author
Paul Graener
1872–1944
A once-prominent German composer and conductor, he wrote operas, orchestral music, chamber works, and songs in a late-Romantic style. His career reached major conservatories and musical institutions in London, Vienna, Leipzig, and Berlin, though his reputation later became closely shadowed by his ties to the Nazi era.
1 Audiobook
Theophano: Oper in drei Aufzügen
by Paul Graener, Otto Anthes
About the author
Orphaned young and musically gifted from childhood, he was born in Berlin on January 11, 1872, and grew into a composer and conductor with a strong late-Romantic voice. After early practical work in German theaters, he spent time in London, where he taught at the Royal Academy of Music, then continued his career in Vienna and later in Germany.
He went on to hold important teaching and administrative posts, including leadership roles at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Leipzig Conservatory. His catalogue includes operas, orchestral scores, chamber music, and songs, and he was widely performed in his lifetime.
His later career is difficult to separate from politics. During the 1930s he accepted prominent cultural positions under the Nazi regime, a fact that has deeply affected how his music has been remembered since his death in Salzburg on November 13, 1944. Today, interest in his work tends to come with that historical context clearly in view.