Pfitzner, Hans (1869-1949): The Complete Music Autographs in the BSB

Hans Pfitzner, born in Moscow in 1869 as the son of the musician Robert Pfitzner, grew up in Frankfurt am Main, studied there from 1886-1890 at the Hoch'sches Conservatory, then lived as a teacher, bandmaster and composer in Koblenz, Mainz and from 1897 in Berlin as a teacher at the Stern'sches Conservatory, where he also became first bandmaster at the Theater des Westens from 1903. In 1907/08 Pfitzner worked as conductor of the Kaim Orchestra in Munich. A milestone in his career was his appointment to Strasbourg in 1908 as municipal music director, as head of the conservatory and from 1910 additionally as musical director of the Strasbourg Opera, where he also worked as a director. In 1917, the musical legend 'Palestrina' was premiered in Munich's Prinzregententheater under Bruno Walter, which is considered Pfitzner's most important work. After fleeing from Strasbourg in the face of German defeat in World War I, Pfitzner settled in Schondorf/Ammersee in 1919, from where he led a master class for composition at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin from 1920-1929, from which renowned composers (Felix Wolfes, Hermann Ambrosius, Robert Rehan, Eduard Hebra, Gerhard Frommel) emerged. In 1930 he moved to Munich. After the destruction of his Munich home in 1943 and short stays in Vienna and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, he spent the last years of his life in a retirement home in Munich-Ramersdorf. The Pfitzner Collection of the Bavarian State Library was fed from many sources. By far the most significant in terms of numbers are the over 70 autographs from the bequest of his student Paul Winter (1972) and the 66 manuscripts from the Habs/Soherr depot (1997). In addition, there are numerous individual purchases since the 1950s as well as gifts, especially from Ursula Fürstner and Anneliese Habs, and Pfitzneriana from the bequest of his students and performers (Maria Ivogün, Julius Patzak, Gerhard Frommel, Lilo Martin). The musical materials are supported by a collection of several hundred Pfitzner letters in the Department of Manuscripts and Early Printed Books. In 2012 the library was able to acquire a large collection of Pfitzner manuscripts and documents from the bequest of Willy Kössel.