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Richard Bruno Heydrich

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Richard Bruno Heydrich
File:Bruno Heydrich um circa 1925.jpg
Born(1863-02-23)23 February 1863
Leuben, Kingdom of Saxony[1]
Died24 August 1938(1938-08-24) (aged 73)
Dresden, Nazi Germany
NationalityGerman
Occupation(s)Musician, Music Teacher
Known forFounded the Halle Conservatory[1]
Father of Reinhard Heydrich
SpouseElisabeth Anna Amalia Krantz (died 1946)
ChildrenReinhard Heydrich
Heinz Heydrich
Maria Heydrich

Richard Bruno Heydrich (23 February 1863 – 24 August 1938) was a German opera singer (tenor), composer, and founder of the Halle Conservatory.[2] He was the father of high-ranking Nazi official Reinhard Heydrich, a principal architect of the Holocaust, Heinz Heydrich, and Maria Heydrich.

Childhood

Bruno Heydrich was born in Leuben, into a poor working-class Protestant family. His father, Carl Julius Reinhold Heydrich, was an apprentice cabinetmaker and his mother Ernestine Wilhelmine, who took care of the five children. In 1867, when Bruno was four years old, the family moved to Meissen, a manufacturing center in Saxony.[3]

The family struggled with economic hardships throughout the course of Bruno's childhood. This was compounded by the passing of Bruno's father in 1874 from tuberculosis, at the age of thirty-seven. This tragedy was shortly followed by the passing of the eldest son, Reinhold Otto, who died of consumption aged just nineteen. Bruno, now the eldest child, began taking on odd jobs along with his mother in order to provide for his younger sisters. Ernestine remarried a few years later in 1877 to Gustav Robert Süss, a young Protestant locksmith, just nine years older than Bruno in order to provide a steady breadwinner for the family.[3]

Musical Career

Starting at age twelve, Bruno began to show a talent for music. He played tenor horn, double-bass, tuba, and was first violin for his school's orchestra. By age thirteen he was preforming as a soloist with the Meissen Youth Orchestra as a singer in public concerts. This musical ability proved useful as Bruno and his younger brother Richard would often preforming at local fairs in order to supplant the family's income.[3] In 1879, he earned a scholarship to the prestigious Royal Conservatory of Dresden, which was run by the Royal Councillor Eugen Krantz. During this time Bruno grew close to Krantz's daughter Elizabeth, however due to his family's poverty, low social standing, and his relative youth he was unable to propose marriage at the time.[4]

Young Bruno Heydrich as a Composer (Date: Unknown)

After graduating with the highest honors from the Conservatory in 1882, Bruno would go onto tour across continental Europe as a professional tenor. In spite of this success, he struggled to maintain a solo career as a tenor as continued to financially support his mother and younger sisters.[4] During this time, highly influenced by the popular works of of Richard Wagner, Bruno began writing several musical compositions. He would go onto release the first of his five operas, Amen in 1895.[5]

The opera received national recognition and proved to be successful enough that Bruno was able to propose marriage to Elizabeth Krantz. They eventually married in 1987, upon the condition Bruno convert to Elizabeth's Catholic faith.[5]

Personal Life

Heydrich's wife Elisabeth, née Krantz, came from a wealthy Catholic family and was the daughter of Eugen Krantz, the head of the Royal Conservatory of Dresden. In Halle an der Saale, Richard Bruno Heydrich, Elisabeth, and their children lived in a second floor apartment, Gütchenstraße 20. Bruno Heydrich’s eldest son, Reinhard Heydrich (1904–1942), was named after the hero of his first opera, Amen. Heinz Heydrich, Reinhard's younger brother, committed suicide in 1944.[6]

Richard Bruno Heydrich died at a spa near Dresden, where his death certificate was issued.[7] His crypt is in the Stadtgottesacker, Halle an der Saale.

Works

Chamber music

  • Klaviertrio op. 2
  • Streichquartett op. 3
  • Klavierquintett op. 5

Lieder

  • Abschied O komm doch mein Mädchen: Lied für eine Singstimme mit Klavierbegleitung
  • op. 1 Drei Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte (No.3: Das Mädchen spricht: Mond, hast du auch geseh’n)
  • op. 74 Annemarie, Lied mit Klavierbegleitung für eine mittlere Stimme (Text von Julius Freund)
  • op. 75 Reiterlied

Operas

  • Amen (1895): Opern-Drama in 1 Akte u. e. musikalisch-pantomimischen Vorspiele[1]
  • Frieden (1907): Oper[1]
  • Zufall (1914) Oper in 1 Akt[1]
  • Das Leiermädchen (Volksoper)

Orchestral music

  • Sinfonie D-Major op. 57

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e Mason
  2. ^ Gerwarth, Robert (2012). Hitler's Hangman: The Life of Heydrich. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300187724.
  3. ^ a b c Gerwarth 2011, p. 15.
  4. ^ a b Gerwarth 2011, p. 16.
  5. ^ a b Gerwarth 2011, p. 17.
  6. ^ Lehrer, Steven (2000). Wannsee House and the Holocaust. McFarland. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-7864-0792-7.
  7. ^ Shlomo Aronson. Reinhard Heydrich und die Frühgeschichte von Gestapo und SD. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt 1971, p. 256.

Bibliography

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