Erich Berner

Erich Berner was born on 15 August 1892 in Rixdorf (today called Neukölln, which is a part of Berlin, Germany). The family moved to Nuremberg during his childhood. Erich Berner took his first musical steps at the piano and studied with Wilhelm Dieß in Munich. In 1911, Erich Berner enrolled at the Leipzig Conservatory, where he studied under Richard Hofmann (instrumentation), Max Wünsche (piano), and Otto Wittenbecher (music theory and composition). For unknown reasons, he left Leipzig after only one year, and it remains unclear where he continued his studies. However, when Erich Berner enrolled at Munich University in 1920, he already held the title of doctor. It seems likely that he completed his musical studies somewhere during the pre-war and post-war years and concluded them with a doctoral thesis in music. Nevertheless, from 1920 to 1925, Erich Berner studied once again at Munich University. During this period, he studied modern languages such as English and French, attended a teacher training course in 1923, and thus most likely prepared for a career as a language teacher.

During his years in Munich, two articles by him were published in the psychology journal "Archiv der gesamten Psychologie": one in 1921 on a more philosophical topic (“the later German sceptics” such as Schubert-Soldern, Stirner, or Nietzsche), and another in 1925 on the “limitations of music.”

There is little information about the early stages of Erich Berner’s professional career. A letter written by him in 1929 connects him to the city of Rüstringen in northern Germany. In 1936, Erich Berner became a Studienrat, in 1940 a Studienprofessor, and between 1939 and 1949 he worked as a teacher in Weißenburg in Bavaria. He then moved to Eichstätt, where he taught at the Gymnasium for one and a half years. In 1951, Erich Berner finally moved to Ingolstadt, where he taught at the Christoph-Scheiner-Gymnasium until his retirement in 1958.

Erich Berner died on 14 September 1966 in Ingolstadt (Germany).

In my possession is the musical estate of Erich Berner. There are no information about the composer Erich Berner. It seems that he kept his works private or they were performed only in very small occasions because newspapers or archives deliver nothing about him. His work catalogue contains:

  • operas (Der natürlich Sohn, Die Verwegenen)
  • singspiele (Gebratene Erbsen, Eine Freundin für Herrn Braun, Die drei Wünsche, Schanni und Hanni, Wanda und die Sonne, Das Wunder am Amazonas)
  • Das Zirndorfer Krippenspiel
  • Piano concerto (only the first movement exists)
  • Die Jadestadt, for voice and ensemble
  • Maientanz, for orchestra
  • Enids Ritter, play (text by Erich Berner, music at will) (premiered 1930 in Buxtehude)
  • two songs collections: Tabeafest, Evangelischer Heimatkalender 50
  • Missa qvam qvam, for choir
  • a "Large motet" and a "Small motet"
  • 15 atonal piano pieces
  • 18 marches and dances, for piano
  • Atonal sonata for violin and cello
  • Atonal trio for violin, viola and cello
  • String quartet
  • Violin sonata
  • Sonata for 2 violins and piano
  • Cello sonata
  • Sonata for violin, cello and piano