Max Deutsch | |
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| Born | (1892-11-17)17 November 1892 |
| Died | 22 November 1982(1982-11-22) (aged 90) Paris, France |
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Max Deutsch (17 November 1892 – 22 November 1982) was an Austrian-French composer, conductor, and academic teacher. He studied withArnold Schoenberg and was his assistant. Teaching at theSorbonne and theÉcole Normale de Musique de Paris, he influenced notable students such asPhilippe Capdenat,Donald Harris,György Kurtág andPhilippe Manoury.
Born in Vienna, Deutsch was a pupil of and assistant toArnold Schoenberg. He studied under him in Vienna before the First World War; and followed Schoenberg as his assistant to Amsterdam in 1921.[1][2] Deutsch was a Fellow and taught at UNESCO, and taught at theSorbonne (Paris IV) from 1970 to 1971, and finally, from 1972 to theÉcole Normale de Musique de Paris.[2][3][4]
He founded in Paris thetheaterDer Jüdische Spiegel (The Jewish Mirror), where many works of composers such as Schönberg,Anton Webern andAlban Berg were first performed.[3]
Konstantin Stanislavsky commissioned a work which was to become the operaSchach (Chess).[3][5] His "film symphony"Der Schatz (The Treasure) came from a commission from German film directorGeorg Wilhelm Pabst to provide an original musical score for his 1923 film. In structure,Der Schatz was crafted in two formats: afilm score and a stand-alone symphonic work. The five act symphony survived because the manuscript in the latter form was donated to theDeutsches Filminstitut in 1982, shortly before Deutsch died. A score of years later,DeutschlandRadio Berlin collaborated with theStaatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, conducted byFrank Strobel, to produce a record of "this extremely rare and totally unknown symphonic work". The recording became the foundation of a "synchronized restoration" of the film.[1] As film music the "piece is scored for a theater orchestra of the kind typically found in European cinemas of the day". It brings to mind the work ofKurt Weill andStefan Wolpe, and foreshadowsMax Steiner's modernist film scores, adoptingexpressionistatonaltwelve toneleitmotifs. Mood setting and character are developed; pianos appear throughout.[1]
From 1940 to 1945, Deutsch served in theFrench Foreign Legion.[6] He formed long lasting friendships withGeorges Bernanos andJean Cassou. He was close toTristan Tzara,Jean Cocteau andVladimir Jankelevitch. Max Deutsch was a friend ofFerruccio Busoni.[1][3] He died in Paris.
After the Second World War, he devoted himself mainly to teaching music, chiefly following the principles of Schönberg. In Paris, among his hundreds of students, there were composers:Jorge Arriagada,Girolamo Arrigo,Colette Bailly,Sylvano Bussotti,Philippe Capdenat,Gérard Condé,Rudi Martinus van Dijk,Ahmed Essyad,Jacqueline Fontyn,Sylvia Hallett,Donald Harris,Félix Ibarrondo,Oswaldo González,György Kurtág,Philippe Manoury,Patrick Marcland,Luis de Pablo,Yves-Marie Pasquet,Kyriakos Sfetsas,Raymond Vaillant; American composersDavid Chaitkin,Edmund Cionek,Eugene Kurtz,Allen Shearer, andDean C. Taylor; British composerNicholas Maw; Canadian-bornSrul Irving Glick; the conductorAlexandre Myrat; and music criticHeinz-Klaus Metzger.[2][3]
A love of music andmusic theory ran in the family. His brother was Frederick Dorian (1902–1991); they both studied under Schoenberg in Vienna. Frederick became a music professor atCarnegie-Mellon University.[7]
Before he died, Deutsch attempted to destroy all of his compositions, so that his only surviving legacy would be his students. However, some of his work survived.[A]
In late 2013, a recording of Deutsch conducting theSuisse Romande Orchestra in a performance of three "master works" byArnold Schoenberg was released. It includes short lectures by Deutsch on each of the pieces.[6]
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