Hanns Eisler
1898–1962. composer. in the Neue Sachlichkeit tradition.
German-Austrian composer associated with leftist political music, Brecht collaborations, and the Entartete Musik (degenerate music) context. Wrote film scores, lieder, and concert works. Modest catalog presence but historically significant.
Signature works: Hollywood Songbook, Deutsche Sinfonie, Winterreise (after Schubert), Septet No. 2, Woodbury Liederbüchlein.
6 products
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Eisler: Piano Works
$23.99CDMDG
Jul 25, 20256132355-2 -
Remembrance
$20.99CDHaenssler Classic
Mar 13, 2026HC24012 -
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Eisler: Works
Kammersymphonie
Entartete Musik / Lefort, Van Reyn, Brussels Philharmonic Soloists
In 1938, at the Reichsmusiktage in Düsseldorf, the Nazi regime opened an exhibition around music with the theme: 'Entartete Musik'. They collected examples of what they considered degenerate music. Gustav Mahler, Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler, Mischa Spoliansky; these were just a few names on the long list of depraved composers. On this album, this music and more.
Eisler: Piano Works
Remembrance
1929 - Tempo, Tanz und Technik / Theis, Munich Radio Orchestra
October 29, 1923 was a date steeped in history. In the middle of a year of political and economic crises, the age of public radio in Germany was ushered in with the first broadcast of the "Berliner Funkstunde" (Berlin Radio Hour) from the attic of an office building on Potsdamer Platz. Radio offered entirely new possibilities for the production and reception of music. The two compositions on this CD not only benefited from these developments but also played an active role in shaping them.
Eduard Künneke's five-movement Concerto grosso "Tänzerische Suite" op. 26 for jazz band and large orchestra corresponded to modern dances: the Overture is a Foxtrot, the Andante a Blues, the Intermezzo a Tango, the valse mélancolique a Boston Waltz, and the Finale a Foxtrot again. The suite was celebrated as a milestone in contemporary radio music and soon became part of the regular concert program.
Hanns Eisler's cantata "Tempo der Zeit" (Tempo of the Times) op. 16 for soloists, narrator, choir, winds, and percussion was written in 1929. The libretto was written by the popular lyricist Robert Gilbert, under the pseudonym of David Weber. With its pure wind ensemble and percussion, "Tempo der Zeit" captures the typical Songspiel sound of the time. The fact that Eisler used the "modern" medium of radio, of all things, to get his fundamental criticism of blind enthusiasm for technology across to the people is an ironical aspect of the work’s composition and reception history. This CD is part of the special programme focus on the topic "The Wild Sound of the Twenties".
