Hanke, Karl

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Hanke, Karl

Hanke, Karl, German composer; b. Rosswald, Silesia, c. 1750; d. Flensburg, June 10, 1803. As a young man he was sent to Vienna to pursue his music studies, where he briefly associated himself with Gluck, and profited by the master’s advice. He then held the post of music director in Brunn (1778–81), Warsaw (1781–83), and Hamburg (1783–86). He was in Schleswig from 1786 to 1792. In 1792 he settled in Flensburg, where he remained until the end of his life. He composed several pieces for the stage, including the Singspiel Der Wunsch mancher Mädchen (1781), dedicated to Gluck, which was performed on various occasions with some success. Two albums of his songs were publ, in 1796-97.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire