Waldemar von Baußnern

Waldemar Edler von Baußnern (also Baussnern or Bausznern, November 29, 1866 – August 20, 1931) was a German composer and music teacher.

Born in Berlin, Germany, and descended from Transylvanian Saxons, Baußnern was the son of a financial official. He grew up in both Transylvania (in the then Romania) and Budapest in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in present-day Hungary). Between 1882-1886 he was a student of Friedrich Kiel and Woldemar Bargiel at the Berlin Musical Academy (Berliner Musikhochschule). He then conducted various choirs; after 1909 he became director of the Großherzoglichen Musikschule in Weimar. From 1916 to 1923 he served as director of the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt am Main. In 1923 he became undersecretary of the Academy of Arts, Berlin. He died in Potsdam.

Baußnern's extensive catalogue of compositions includes almost all musical genres, yet it displays an emphasis on both choral symphonic and orchestral composition. As a composer, Baußnern found stimulation from poetry, for not only his vocal music, but also his instrumental music; the poetry of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe emerged as an especial source of inspiration. This compositional impetus is reflected in numerous titles of his works, yet his oeuvre lacks any programmatic design. Stylistically, Baußnern stands out as a maverick to his contemporaries, remaining a composer who defies classification. Generally, however, his music is rooted in the 19th century, yet exhibits independence of form, ranging from extremes of conventional tonality to frequently polyphonic chromaticism, nonetheless never metamorphosizing into atonality.

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