Gerlach, Theodor

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Gerlach, Theodor

Gerlach, Theodor, German conductor and composer; b. Dresden, June 25, 1861; d. Kiel, Dec. 11, 1940. He studied with Wullner, then was a conductor in several provincial towns. He wrote an Epic Symphony (1891) and the opera Matteo Falcone (Hannover, 1898). Of particular interest were his experiments with “spoken opera” utilizing inflected speech, most notably in his Liebeswogen (Bremen, Nov. 7, 1903; rev. as Das Seegespenst, Altenburg, April 24, 1914). He also used the spoken word over an instrumental accompaniment in his Gesprochene Lieder.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire