Anton Grad

Anton "Toni" Grad was born on 26 May 1903 in Baierbrunn near Munich, Germany. He attended the St. Stephan Gymnasium in Augsburg and later studied at the University of Munich. From 1924 to 1929 he received his professional musical training at the Munich Academy of Music, where he studied composition with Hermann Wolfgang von Waltershausen.
From 1927 until the autumn of 1935 Grad taught music at Schloss Neubeuern, a progressive boarding school in Bavaria with a strong emphasis on artistic education. During these years Grad maintained close contacts with contemporary composers and performers. According to the recollections of a former pupil, he was a personal friend of both Paul and Rudolf Hindemith. Rudolf Hindemith also appeared as a guest performer at one of the school's concerts. Grad's own String Trio was premiered at Neubeuern in 1931, and his educational compositions included the school oratorio "Cristobal Colon". After leaving Neubeuern, Grad continued his career in Bavarian musical education. He was working in Dillingen in 1937 and from 1938 to 1942 lived in Bad Schachen near Lindau, where he directed the local orchestral society and served as municipal music commissioner. He also held administrative positions within the Reichsmusikkammer.
On 1 February 1943 Grad took over the direction of the municipal music school in Innsbruck, which at that time comprised a conservatory, a school for youth and popular music education, a seminar for music teachers and an opera and drama school. 
Grad's work in Innsbruck was closely integrated into the National Socialist system of musical education. In addition to directing the music school, he served as regional music adviser of the Hitler Youth and was described in contemporary reports as a member of the Nazi Party. He participated in conferences devoted to the organisation of music schools and promoted ensemble playing, wind music, folk instruments and the training of young musicians for local bands. He also appeared as conductor and pianist at concerts connected with the Hitler Youth and the Standschützen organisation.
Under Grad's direction the Innsbruck institution continued an extensive programme of professional and amateur musical training despite wartime conditions. In 1944 he organised and introduced concerts by teachers and students of the school and remained its director until the collapse of the National Socialist regime in 1945.
After the Second World War Grad returned to Bavaria. In 1947 he sought a political exoneration statement from a former colleague concerning his wartime activities in Innsbruck. He subsequently resumed his career as a teacher and music educator. By 1948 he was working in Aichach, where he also directed the local adult-education centre. At the same time he became involved in discussions about the renewal of folk and youth music in post-war Bavaria.
Grad later taught musicology at the Philosophical College in Augsburg. From 1958 he worked at the Pädagogische Hochschule in Munich. His interests increasingly extended beyond composition and practical music education to folk music, ethnomusicology and regional cultural history. In 1966, for example, he gave a lecture in Aichach on a musicological research journey to Nepal, during which he had studied the music of mountain communities and monasteries in the Himalayas.
During his later years Grad became an important figure in the cultural and historical life of Aichach. He served as chairman of the local historical association and devoted particular attention to the Heimatmuseum in Aichach. He supervised the reorganisation of the museum and considerably expanded its collections, especially those documenting rural culture. He also edited historical publications, including the 1980 volume "Die Wittelsbacher im Aichacher Land".
Anton "Toni" Grad died on 15 April 1988 in Aichach, Germany.

In my possession are several autograph manuscripts of compositions by Anton Grad. My archive contains the following works:

• Suite für Blechbläser nach europäischen Weisen, for trumpets and trombones
• Die Rache des Alexander, for ensemble, choir and percussion (the work is subtitled "Schulwerk") (1932)
• Musik für Trompete und Cello
• Hallertauer Zwiefacher, very likely for 2 trumpets and 2 trombones
• 3 slowakische Tanzlieder, for 3 trumpets and 3 trombones
• Nun lobet Gott im hohen Thron, for 2 trumpets and 2 trombones
• Neubeurer Weihnachtsspiel, for soli, choir, orchestra and organ (1945)

In addition I also own a copy of the "Sonatina for 3 trumpets and 3 trombones".

I have typeset the following scores:

1) Suite für Blechbläser nach europäischen Weisen, for trumpets and trombones

2) Musik für Trompete und Cello