Max Trapp facts for kids
Hermann Trapp was a German composer and teacher who lived from 1887 to 1971. He was an important person in the music world of Berlin during the 1930s. He was often asked to share his music in concerts and competitions.
Who Was Hermann Trapp?
Hermann Trapp was born in Berlin, Germany. He studied music at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. This school is now known as the Berlin University of the Arts. He learned from famous teachers like Paul Juon and Ernő Dohnányi.
A Career in Music
After finishing his studies, Hermann Trapp did not have a steady job. He worked as a traveling pianist, playing music in different places. In 1920, he got a job teaching at the Berlin music school. He became a professor there in 1926. Some of his best-known students were Josef Tal, Saburō Moroi, and Günter Raphael.
From 1926 to 1930, Trapp taught a special class for advanced students in composition in Dortmund. In 1932, he joined the ruling political party of the time. In 1934, he left the Berlin music school. He then became the director of a masterclass in composition at the Berlin Academy of Arts. From 1936 to 1939, he taught Sophie Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté there.
In 1940, Trapp won a national prize for his music. From 1950 to 1953, he taught at Berlin's Städtischen Konservatorium. He passed away in Berlin at the age of 83.
His Music and Compositions
Hermann Trapp was greatly influenced by composers like Richard Strauss and Max Reger. He wrote music for orchestras, chamber groups, and piano. He composed seven symphonies, as well as music for choirs and theatre. While his music was performed quite a lot through the 1940s, it is rarely played today.
One of his important works is the Concerto for Pianoforte in D Major, Op. 26, which he wrote in 1931.
- On November 29, 1934, Mae Doelling Schmidt performed this piano concerto for the first time in America. She played with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the Auditorium Theatre. Frederick Stock was the conductor. Mae Doelling Schmidt had actually played the concerto at a private event earlier that year, on March 3, 1934, in Madison, Wisconsin.
- On October 24, 1935, Walter Gieseking performed Trapp's piano concerto in Amsterdam. He played with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and Willem Mengelberg was the conductor. A recording of this performance was released on a CD in 2001.
