Devrient, Eduard (Philipp)
Devrient, Eduard (Philipp)
Devrient, Eduard (Philipp), German baritone, librettist, and writer on music; b. Berlin, Aug. 11, 1801;d. Karlsruhe, Oct. 4, 1877. He studied singing and thorough-bass with Zelter in Berlin, giving his first public performance there in 1819. He then joined the Royal opéra, but after the loss of his voice (1834) he went over to the spoken drama, without losing his interest in music. He sang the role of Christ in the famous performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion under Mendelssohn on March 11, 1829. He was chief producer and actor at the Dresden Court Theater (1844–46) and director at the Karlsruhe Court Theater (1852–70); also the author of the text to Marschner’s Hans Heiling, and created the title role (1833). His chief work is Geschichte der deutschen Schauspielkunst (5 vols., 1848–74); his works concerning music are Briefe aus Paris (1840; about Cherubini) and Meine Erinnerungen an Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy und seine Briefe an mich (Leipzig, 1869). Within weeks after publication of the latter, Wagner issued a polemical pamphlet entitled Hen Eduard Devrient und sein Styl (Munich, 1869) under the pseudonym Wilhelm Drach, violently attacking Devrient for his literary style. Devrient’s book was publ. in Eng. (London, 1869; 3rd ed., 1891).
Bibliography
J. Bab, Die D.s (Berlin, 1932).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire