Anton Bauer

Anton Bauer was born on 23 January 1893 in Mallersdorf near Regensburg (Germany). He studied music at the university and the Akademie der Tonkunst in Munich. First he worked as a Kapellmeister, but was emploied as a Bavarian governmental music teacher since 1923. Anton Bauer moved a few times over the years and was active in Freising (where he was teacher at the Dom-Gymnasium), Cham, Rosenheim and Moosburg before he returned to Munich in his late years.

Anton Bauer composed mainly vocal music like songs, choral compositions and masses. He also wrote books on music theory like Atonale Satztechnik (1925) or Der Geigenkenner (1937). And Anton Bauer intensively researched about the folk music of Bavaria and published dozens of these collected compositions (for example "20 altbayerische Ländler", "30 altbayerische Tänze").

Anton Bauer died on 30 October 1950 in Munich.

My Anton Bauer Archive

The following documents are part of the Anton Bauer collection:

1. Romantische Symphonie. Autograph manuscript of the 1st violin part. Other orchestral parts missing.
2. Nürnberg, song for high voice and piano. Complete autograph manuscript of the full score.
3. Adagio for harmonium. Complete Autograph manuscript.
4. Violin concerto in G major. Published score by Hermania Verlag in Munich, 1921.
5. Zwölftönemusik - Moderne Suite for piano, part 1. Published score by Pankraz Baumeisters Wwe. in Cham, 1926.
6. Deutsche Messe, for voices with organ or mixed choir a capella. Published score by Alfred Coppenrath's Verlag (H. Pawelek) in Regensburg, no date
7. Amore (von Jacopone da Todi), for mixed choir. Published score by Wilhelm Berntheisel in Munich, 1927
8. Bambergs Preislied, for voice and piano. Published score by Verkehrs- und Verschönerungs-Verein Bamberg, no date
9. Heimatlied der Fränkischen Schweiz, for voice and piano. Published score by Pankraz Baumeisters Wwe. in Cham, 1927
10. Bayerwaldlied, for voice and piano. Published score by Pankraz Baumeisters Wwe. in Cham, 1925
11. Das neue Deutschland, for voice and piano. Published score by Pankraz Baumeisters Wwe. in Cham, 1926
12. Oberbayerische Schuhplattler, in: Deutsche Volkstänze, Heft 21. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1934
13. Der Instrumentator - Einführung in die Instrumentation. München: Verlag Ludwig Kammerlohr, 1949

Violin concerto

Anton Bauer composed a Violin concerto in G major. It is dedicated to Franz Drechsler (1862-1934), a violinist and professor at the Akademie der Tonkunst in Munich from 1897 to 1921.The work was published in piano reduction in 1921 by the Hermania Verlag in Munich. I just own two copies of this printed piano reduction, there are no hints in my documents that an orchestral version exists. Due to the fact that I found no other copies of the published score I will present the work here for preservation.

Zwölftönemusik - Moderne Suite

Of the works by Anton Bauer especially the "Zwölftönemusik" from 1926 is an interesting composition. The score has the following introduction:

"The melodies of this Suite are constructed by the principles of twelve tone music."

Dodecaphony was an idea that was in many composer's minds around 1920. Nowadays only Arnold Schoenberg and his principles from 1921 are connected to dodecaphony, but there were others like Josef Matthias Hauer who also worked on the topic. Anton Bauer did not use the Schoenberg principles in this composition, but he used an own way of dodecaphony and that as early as 1926! So it seems to be an interesting composition as least from a historical point of view.

Josef Bauer

In addition to these works by Anton Bauer, the collection also contains manuscripts by Josef Bauer, the father of Anton Bauer.

Josef Bauer was born in Munich (Germany) some time around 1860. He married Philomena Meyer and became a post office clerk. There are hints that he worked in Trautmannsried and later in Munich. The marriage certificate of his son Anton Bauer shows that Josepf Bauer was still alive in 1931. It is unknown when he deceased.

It seems that Josef Bauer was well musically educated and later active in a local orchestra, because the estate contains dozens of handwritten manuscripts and orchestral parts of compositions by Johann Kalliwoda, Joseph Nesvadba, C. Kegel, Leopold Jansa or Joseph Mayseder. Sometimes compositions by these composers were arranged by Josef Bauer (most likely for the special needs of his ensemble). The estate also contains several own compositions by Josef Bauer titled: Walzer, Ecossaise, Mazurka, Idylle, Romanze, Quartett-Marsch, Ouverture. In most cases only the violin parts are part of the estate, other parts are missing. It seems that Josef Bauer was a violinist himself and gave the parts of his compositions to the other players of his ensemble without taking them back. So most of the manuscripts are incomplete. But a "March for piano" from 1917 which also exists in a complete orchestral version has survived:

Finally the estate also contains the printed song "Theissinger Heimatlied" by Rosa Bauer.