author
Paul Bekker
1882–1937
A sharp-eyed critic and writer, he helped shape how 20th-century listeners understood modern music and Gustav Mahler’s symphonies. His career stretched from the German press to exile in New York, where he continued writing until his death in 1937.
1 Audiobook
Deutsches Leben der Gegenwart
by Paul Bekker, Goetz A. (Goetz Antony) Briefs, Max Scheler, Arnold Sommerfeld
About the author
Born in Berlin in 1882, Paul Bekker was a German music critic and author remembered for his influence on musical thought in the early 20th century. Before becoming widely known as a critic, he studied violin, piano, and theory, worked as a violinist, and also held conducting posts.
Bekker wrote for several major newspapers, including the Frankfurter Zeitung, where he served as chief music critic. He became especially important as an interpreter of modern music and as an early champion of Gustav Mahler, writing one of the first major studies of Mahler’s symphonies. Sources consistently describe him as an unusually perceptive and influential voice in German-language music criticism.
After leaving Germany, he continued his work in the United States, writing for the New Yorker Staats-Zeitung. He died in New York in 1937, but his books and criticism still matter to readers interested in how music was argued over, explained, and defended in a period of major artistic change.