Behrend, (Gustav) Fritz

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Behrend, (Gustav) Fritz

Behrend, (Gustav) Fritz, German composer and teacher; b. Berlin, March 3, 1889; d. there, Dec. 29, 1972. He studied composition with H. van Eycken, P. Rufer, and Humperdinck, and piano with Breithaupt (1907–11). After serving as a coach at the Braunschweig Hoftheater (1911–12), he taught at the Ochs-Eichelberg Cons. (1918–42) and the Klindworth-Scharwenka Cons, in Berlin (1942–49). His compositions did not meet with favor during the Third Reich, but later they achieved a modicum of recognition.

Works

DRAMATIC: König Renés Tochter (1919); Der schwangere Bauer (1927); Die lächerlichen Preziösen (1928; Berlin, May 22, 1949); Almansor (1931); Dornröschen (1934); Der Wun-derdoktor (1947); Der fahrende Schüler im Paradles (1949); Der Spiegel (1950); Romanesche Komödie (1953). ORCH.: 7 syms.; Rotkäppchensuite (1912); Lustspiel Overture (1913); Am Rhein (1913); Fantasie for Piano and Orch. (1919); Im Hochgebirge (1920); Penthesilea (1926); Lustspiel Overture (1937); Lustige Overture (1947). CHAMBER: 7 string quartets; 2 piano trios (1923, 1929); Violin Sonata (1925); Cello Sonata (1925); Wind Quintet (1951); String Trio; Septet; Octet; piano pieces. VOCAL: Over 100 songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire