Bernhard Sekles
Illustration — Bernhard Sekles, c. 1913 Bernhard Sekles (20 June 1872 – 8 December 1934) was a German composer, conductor, pianist and pedagogue.
Bernhard Sekles

Photo is owned by the Hoch Conservatory, Frankfurt · Public domain
- Born
- 1872 · Frankfurt.
- Died
- 1934 · Frankfurt.
- Nationality
- Germany
- Occupation
- composer · conductor · pianist · music educator · chapelmaster · music teacher
- Fields
- opera
- Teachers
- Iwan Knorr
- Languages
- German
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Documentary summary
Illustration — Bernhard Sekles, c. 1913 Bernhard Sekles (20 June 1872 – 8 December 1934) was a German composer, conductor, pianist and pedagogue.
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museum · 5fa3e6b3-a100-4f71-b1f7-4feab346cf28 · wikidata · Q317523 · wikipedia · Bernhard Sekles
In this article
Life and career
Life and career
Training under Iwan Knorr is recorded. Max Rudolf and Theodor W. Adorno are recorded as having studied under Bernhard Sekles. The recorded working language is German. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are opera. Employment is recorded with Hoch Conservatory.
Bernhard Sekles was born in Frankfurt am Main, the son of Maximilian Seckeles and Anna (née Bischheim). The family name Seckeles was changed by Bernhard Sekles to Sekles. From 1894 to 1895 he was the third Kapellmeister at the Stadttheater in Mainz. In 1896 he became a teacher at the Hoch'sche Konservatorium in Frankfurt am Main; here he started the first jazz class anywhere in 1928. He was the director of the Hoch'sche Konservatorium from 1924 to 1933. For his composition students, He was one of the first German Jewish academics to lose his job when Hitler came to power in Germany. He died in his native Frankfurt am Main.
Stage works
Stage works
• Der Zwerg und die Infantin, (The Birthday of the Infanta), ballet, op. 22, 1913, based on an Oscar Wilde fairy tale • Scheherazade, opera, op. 26, 1917 • Die Hochzeit des Faun, comic opera, 1921 • Die zehn Küsse, comic opera, 1926
Orchestra
Orchestra
• Aus den Gärten der Semiramis, symphonic poem, op. 19 • Kleine Suite, dem Andenken E. T. A. Hoffmanns, op. 21 • Die Temperamente, 4 symphonic movements for large orchestra, op. 25, 1916 • Passacaglia und Fuge for large orchestra and organ, op. 17, 1922 • Gesichte, miniatures for small orchestra, op. 29, 1923 • Der Dybuk, prelude for orchestra, op. 35, 1928 • Symphony N° 1, op. 37, 1930
Chamber music
Chamber music
• Trio for clarinet, violoncello and piano, op. 9 • Skizzen for piano, op. 10 • Serenade for 11 solo instruments, op. 14, 1907 • Divertimento for string quartet, op. 20, 1911 • Passacaglia und Fuge im vierfachen Kontrapunkt for string quartet, op. 23, 1914 • Sonate in d-moll for violoncello and piano, op. 28, 1919 • String Quartet, op. 31, 1923 • Suite Nr. 1 for piano, op. 34 • Der Musik-Baukasten for piano (3 or 4 hands), 1930 • Chaconne über ein achttaktiges Marschthema (Chaconne on an Eight-Beat March Theme) for viola and piano, op. 38, 1931 • Sonata for violin and piano, op. 44
Vocal music
Vocal music
• "Lieder", op. 6 • Volkspoesien aus dem Rumänischen, for baritone and piano, op. 7, 1900 • Aus >Hafis Prinz Eugen< for male choir, wind and percussion instruments, op. 32, 1926 • Vater Noah for male choir, op. 36 • Psalm 137 for mixed choir, soprano and organ, 1933/1934 (Edited by Edmund Brownless - Laurentius-Musikverlag)
Identity
Identity
Bernhard Sekles is recorded as composer, conductor, pianist, music educator and chapelmaster.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1872
Bernhard Sekles born at Frankfurt.
1934
Bernhard Sekles died at Frankfurt.
Selected compositions
Publishers: Schott, Eulenberg, Leukart, Brockhaus, Oehler, Rather.
Theoretical publications
• Musikdiktat, dictation exercises, Mainz 1901 • Instrumentations-Beispiele, examples of instrumentation, Mainz 1912 • Musikalische Geduldspiele – Elementarschule der Improvisation, Mainz 1931 • Grundzüge der Formenlehre (rules of harmony) • Harmonielehre (manual of harmony)
Selected discography
• Chamber Music: Rhapsody, Sonata op. 44, Sonata op. 28, Capriccio; Zuk Records 334, 2011.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Bernhard Sekles”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q317523: Bernhard Sekles
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
Institutional database
- MusicBrainz artist record for Bernhard Sekles
Scholarly · MetaBrainz Foundation
scholarly publication
- Sekles, Bernhard (opera), Oxford Music Online, 2002
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2002
Literature
• Articles in Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (Kassel 2006) and New Grove (London 2001) • Peter Cahn: Das Hoch'sche Konservatorium 1878-1978, Frankfurt am Main: Kramer, 1979, pages 257–270, 295–297. • Joachim Tschiedel: "Der 'jüdische Scheindirektor' Bernhard Sekles und die Gründung der ersten europäischen Jazz-Klasse 1928", in: mr-Mitteilungen Nr. 20 - September 1996 • Joachim Tschiedel: Bernhard Sekles 1872–1934. Leben und Werk des Frankfurter Komponisten und Pädagogen, Schneverdingen 2005 • Theodor W. Adorno: "Bernhard Sekles zum 50. Geburtstag", in Gesammelte Schriften Band 18, Frankfurt/Main 1984, S. 269 f. • Theodor W. Adorno: Minima Moralia, Frankfurt/M. 1951, page 291 ff. • Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, (Nicolas Slonimsky, Editor) New York: G. Schirmer, 1958
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
MusicBrainz artist record for Bernhard SeklesMetaBrainz Foundation
Verifiedscholarly publication
Sekles, Bernhard (opera), Oxford Music Online, 2002Crossref registry
Verifiedreference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Formation and teaching. He trained under Iwan Knorr.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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