Schitz, Aksel (Hauch)

Schitz, Aksel (Hauch), famous Danish tenor, baritone, and pedagogue; b. Roskilde, Sept. 1, 1906; d. Copenhagen, April 19, 1975. His father was an architect, and he urged Schitz to follow an academic career; accordingly, he enrolled at the Univ. of Copenhagen in language studies (M.A., 1929). He also studied singing, first at the Danish Royal Opera School in Copenhagen, and later with John Forsell in Stockholm. He made his concert debut in 1938; his operatic debut followed in 1939 as Ferrando in Così fan tutte at the Royal Danish Theater in Copenhagen, and he soon gained wide recognition as a Mozartian and as a lieder artist. In 1946 he made appearances in England; in 1948 he visited the U.S. His career was tragically halted when he developed a brain tumor in 1950, which led to an impairment of his speech; however, he regained his capacities as a singer and gave concerts as a baritone. From 1955 to 1958 he taught voice at the Univ. of Minn.; from 1958 to 1961, was a prof. of voice at the Royal Cons. of Music and the Univ. of Toronto; from 1961 to 1968, at the Univ. of Colo.; and from 1968, at the Royal Danish School of Educational Studies in Copenhagen, In 1977 a memorial fund was formed in the U.S. to preserve his memory by granting scholarships in art songs. He pubi. The Singer and His Art (N.Y., 1969).

Bibliography

G. Schitz, Kunst og Kamp: Gerd og A. S. (Copenhagen, 1951).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire