Max Herre

Max Herre was born in 1888. He studied musicology in Munich under Adolf Sandberger, one of the leading German music historians of the early twentieth century. In 1924, Herre completed his doctoral dissertation, which focused on the operatic works of the composer Franz Danzi.
In March 1926, Herre entered the service of the City of Augsburg as the first professionally trained librarian of the Augsburg Music Library. At that time, the institution consisted largely of an uncatalogued collection of musical scores. Herre was responsible for organizing, cataloguing, and systematizing tens of thousands of musical items. Over the following years, the library developed into a specialized collection serving both practicing musicians and academic researchers.
Alongside his work at the library, Herre remained active as a music scholar and writer. Together with Albert Mayer, he co-published Opern-Studio, a handbook and guide to all theatre professions. Most of his professional activities outside the library were closely connected with Augsburg. For many concerts in the city, Herre delivered spoken introductions to the audience, aiming to facilitate a deeper understanding of the music performed. In addition, in 1926 the City of Augsburg commissioned him to write a book on the history of opera in Augsburg, and in 1927 he published a Festschrift to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Augsburg City Theatre.
Herre also worked as a music critic for the Münchner Neuste Nachrichten and published articles in music journals such as Der Scheinwerfer and Neue Zeitschrift für Musik. As a musician, he accompanied soloists at the piano in Augsburg concerts, including the baritone Louis Odo Böck in 1928. In the late 1930s, Herre also worked as a conductor, leading various orchestras in the Augsburg region, such as the Großes Augsburger Unterhaltungsorchester (1937) and the orchestra of the Augsburg–Munich Reichssender (1938).
In February 1944, during the Second World War, the Augsburg Music Library was largely destroyed in an air raid. A firebomb caused the loss of most of the library’s holdings, including a significant portion of the carefully catalogued music collection assembled under Herre’s direction.
Max Herre died in 1956.

Herre was also active as a composer, although little is known about his—presumably small—output. It is known that he composed the following works:

• Indienne for orchestra (part of the stage play "Around the World in Eighty Days", performed at the Stuttgart Court Theatre in 1913)
• Dornröschen, a fairy-tale opera to a libretto by J. C. Brunner (composed in 1925; premiered in 1929 at the Augsburg City Theatre)
• Aus den Liedern des Hafis, for tenor and orchestra (published by Haingärtner in 1925)
• Impromptu in F-sharp minor for violin and piano (or organ) (1923)
• Fantasie, for violin, cello and piano op.2 (1923)

In my possession are the autograph manuscripts of two compositions by Max Herre: the Impromptu for violin and piano and the Fantasie for violin, cello and piano. Both works were composed in 1923 and dedicated to E. Sailer. These works remained unpublished and I have also no information about a performance.