Hans Mann

Hans Albrecht Ludwig Julius Mann was born on 9 October 1890 in Mannheim, Germany. Little is known about his youth and education, but his later career as a school music teacher, pianist, conductor and composer indicates that he must have received both teacher training and a thorough musical education.
In 1920 Mann became music teacher at the Friedrichschule in Karlsruhe, later renamed Helmholtz-Oberrealschule and today known as the Helmholtz-Gymnasium. He remained connected with the school for several decades and retired from teaching in 1956.
Alongside his work as a schoolteacher, Mann played an important role in Karlsruhe’s musical life, especially as a choral conductor. From 1922 he directed the male choral society Casino-Liederkranz in Karlsruhe-Mühlburg. Contemporary newspaper reports repeatedly mention him as the musical director of the ensemble. He was also active for many years as conductor of the Verein für evangelische Kirchenmusik, where he directed performances of sacred repertoire by composers such as Bach, Handel, Schütz, Praetorius and Reger. After the Second World War he additionally became conductor of the male choral society Freundschaft.
Mann was not only active as a conductor but also as a pianist. At a concert of the Casino-Liederkranz in 1924, for example, he performed the prelude to Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg together with the pianist Lisl Wittwer-Mann.
As a composer Mann appears to have written relatively few works, but the surviving evidence suggests a serious and technically ambitious musical language. A concert devoted to his compositions in 1929 was reviewed in the Karlsruher Zeitung, which traced his stylistic development from a late-Romantic idiom towards a freer and increasingly contrapuntal style. The critic wrote:

„H. A. Mann, dessen Produktion sich bisher auf einige wenige, aber um so reifere Werke beschränkt, nahm auch noch seinen Ausgang von der Nachromantik [..]. Diese Romanze in Form eines Trios für Violine, Horn und Klavier könnte sogar mehr als 15 Jahre zurückliegen, denn die Genesis ihres Klangfarbenzaubers ist bei Schumann und Brahms allenfalls auch beim frühen Reger zu suchen. Als op.1 bleibt sie aber immerhin recht beachtlich und bestätigt im Dunkel ihres Wuchses doch schon exemplarisch die kommende Entfaltung. Es ist da vor allem ein Streichquartett (op.4) zu nennen, in das sie völlig aufgegangen scheint. Was sich in der Zwischenzeit musikalisch-technisch begeben hat, tritt darin deutlich hervor. Zwar zieht Mann noch keineswegs die letzten Konsequenzen, doch durchdringt die Kontrapunktik hier weit stärker die Harmonik und entsprechend der Auflockerung der harmonischen Schemata werden auch die vier Stimmen selbständiger. Freilich, der frei waltende musikalische Bewegungswille – das was wir heute lineare Konstruktion nennen – wird erst in der Streichmusik op.8 sichtbar, nun aber so elementar, dass manchem zurückgebliebenen Ohr im Umkreis solch fortgeschrittener Musik wohl etwas unbehaglich zu Mute ward. Sie ist vorläufig das Ende des Weges, den Mann durchlaufen hat und den des weiteren noch einige hübsche Lieder sowie drei teils an Schönbergs Expressionismus, teils an Bachs Inventionen erinnernde Klavierstücke markieren.“

Contrary to the impression that Mann may have stopped composing after the 1929 concert, later evidence shows that his music continued to be performed after the Second World War. At a concert of the male choral society Freundschaft, Mann appeared both as pianist and conductor, and two works of his were included in the programme. One was a choral setting combining Matthias Claudius’s “Abendlied” with a traditional night-watchman song; the other was a variation movement from a Trio for clarinet, violoncello and piano. These performances indicate that Mann remained creatively active, or at least continued to maintain and perform his own compositions, well beyond the 1920s.
The date and place of Hans Albrecht Mann’s death have not yet been established.

The following works by Hans Albrecht Mann are currently known:

• Romanze für Violine, Horn und Klavier op.1
• Streichquartett c-moll op.4
• Auf der Minneburg – symphonische Träumerei für großes Orchester op.5
• Lieder für Alt oder Bariton, u.a. „Unter blühenden Bäumen“ op.6
• 3 Klavierstücke op.7
• Musik für Streichinstrumente op.8
• Abend am Rhein für Chor
• Trio für Klarinett, Cello und Klavier

In my possession is the autograph full score of the symphonic poem for orchestra op.5 "Auf der Minneburg" by Hans Albrecht Mann. The work was composed in 1922 and is dedicated to the composer's wife.