Harald Genzmer
Harald Genzmer (9 February 1909 – 16 December 2007) was a German composer of classical music and an academic.
Harald Genzmer

Harvey Kneeslapper · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Born
- 1909. · Blumenthal.
- Died
- 2007. · Munich.
- Nationality
- Germany.
- Occupation
- composer, musicologist and university teacher.
- Fields
- classical music.
- Education
- Hanns Eisler Music School Berlin.
- Teachers
- Paul Hindemith.
- Honours
- Bayerische Verfassungsmedaille in Gold and Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art.
- Languages
- German.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Harald Genzmer (9 February 1909 – 16 December 2007) was a German composer of classical music and an academic.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Harald Genzmer (1909–2007) was a composer, musicologist and university teacher, of German nationality. The composer was born in Blumenthal and died in Munich.
Harald Genzmer was educated at Hanns Eisler Music School Berlin. The composer worked for Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and University of Music and Theatre Munich and was a member of Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts.
The work spans classical music. Languages used include German. Honours include Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art and Bayerische Verfassungsmedaille in Gold.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Harald Genzmer. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
gnd · 5124392-1 · wikidata · Q565070 · wikipedia · Harald Genzmer
In this article
Biography
Biography
Harald Genzmer studied at Hanns Eisler Music School Berlin. Training under Paul Hindemith is recorded. The recorded working language is German. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are classical music. Employment is recorded with University of Music and Theatre Munich and Hochschule für Musik Freiburg. Distinctions recorded are Bayerische Verfassungsmedaille in Gold and Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art.
The son of the legal historian Felix Genzmer, Genzmer was born in Blumenthal, near Kiel, Germany. He studied composition with Paul Hindemith at the Hochschule für Musik Berlin beginning in 1928. From 1938 he taught at the Volksmusikschule Berlin-Neukölln. During the early part of the Second World War he served as a military band clarinetist. When his pianistic abilities were noticed by the Musikmeister, he was put on detached duties as a pianist/accompanist for "Lazarettenkonzerte", concerts for recuperating wounded officers. He was based for some time near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where he made the acquaintance of Richard Strauss. When the war ended, he was offered a post at the Musikhochschule München. This was blocked by the American authorities and so, from 1946 to 1957 he taught at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg im Breisgau. From 1957 to 1974 he taught at the Musikhochschule München. He hung a framed review from the Süddeutsche Zeitung above his piano, which stated after the premiere of his 1955 Sinfonietta for Strings that it was a work destined only for oblivion. Sharing the frame was a cutting from a few years later, reporting that in the previous year it had been the most performed work for string orchestra in Europe. Among his notable students are Bertold Hummel, Egyptian composer Gamal Abdel-Rahim, British composer John McCabe, and Japanese composer Toyoko Takami. See: List of music students by teacher: G to J#Harald Genzmer. He died on 16 December 2007 in Munich.
