Keussler, Gerhard von

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Keussler, Gerhard von

Keussler, Gerhard von, German conductor and composer; b. Schwanenburg, Livonia, July 5, 1874; d. Niederwartha bei Dresden, Aug. 21, 1949. He studied with Reinecke and Jadassohn at the Leipzig Cons., and musicology with Riemann and Kretzschmar at the Univ. of Leipzig (Ph.D., 1902, with the diss. Die Grenzen der Aesthetik). From 1906 to 1910 he was a choral conductor in Prague. He then went to Hamburg, where he conducted the Phil, concerts until 1920 and led the Singakademie. In 1931 he toured in Australia as a conductor; returning to Germany, he taught at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin (1934–41). He publ. the books Das deutsche Volkslied und Herder (Prague, 1915), Händeis Kulturdienst und unsere Zeit (Hamburg, 1919), Die Berufsehre des Musikers (Leipzig, 1927), and Paul Bucaenus (Riga, 1931). He composed several symphonic dramas, including Wandlungen (1903), Gefängnisse (Prague, April 22, 1914), and Die Gesselfahrt (Hamburg, 1923), as well as 2 syms. (1925, 1928), the symphonic fantasy Australia (1935), and many songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire