Eisler, Hanns (EN)

Eisler Hanns, *6 July 1898 Leipzig, †6 September 1962 Berlin, German composer. In 1919, he began studying composition under K. Weigl at the Neues Wiener Konservatorium, and subsequently continued his studies under A. Schoenberg and A. Webern in Vienna; he also conducted workers’ choirs. Between 1925 and 1933 he lived in Berlin, where, alongside his work as a composer, he was active as a journalist; he published his music reviews and columns in the KPD organ “Rote Fahne.” During this period, he became associated with a politically engaged group of writers and musicians (B. Brecht, E. Weinert, K. Tucholsky, K. Weill and others). His long-standing artistic collaboration with B. Brecht dates from 1930. Between 1930 and 1932, Eisler travelled to the USSR. From 1933 onwards, he lived in exile, spending time in France, England and Denmark, among other places, and from 1938 in the USA, where he lectured at the New School for Social Research in New York (1938) and, in 1942, at the University of Southern California. Between 1940 and 1944, his interests focused mainly on film music; during this period, he wrote the book Composing for the Films. He returned to Europe in 1948, first moving to Vienna and then, from 1950 onwards, to Berlin. From 1950, he led a masterclass in composition at the Deutsche Akademie der Künste and lectured at the Deutsche Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. In his analyses and articles, he sought — drawing on Marxist theory — to outline the role of music in the development of socialism. In 1962, Eisler was appointed chairman of the GDR Music Council. He was the composer of the GDR national anthem. An archive of his compositional works is held at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin.

Eisler’s creative interests centred on vocal, theatrical and film music — in other words, music closely linked to literary texts. The texts in Eisler’s works reflect the composer’s worldview; he regarded them as a kind of weapon in the ideological struggle. In the early phase of his career, Eisler remained within the sphere of Schönberg’s musical ideas (his early works from 1920–24, including Palmström, Op. 5). From around 1930, he composed under the strong influence of Brecht’s concept of politically engaged art, art drawing on the simplicity of proletarian means of expression and the agitational and propagandistic theatre troupes. Songs and mass songs are the most typical genres in which Eisler expressed his creative ideas. His vocal works are characterised by a distinct rhythmic pulse (very often march-like), an uncomplicated melodic structure, and a harmony tending towards functionality; they are thus written in a communicative style, easily accessible to the untrained listener, for whom they were primarily intended. Within his elaborate vocal-instrumental compositions, such as the Lenin-Requiem in nine movements or the Vorbild triptych, Eisler juxtaposes a folk song [Volkslied] and march-like ballads with traditional forms of early music, such as the passacaglia, fugue and reprise aria. This conglomeration of forms and techniques, complemented by elements of jazz (e.g. the blues from Die Rundköpfe und die Spitzköpfe), is subordinated to the overarching aim Eisler set for his music: to influence the masses through communicative, ideologically engaged art that addresses contemporary social issues.

Literature: A. Druskin Hanns Eisler, Berlin 1956; H. A. Brockhaus Hanns Eisler, Leipzig 1961; I. Nestyev Hanns Eisler i ego pesennoe tvorchestvo, Moscow 1962; N. Notowicz and J. Elsner Hanns Eisler. Quellennachweise, Leipzig 1966; M. Grabs Dialektik der Musikbetrachtung, introduction to H. Eisler Materialien zu einer Dialektik der Musik, Leipzig 1973; E. Klemm Hanns Eisler, Berlin 1973; A. Betz Hanns Eisler, Musik einer Zeit, die sich eben, bildet, Munich 1976.