- Heinrich Kaminski
Heinrich Kaminski (
4 July 1886 -21 June 1946 ) was a German composer.Life
Kaminski was born in
Tiengen in theSchwarzwald , the son of an Old Catholic priest of Jewish parentage. After a short period working in a bank inOffenbach , he moved toHeidelberg , originally to study politics. However, a chance meeting with Martha Warburg changed his mind: she recognised his musical gift and became his patroness. In 1909 he went toBerlin and began studying music at the Stern Conservatoire.In 1914 he began work as a piano teacher in
Benediktbeuern . His friends and contemporaries at this time included the painterEmil Nolde and alsoFranz Marc , whose wife was among his piano students.During
World War I Kaminski was also active as a choirmaster and teacher of composition. Later he received a professorship at thePrussian Academy of Arts in Berlin, where he became director of a master class in composition (thus treading in the footsteps ofHans Pfitzner ). His most significant pupils wereCarl Orff ,Heinz Schubert undReinhard Schwarz-Schilling .His contract was terminated in 1933 with no renewal on the grounds of his "political opinions" and he returned to Benediktbeuern. Various attempts to re-establish his career came to nothing for the same reason. A check of his ancestry - he had been categorised in 1938 as a "half-Jew", and in 1941 declared a "quarter-Jew" - led to an ongoing ban on the performance of his works. He found himself obliged to flee, to
France andSwitzerland among other places.Between 1939 and 1945 he lost three children, and died himself in 1946 at
Ried inUpper Bavaria .Works
His works includes chorales, concertos, songs, choral sonatas, motets and other choral works, as well as operas.
* Operas:
**"Das Spiel vom König Aphelius "("The Game of King Aphelius")*Choral sonatas:
**"Psalm 130"
**"Der Tag ist hin "("The Day Is Ended")*Concerto grosso
References
"This article is translated from that in the German Wikipedia".
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