Paumgartner, Bernhard
Paumgartner, Bernhard
Paumgartner, Bernhard , eminent Austrian musicologist and conductor; b. Vienna, Nov. 14, 1887; d. Salzburg, July 27,1971. He was a son of the pianist Hans Paumgartner (1843–96) and the mezzo-soprano Rosa Papier. He learned to play the horn, violin, and piano in his youth; began to conduct while still in school. After receiving a doctorate in law from the Univ. of Vienna (1911), he studied musicology privately with Adler. He was répétiteur at the Vienna Court Opera (1911–12), and then director of the Salzburg Mozarteum (from 1917), which he headed until 1938, and again from 1945 to 1959. He was also closely associated with the Salzburg Festival from its founding (1920), serving as its president (1960–71). He also composed. Among his works were the operas Die Hohle von Salamanca (Dresden, 1923) and Rossini in Neapel (Zürich, March 27, 1936), various other stage pieces, including several ballets, orch. music, and songs.
Writings
Mozart (Berlin, 1927; 6th ed., Aug. 1967); Franz Schubert: Eine Biographie (Zürich, 1943; 3rd ed., 1960); Johann Sebastian Bach: Leben und Werk, 1: Bis zur Berufung nach Leipzig (Zürich, 1950); Erinnerungen (Salzburg, 1969); G. Croll, ed., Bernhard Paumgartner: Vorträge und Essays (Salzburg, 1972).
Bibliography
E. Preussner, ed., Wissenschaft und Praxis: Eine Festschrift zum 70. Geburtstag von B. P (Zürich, 1957); G. Croll, ed.,. P. (Salzburg and Munich, 1971).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire