1985.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, novelist, and 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...
, was born in a small town in Upper Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
(then under Saxon rule), only child of a poor country doctor.
Biography
Leopold Schefer was educated, privately, by his parents, later on by the principal of the Muskau primary school, Andreas Tamm, afterwards in a small private school of the former hofmeisterHofmeister (office)
In medieval Europe, a Hofmeister was a house tutor, also responsible for the care of his students beyond their education....
of the local Earl of Callenberg, Johann Justus Röhde. From 1799 up to 1805 he visited the secondary school (“Gymnasium”) at Bautzen
Bautzen
Bautzen is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and administrative centre of the eponymous district. It is located on the Spree River. As of 2008, its population is 41,161...
. During this time he started writing diaries, poems, and compositions, the last under the influence of his teacher Johann Samuel Petri. After that he returned to Muskau, helping his widowed mother along, while writing and composing.
During Napoleon's failed campaign in Russia, 1812, Schefer was appointed manager of the big estates of his newly-won friend, Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau
Hermann von Pückler-Muskau
Prince was a German nobleman, who was an excellent artist in landscape gardening and wrote widely appreciated books, mostly about his travels in Europe and Northern Africa, published under the pen name of "Semilasso".- Life :He was born at Muskau Castle in Upper Lusatia, then ruled by...
, doing well under hard circumstances until 1816. The prince, recognizing the literary abilities of his friend, encouraged his early poetical efforts. Having visited England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
together with Pückler for studying landscape gardens (and being deeply impressed by Eliza O'Neill
Eliza O'Neill
Eliza O'Neill was an Irish actress, later baronetess.Born in Drogheda, she was the daughter of an actor and stage manager...
on the stage), Schefer studied composition under Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri was a Venetian classical composer, conductor and teacher born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, but who spent his adult life and career as a faithful subject of the Habsburg monarchy....
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
1816-17, and travelled to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. Schefer returned in 1819 to Muskau, where he remained for all his life, married, fathering one son and four daughters, due to his literary success in easy - after the lost German revolution 1848/49 in poor - circumstances, following his literary pursuits until his death, 1862.
Works
Almanac
An almanac is an annual publication that includes information such as weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, and tide tables, containing tabular information in a particular field or fields often arranged according to the calendar etc...
s. Some of his novels have been published in English, as e.g. Künstlerehe (1828, with deep insights into marriage life).
Schefer was well known for his novels and their observative power, but even more for a single volume of poems, Laienbrevier (1834–1835). These, owing to their warmth of feeling, keen psychology, and fascinating descriptions of the beauties of nature, at once established his fame as a poet. This vein he followed in later years with the poems Vigilien (1843), Der Weltpriester (1846), and Hausreden (1869). Encouraged by his friend, the poet Max Waldau
Max Waldau
Richard Georg Spiller von Hauenschild, better known by his pseudonym Max Waldau , was a German poet and novelist.-Life:...
(1822–1855), he published Hafis in Hellas (Hamburg, 1853) and Koran der Liebe (Hamburg, 1855) containing with their glowing descriptions of the East love poetry of a realistic and high order. But, due to his pantheistic
Pantheism
Pantheism is the view that the Universe and God are identical. Pantheists thus do not believe in a personal, anthropomorphic or creator god. The word derives from the Greek meaning "all" and the Greek meaning "God". As such, Pantheism denotes the idea that "God" is best seen as a process of...
beliefs, his poetry and novels were barred from the curricula of the Prussian elementary and secondary schools, which resulted in his being forgotten after 1910.
Having been a scholar of Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri was a Venetian classical composer, conductor and teacher born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, but who spent his adult life and career as a faithful subject of the Habsburg monarchy....
, Schefer raised interest as a composer only in the very last years, especially when his 222nd birthday was celebrated in Bad Muskau
Bad Muskau
Bad Muskau is a spa town in the historic Upper Lusatia region in Germany at the border with Poland. It is part of the Görlitz district in the State of Saxony....
, as a part of the Lausitzer Musiksommer.
Selected publications
- A selection of Schefer's works, Ausgewählte Werke, in 12 vols, was published in 1845 (2nd ed., 1857).
- Leopold Schefer, Ausgewählte Lieder und Gesänge zum Pianoforte, ed. & introd. by Ernst-Jürgen DreyerErnst-Jürgen DreyerErnst-Jürgen Dreyer is a German writer and musicologist.- Prose:* Die Spaltung, novel, Siegburg, 1979. Berlin 1980** Die Spaltung, 2 vols, ed...
, Munich: G. Henle (2004)
There are no studies about Schefer in English, but consult Bettina Clausen & Lars Clausen
Lars Clausen
Lars Clausen was a German sociologist and professor at the University of Kiel.-Life and work:During World War II, the family lived on the Darß...
, 1985.
Publications at lifetime
- Gedichte, 1811 („Poems“, ed. by the Earl von Pückler-MuskauHermann von Pückler-MuskauPrince was a German nobleman, who was an excellent artist in landscape gardening and wrote widely appreciated books, mostly about his travels in Europe and Northern Africa, published under the pen name of "Semilasso".- Life :He was born at Muskau Castle in Upper Lusatia, then ruled by...
) - Leopold Schefer's Gesänge zu dem Pianoforte, 1813 („Leopold Schefer's Songs“, ed. by the Earl von Pückler-Muskau)
- Palmerio, 1823 (novel, situated in contemporary GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
) - Die Deportirten, 1824 („The Deportees“, novel on self-government at Botany BayBotany BayBotany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
) - Novellen, 5 vols., 1825 (short novels)
- Die Osternacht, 1826 („Easter Night“, novel on a flood disaster in Rhineland-PalatinateRhineland-PalatinateRhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
) - Der Waldbrand, 1827 („The Bushfire“, novel, situated in CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
) - Künstlerehe, 1828
- tr. The Artist's Married Life; being that of Albert DürerAlbrecht DürerAlbrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
, New York 1867, London 1895.
- tr. The Artist's Married Life; being that of Albert Dürer
- Kleine lyrische Werke, 1828 (poems)
- Neue Novellen, 4 vols., 1831 (short novels)
- Lavabecher, Novellen, 2 vols., 1833 (short novels)
- Die Gräfin Ulfeld oder die vierundzwanzig Königskinder, 2 vols., 1834 („Dame Ulfeld, or, the 24 Royal Children“, novel on a life sentence on a Danish rebel’s widow)
- Laienbrevier, 1834 (1st half of the year)/ 1835 (2nd half of the year). (pantheistic poems, until 1900 21 eds.)
- tr. The Layman's Breviary, or meditations for every day in the year, Boston (Mass.): C. T. Brooks 1867
- Kleine Romane, 6 vols., 1836 (short novels)
- Das große deutsche Musikfest, 1837 („The Great German Music Festival“, novel)
- Doppelsonate A-Dur zu 4 Händen, 1838 (composition)
- Doppelkanon zu 4 Chören, 1838 (composition)
- Der Gekreuzigte oder Nichts Altes unter der Sonne, 1839 („The Crucified, or, Nothing Old Under the Sun“, novel on a genocide in the Ottoman EmpireOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
[subject taken up and transferred to the 20th century by Franz WerfelFranz WerfelFranz Werfel was an Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet.- Biography :Born in Prague , Werfel was the first of three children of a wealthy manufacturer of gloves and leather goods. His mother, Albine Kussi, was the daughter of a mill owner...
, The Forty Days of Musa DaghThe Forty Days of Musa DaghThe Forty Days of Musa Dagh is a 1933 novel by Austrian-Jewish author Franz Werfel based on the defense of a small community of Armenians living in the Musa Dagh of the Ottoman Empire in 1915 during the height of the Armenian Genocide. The book was originally published as Die Vierzig Tage des Musa...
]) - Mahomet’s Türkische Himmelsbriefe, 1840 („Muhammad’s Turk Letters from Heaven“, poems)
- Viel Sinne, viel Köpfe, 1840 („Many Meanings, Many Minds“, narrative)
- Göttliche Komödie in Rom, 1841 („Divinia Comedia in Rome“, novel on the trial and execution of Giordano BrunoGiordano BrunoGiordano Bruno , born Filippo Bruno, was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. His cosmological theories went beyond the Copernican model in proposing that the Sun was essentially a star, and moreover, that the universe contained an infinite number of inhabited...
) - Sechs Volkslieder zum Pianoforte, 1841 (compositions)
- Graf Promnitz. Der letzte des Hauses, 1842 („Earl Promnitz, the Last of the House“, novel)
- Vigilien, Gedichte, 1843 (poems)
- Ausgewählte Werke, 12 vols., 1845/46 ( „Selected Works“)
- Weltpriester, Gedichte, 1846 („The Worldly Priest“, poems)
- Génévion von Toulouse, 1846 („Génévion of Toulouse“, novel)
- Gedichte (2nd ed.), 1846 („Poems“)
- Achtzehn Töchter. Eine Frauen-Novelle, 1847 („18 Daughters. A novel for Women“, short novel)
- Die Sibylle von Mantua, 1852 („The Sibyl of Mantua“, narrative)
- Hafis in Hellas, (anonymously: "Von einem Hadschi"), 1853 („Hafis in GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. By a Hadschi“, love poems) - Koran der Liebe nebst kleiner Sunna, (anonymously) 1855 („Koran of Love, with a small Sunna“, love poems)
- Hausreden, 1855 („Domestic Speeches“, poems)
- Der Hirtenknabe Nikolas, oder der Kinderkreuzzug im Jahre 1212; 1857 („The Shepard Boy Nikolas, or, the Children’s Cruisade, 1212“, novel)
- Homer’s ApotheoseThe Apotheosis of HomerThe Apotheosis of Homer is a common scene in classical and neo-classical art, showing the poet Homer's apotheosis or elevation to divine status....
, 1858 („Homer’s Apotheosis“, hexametric eposEpic poetryAn epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
on the real HomerHomerIn the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
)
Posthumously
- Für Haus und Herz. Letzte Klänge,1867 („For Home and Heart“, ed. Rudolf Gottschall, poems)
- Buch des Lebens und der Liebe, 1877 („The Book on Life and Love“. ed. & worked over by Alfred Moschkau)
- Ausgewählte Lieder und Gesänge zum Pianoforte, with e preface ed. by Ernst-Jürgen DreyerErnst-Jürgen DreyerErnst-Jürgen Dreyer is a German writer and musicologist.- Prose:* Die Spaltung, novel, Siegburg, 1979. Berlin 1980** Die Spaltung, 2 vols, ed...
, München: G. Henle 2004 (songs for the pianoforte) - Tagebuch einer großen Liebe. 22 Lieder von Leopold Schefer, CD, ed. by Freundeskreis Lausitzer Musiksommer. KONSONANZ Musikagentur, Bautzen 2006. Labelcode LC 01135 („Diary of a Great Love. 22 Lieder of Leopold Schefer“, compositions and poems)
Literature
- Bettina Clausen: Leopold Schefer Bibliographie Bangert & Metzler, Frankfurt on Main 1985, ISBN 3-924147-10-8 (“Leopold Schefer BibliographyBibliographyBibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology...
” [including an iconography])
- Bettina Clausen, Lars ClausenLars ClausenLars Clausen was a German sociologist and professor at the University of Kiel.-Life and work:During World War II, the family lived on the Darß...
: Zu allem fähig. Versuch einer Sozio-Biographie zum Verständnis des Dichters Leopold Schefer. 2 vols., Bangert & Metzler, Frankfurt on Main. 1985, ISBN 3-924147-09-4 (“Capable for Everything. Approach to a Socio-Biography of the Poet Leopold Schefer”) - Bernd-Ingo Friedrich: Leopold Schefer. Dichter, Komponist, 1784-1862, Neisse Verlag, Görlitz 2005, ISBN 3-934038-45-X (“Leopold Schefer. Poet and Composer, 1784-1862”)
- Ernst-Jürgen DreyerErnst-Jürgen DreyerErnst-Jürgen Dreyer is a German writer and musicologist.- Prose:* Die Spaltung, novel, Siegburg, 1979. Berlin 1980** Die Spaltung, 2 vols, ed...
/Bernd-Ingo Friedrich: “Mit Begeisterung und nicht für Geld geschrieben”. Das musikalische Werk des Dichters Leopold Schefer, Gunter Oettel, Görlitz & Zittau 2006. ISBN 3-938583-06-1, ISBN 978-3-938583-06-7 (“Written With Enthusiasm and not for Money. The Musical Œuvre of the Poet Leopold Schefer”)