Siegfried Lipiner
Encyclopedia
Siegfried Salomo Lipiner (24 October 1856 – 30 December 1911) was an Austrian
writer
and poet
whose works made an impression on Richard Wagner
and Friedrich Nietzsche
, but who published nothing after 1880 and lived out his life as Librarian of Parliament in Vienna
. A poet and dramatist of highly individual character, he is today remembered in German-speaking literary circles mainly for his translations of the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz
; he is also known to music history
as having been a close friend of Gustav Mahler
.
as a student of philosophy
, literature
and natural science; one of his teachers was Gustav Fechner
. By his early twenties, he had produced an important work on the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer
, and become a personal acquaintance of Nietzsche — who had called him 'a veritable genius'.
Lipiner was 24 when he met the 20-year-old Mahler, and his views on various subjects (including the 'redemptive' qualities of artistic creation) came to influence the young composer to a considerable extent. Lipiner features in the 'Recollections of Gustav Mahler' assembled by Natalie Bauer-Lechner
— who seems also to have kept a similar record of his actions and conversations, though this is now lost.
As his creativity waned, Lipiner's reputation seems to have depended more and more upon his personal fascination as a 'bon viveur' and skilled improviser of the philosophical rhapsodies with which he would entertain his circle of illustrious acquaintances in Vienna. Mahler's marriage to Alma Schindler in 1902 was followed by the composer's breaking with Lipiner for several years: the man whom Friedrich Eckstein described as 'that shy, melancholy, sensitive poet' and whom Mahler usually addressed as 'dearest Siegfried' was for Alma the object of a venomous dislike: "a bogus Goethe in his writing and a haggling Jew in his talk". By the end of Mahler's life, however, the two men had resumed their friendship. Lipiner died in Vienna
a few months after Mahler's death.
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and poet
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...
whose works made an impression on 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...
and Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
, but who published nothing after 1880 and lived out his life as Librarian of Parliament 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...
. A poet and dramatist of highly individual character, he is today remembered in German-speaking literary circles mainly for his translations of the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz
Adam Mickiewicz
Adam Bernard Mickiewicz ) was a Polish poet, publisher and political writer of the Romantic period. One of the primary representatives of the Polish Romanticism era, a national poet of Poland, he is seen as one of Poland's Three Bards and the greatest poet in all of Polish literature...
; he is also known to music history
Music history
Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is the highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies the composition, performance, reception, and criticism of music over time...
as having been a 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...
.
Life
Lipiner was born in Jarosław. A prodigious talent, he produced a well-regarded treatment of 'Prometheus Unbound' at the age of seventeen, He attended the University of LeipzigUniversity of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
as a student of philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
and natural science; one of his teachers was Gustav Fechner
Gustav Fechner
Gustav Theodor Fechner , was a German experimental psychologist. An early pioneer in experimental psychology and founder of psychophysics, he inspired many 20th century scientists and philosophers...
. By his early twenties, he had produced an important work on the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher known for his pessimism and philosophical clarity. At age 25, he published his doctoral dissertation, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason, which examined the four separate manifestations of reason in the phenomenal...
, and become a personal acquaintance of Nietzsche — who had called him 'a veritable genius'.
Lipiner was 24 when he met the 20-year-old Mahler, and his views on various subjects (including the 'redemptive' qualities of artistic creation) came to influence the young composer to a considerable extent. Lipiner features in the 'Recollections of Gustav Mahler' assembled by Natalie Bauer-Lechner
Natalie Bauer-Lechner
Natalie Bauer-Lechner was a viola-player who is best known to musicology for having been a close and devoted friend of Gustav Mahler in the period between the break-up of her marriage in 1890 and the start of his to Alma Schindler in 1902...
— who seems also to have kept a similar record of his actions and conversations, though this is now lost.
As his creativity waned, Lipiner's reputation seems to have depended more and more upon his personal fascination as a 'bon viveur' and skilled improviser of the philosophical rhapsodies with which he would entertain his circle of illustrious acquaintances in Vienna. Mahler's marriage to Alma Schindler in 1902 was followed by the composer's breaking with Lipiner for several years: the man whom Friedrich Eckstein described as 'that shy, melancholy, sensitive poet' and whom Mahler usually addressed as 'dearest Siegfried' was for Alma the object of a venomous dislike: "a bogus Goethe in his writing and a haggling Jew in his talk". By the end of Mahler's life, however, the two men had resumed their friendship. Lipiner died 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...
a few months after Mahler's death.
Works
- Der Entfesselte Prometheus. Eine Dichtung in 5 Gesängen. Leipzig 1876;
- Renatus. Epische Dichtung. Leipzig 1878;
- Ueber die Elemente einer Erneuerung religiöser Ideen der Gegenwart. Vortrag gehalten im Leseverein der deutschen Studenten Wien. Wien 1878;
- Buch der Freude. [Gedichte] Leipzig 1880;
- Bruder Rausch (Fragment eines Epos) 1883;
- Merlin. Operndichtung in 3 Akten. Musik von Karl Goldmark. Textbuch. Leipzig 1886;
- Homunculus. Eine Studie über `Faust' und die Philosophie Goethes. Diss. Wien 1894;
- Kassandra. Drama 1910;
- Adam. Ein Vorspiel. Stuttgart 1913, Bern 1974;
- Hippolytos. Drama 1893;
- Der neue Don Juan. Trauerspiel in 5 Akten. Stuttgart 1914;
- Herr Thaddäus oder Der letzte Eintritt in Litauen: ein Epos aus der Napoleonischen Zeit. Von Adam Mickiewicz, übers. von S. L. Freiburg im Breisgau 1951.