Siegfried Translateur

Siegfried Translateur (June 19, 1875 - March 1, 1944) was a German conductor and composer of waltzes, marches, and other light dance music.^[1] Today he is most famous for his "Wiener Praterleben" waltz.

Biography

Translateur was born on June 19, 1875, in Bad Carlsruhe, Silesia (now Pokój, Opole Voivodeship) to Rosaline and Salomon Translateur. He started his music studies in Breslau, Vienna, and Leipzig, and also learned from a French composer of dance music, Emile Waldteufel.^[2] In 1900, he moved to Berlin, where he became an orchestra conductor.^[1][3] There, in 1911, Translateur founded the "Lyra" music publishing company. It mostly published his own works, but also compositions by José Armandola, Marc Roland, Franz von Blon and Paul Lincke, among others. Translateur's son Hans later joined his father in the business, and the publishing house was renamed to "Lyra Translateur & Co".^[3]

After the Nazis took control of Vienna, Translateur, having been deemed a "half-Jew" by the authorities due to his Jewish origins, was forced to liquidate "Lyra", and give up his membership at the Reich Music Chamber. He sold the publishing house to the London publisher Bosworth in 1938. Not much is known about what happened to him after that. Translateur, along with his wife, was deported to the concentration camp at Theresienstadt in 1943.^[2] He died there on March 1, 1944, at the age of sixty-eight.^[1]

Works

Author of about 200 works, Translateur's most famous piece remains the Wiener Praterleben waltz, opus 12, which he wrote at the age of seventeen.^[2] It is sometimes known as the Sportpalastwalzer ("Sports Palace Waltz"), because it was played during the Six Day races in the Berlin Sports Palace. Many of his works were titled in reference to a current event, such as the German warrior quadrille for piano, opus 45, and Automotive march for orchestra, Op 154.^[3]

References

External links

• Free scores by Siegfried Translateur at the International Music Score Library Project