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Karl Michael Ziehrer (also Carl M Ziehrer) (2 May 1843 - 14 November 1922)
was an Austrian composer and military bandmaster. In his lifetime, he was
better known as one of the fiercest rivals of the Strauss family, especially
Johann Strauss II and Eduard Strauss.
He was taught music by Simon Sechter, a famous Viennese hat-maker who was
financed by his own father. He was quickly discovered by music publisher
Carl Haslinger, one of Johann Strauss II's publisher who fell out of favor
with Strauss regarding the receipts from the latter's lucrative Russian
venture that the
two men could not agree upon and has since parted in high enmity.
Ziehrer was, in the words of Strauss' first wife, Henrietta Treffz, was 'one
of Haslinger's machinations' and 'what Haslinger writes as his own would be
passed on the ward to be published as hisown.' Her prophesy did not
materialise immediately although posterity certainly did agree with her to
an extent as even though Vienna was lit up with Ziehrer's pulsating and
lively waltzes and challenging the famed Strauss family for the Viennese
public's affections, his many works did not survive long in today's
classical repertoire.
Haslinger sought to promote his promising young ward and in 1863, the young
conductor appeared as the head of a newly-formed orchestra aimed at toppling
the Strauss dynasty at the Dianabad-saal in Vienna. Not long after that, he
secured the place at one of Viennese military bands, as was the trend in the
early
1870s and later, he took over as the Kapellmeister of a large civilian
orchestra in 1873. He also published
the journal "Deutsche Musikzeitung" at around the same time and was credited
as being one of the important sources of music study in the late 1870s.
Not long after founding the music journal, he changed his publisher to
Döblinger and toured Eastern Europe
and Germany for many years, earning a good reputation as a strict yet
efficient conductor. It was in 1881 that he met his future wife, Marianne
Edelmann in Berlin who was a famous operetta singer.
Throughout the years from 1885 to 1893, Ziehrer toured extensively and was a
military bandmaster with the
distinction of "Übernahme der Militärmusik der Hoch" as well as the
"Deutschmeister" decoration. Such was his fame as a talented conductor that
he was also invited to perform at the World Exhibition in Chicago in 1893.
After that, in a flurry of events, he toured 41 German cities and finally
returned to Vienna where he formed an even larger and successful orchestra
that specializes in playing dance music. At this point, his works started to
gain a wider circulation among the music-loving Viennese and works such as
Wiener Mad'ln op. 388 as well as the more famous Wiener Bürger op. 419 was
received with much more appreciation, the latter even triumphing temporarily
over Strauss compositions when first written in 1890.
Despite being a strong challenger of the Strauss music dynasty, he was
unable to achieve complete triumph over them and remained under their
influence, which oddly-enough among them his personal appearance as well,
with the 'Schnurrbart' moustache as well as similar hair-style. At the turn
of the century, Ziehrer felt that he needed to devote his time and attention
towards composing and his military band participation waned until he
relinquished his last position in 1899, the year Johann Strauss II died.
Ziehrer enjoyed success in the operetta writing business, with stage works
such as 'Die Landstreicher' in 1899 but it was the operetta 'Fremdenführer'
(Tourist Guide) that he achieved success on the stage. He was one of the
composers who bridged the 'Golden Age' of operetta with the new influence of
the 'Silver Age' still to come with composers such as Franz Lehár who would
dominate the operetta scene for many years later on.
In 1909, he was awarded the honorary title, the 'KK Hoffballmusikdirektor'
post which was created exclusively for Johann Strauss I about more than half
if a century before and subsequently dominated within the Strausses with
Johann Strauss II and Eduard Strauss also holding the office for many years.
He was also the final person ever to hold this post with the destruction of
the Habsburg dynasty in World War I. During the time before the war, he
worked well with composers, Franz Lehár, Oscar Straus and Leo Fall and was
guest conductor at their concerts on many occasions.
The outbreak of the war sealed his career as a composer and most of his
property was destroyed. He died a poor and forgotten man on 14 November 1922
in Vienna. He was buried in the Zentralfriedhof in the graves of honour. His
wife was also buried beside him.
His rich musical heritage may not be comparable
to the Strausses who dominated for well over a century, but he alone was
more prolific, with over 600 waltzes, polkas and Marches which are still
performed today.
Some of his works are even more Viennese in nature than that of the
Strausses. His works are vigorous and forceful, with melodies that are
cheerful, when times were difficult and the Habsburg dynasty was ominously
close to its end.
Some Works of Ziehrer
Dance music
* Das liegt bei uns im Blut! polka-mazurka op. 374 It lies in our Spirit!
* Loslassen! polka op. 386 Release!
* Wiener Mad'ln waltz op. 388 Viennese Beauties
* Wiener Bürger waltz op. 419 Viennese Citizens
* Ziehrereien waltz op. 478
* Herreinspaziert! waltz op. 518 Here Comes the Gentlemen! from the operetta
Der Schätzmeister
* Sei Brav waltz op. 522 So Good from the operetta Fesche Geister
* Tolles Mädel! waltz op. 526 Crazy Girl! from the operetta Ein Tolles
Mädel!
Operetta
* König Jérôme oder Immer Lustick (1878)
* Die Landstreicher (1899)
* Die drei Wünsche (1901)
* Der Fremdenführer (1902)
* Der Schätzmeister (1904)
* Fesche Geister (1905)
* Ein tolles Mädel! (1907)
Text Source: Wikipedia
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