Works for orchestra of wind-instruments
Works for orchestra of wind-instruments
1968 Divertimento for symphonic wind ensemble 1969 Konzert, for cello and winds 1974 Ouvertüre für Uster Konzert, for trumpet, winds, harp and percussion Parergon zur "Sinfonia per giovani", for saxophone orchestra
Dramatic works
Dramatic works
1965 Der Zauberspiegel, ballet – libretto: Hans Stadlmair
Liturgical music
Liturgical music
1962 Jiménez-Kantate, for soprano, mixed chorus and orchestra 1969–1970 Mistral-Kantate, for soprano 1973 Deutsche Messe, for mixed chorus and organ 1975–1976 Oswald von Wolkenstein, cantata for soprano, baritone, mixed chorus and orchestra 1978 Kantate (The mystic trumpeter), for soprano (tenor), trumpet and strings 1979 Geistliche Kantate, for soprano solo, men's chorus, organ and percussion 1981 Kantate 1981 nach engl. Barockgedichten, for soprano, mixed chorus and orchestra Adventsmotette "Das Volk, das im Finstern wandelt"(Jesaja 9), for men's chorus and organ Hymne – zum Fest des St. Antonius von Padua "Der Geist Gottes, des Herrn, ruht auf mir", for men's chorus
Choral works
Choral works
Drei Chorlieder vom Wein, for men's chorus Lied des Vogelstellers "Der Vogel, der im Fluge ruht", for mixed chorus Tropus ad Gloria, for mixed chorus Wach auf, wach auf, for mixed chorus Zwei geistliche Festsprüche, for men's chorus and organ Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden (Psalm 117) Lasset das Wort Christi
Vocal music
Vocal music
1961–1963 Fünf Lieder, on texts by Luís de Camões, for baritone and piano
Piano works
Piano works
1938 1. Sonate. 1940 1. Sonatine. 1942 2. Sonate. 1943 Sonata in D, for piano four-hands 1948 Suite for piano 1959 3. Sonatine. 1960–1962 Préludes 1963 Dialoge 1965 Studien, for piano four-hands 1975 Konzert, for piano and percussion 1978 4 Elegien, for piano and percussion at least five piano sonatas (sonata 5 published in 1985)
Selected Organ works
Selected Organ works
1945 Tripartita in F GeWV 389 1952 Erste Sonate GeWV 390 1952 rev. 2000 Konzert (for organ solo) GeWV 391 1956 Zweite Sonate GeWV 392 1963 Dritte Sonate GeWV 393 1966 Adventskonzert GeWV 395 1968 Die Tageszeiten GeWV 396 1974 Weihnachtskonzert GeWV 398 1974 Konzert, for organ and percussion GeWV 417 1978 Pfingstkonzert GeWV 399 1980 Osterkonzert GeWV 400 1981 Fantasie GeWV 402 1980–1981 Impressionen 1994 Triptychon GeWV 408 1996–1997 Sinfonisches Konzert: no. 2 GeWV 409 2001–2003 Musik der Trauer GeWV 412 2002 Präludium, Arie und Finale GeWV 413 Lento misterioso II Sonata for trumpet and organ (published 1971) GeWV 416 Sonata for cello and organ
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
2007
Harald Genzmer died at Munich.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Blumenthal.
Birth place
Munich.
Death place
Compositions
Source:
Awards
1960 Music Prize of the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste 1961 1st Prize of the Deutscher Sängerbund 1962 Preis zur Förderung der Musik der Stadt München 1991 Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art 1996 Kulturpreis der Bayerischen Landesstiftung 1998 Bayerische Verfassungsmedaille in Gold
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Harald Genzmer. Olympedia.
- 2.Composer and pianist John McCabe dies aged 75. BBC News. 13 February 2015.
- 3.Cohen, Aaron I. International encyclopedia of women composers. 1987. 0-9617485-2-4.
- 4.Harald Genzmer gestorben. Musikhochschule München.
- 5.Genzmer. Akademie der Künste, Berlin.
- 6.Homepage der Harald-Genzmer-Stiftung.
- 7.Wenige Wochen vor seinem Tod sprach Barbara Haas mit dem Komponisten Harald Genzmer – Ausgabe: 2/08 – neue musikzeitung. nmz. February 2008.
- 8.Gateway Bayern OPAC.
- 9.National Library of the Netherlands.
- 10.Hamburg GBV Library OPAC.
- 11.Library of Congress OPAC.
- 12.Cornell OPAC.
- 13.Theodore Presser. Description of Genzmer First Flute Sonata.
- 14.C. F. Peters USA. CF Peters Genzmer Page.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
- Lukas, Victor. Reclams Orgelmusikfürer. Stuttgart: Philipp Reclam June 1992.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
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.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,307 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- HappySad RecordsOrganisation
- Harald AgersnapPerson
- Harald BöhmeltPerson
- Harald FryklöfPerson
- Harald GrosskopfPerson
- Harald HaugaardPerson
- Harald JohnsenPerson
- Harald JuhnkePerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Harald Genzmer?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.