Götz Kozuszek

Götz Kozuszek was born on 23. April 1907 in Berlin (Germany). His father Kurt Kozuszek was a corn dealer. After his school days Götz Kozuszek studied music in Berlin and finished as a kapellmeister in 1931. Beside his musical studies he also got lessons in dramaturgy at the State drama school under Leopold Jessner.

Götz Kozuszek first tried to work as a kapellmeister, but got panic attacks and seizures in front of larger ensembles. Therefore Götz Kozuszek never worked as a performing musician and had to make a living from writing critics and book reviews. His only musical activities focused on the work as a composer. In 1939 Götz Kozuszek and his wife emigrated to London because of the Jewish faith of his wife. The couple got divorced later and Götz Kozuszek stayed in London. There he met his second wife, the journalist Lucie Schachne and both returned to Berlin in 1947. There Götz Kozuszek first worked for a radio station and as a freelancer for the Berlin branch of the Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk. Since 1952 Götz Kozuszek was editor and dramatic adviser for the broadcasting studio Hamburg. In 1960 he changed his job and switched from radio to television. In that year Götz Kozuszek became dramatic adviser at the division "television plays" of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk. He fulfilled this position until his retirement in 1972.
In the early 1960s Götz Kozuszek became popular to a broad public due to his love affair to the German actress Helga Feddersen. He got divorced from Lucie Schachne and married Helga Feddersen in September 1962. The relationship of the two was subject to many articles in the yellow press due to the alcohol addiction, dementia and domestic violence of Götz Kozuszek since the early 1970s. This culminated in the compulsory hospitalisation of Götz Kuzuszek in a mental home in Ellerdorf in March 1985. There he died on 31 May 1985.

Concerto grosso

In my possession is the autograph full score of the "Concerto grosso op.11" by Götz Kozuszek. The work is scored for a concertino of horn, 2 flutes, 1 clarinet, 1 violin, 1 viola and orchestra. The manuscript is written on Bosworth No.8 music paper and for that reason it seems likely that the work was composed during the emigration to England, i.e. between 1939 and 1947. At the end of the manuscript the previous contact information was crossed out (and is illegible now) and a new address was written instead. That address is Berlin-Wilmersdorf, Paretzerstraße 15. This had to be the living address of Götz Kozuszek after his return to Berlin in 1947.

The work is dedicated to "Lucie" on the title page. Some internet research reveals the interesting story of Lucie Schachne, also referred to as Lucie Schachne-Kozuszek. I could not find information about a relationship or marriage of the two, but the evidence is quite striking. Lucie Schachne lived in Berlin until 1939, when she emigrated to London. There she got divorced from her husband in 1942. So there is a good chance that Götz Kozuszek was divorced from his first wife as well at that time, married Lucie Schachne and both returned to Germany in 1947.