Born in Moscow, May 5, 1869
Died in Salzburg, May 22, 1949
- Pfitzner was a conservatory professor, conductor and a composer of late Romantic, anti-modernist theatrical music (mostly opera and incidental music).
- Pfitzner’s musical conservatism (a dedication to the German Classical and Romantic tradition) caused him to vocally oppose the modernist and popular styles of his time, in a pro-German xenophobic manner that make him sympathetic to the Nazis when they rose to power in the 1930s.
- Pfitzner’s political relationship with the Nazi party was complicated. He tried to use his influence to save a Jewish friend from a concentration camp and failed.1
Sources
- Peter Franklin, “Pfitzner, Hans,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed November 19, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000021537.