Walter Courvoisier
Illustration — Walter Courvoisier Walter Courvoisier (7 February 1875 – 27 December 1931) was a Swiss composer.
Walter Courvoisier

Friedrich Müller Hofphotograph · https: swisscollections.ch/Record/9956356570105504 · Public domain
- Born
- 1875 · Riehen.
- Died
- 1931 · Locarno.
- Nationality
- Switzerland
- Occupation
- composer · music educator · university teacher · conductor · physician
- Fields
- opera
- Education
- University of Music and Theatre Munich
- Teachers
- Selmar Bagge · Ludwig Thuille
- Languages
- German
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Walter Courvoisier. 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
wikidata · Q630611 · wikipedia · Walter Courvoisier
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
The documentary record
Statements marked “Documentary record” are set in the article beside the passage they confirm. Each is read from the authority records of the institutions named here; select “Prove” to see the record it was read from, where in that record, and when.
Institutions cited
Bibliothèque nationale de France · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Complete reading chain (JSON)In this article
Life
Life
Walter Courvoisier studied at University of Music and Theatre Munich. Training under Selmar Bagge and Ludwig Thuille is recorded. Rudolf von Ficker is recorded as having studied under Walter Courvoisier. The recorded working language is German. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are opera. Employment is recorded with University of Music and Theatre Munich.
Born in Riehen, Courvoisier was a son of the surgeon Ludwig Georg Courvoisier. He initially studied medicine and worked as a doctor after obtaining his doctorate. In 1902 he went to Munich to study music. He was a student of Selmar Bagge and Ludwig Thuille - whose son-in-law he became - and then taught at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, first music theory, and later music composition. Courvoisier died in Locarno at the age of 66.
Documentary record
Walter Courvoisier was a composer and physician, born on 7 February 1875 in Riehen and died on 27 December 1931 in Locarno. Both events are recorded by the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Operas
Operas
• Lanzelot und Elaine, musical drama in four acts; libretto: Berta Thiersch, pseudonym "Walter Bergh" (1910–12, first performance Munich 1917) • Die Krähen (The Crows), comedy in one act; libretto: Alois Wohlmuth (1919/20, first performance Munich 1920) • Der Sünde Zauberei (The Sin of Magic), opera in one prelude and two scenes; libretto: Joseph von Eichendorff after Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1929, unperformed) online
Vocal works
Vocal works
• The Muse, for baritone and orchestra op. 4; after Heinrich Leuthold (1903) • Gruppe aus dem Tartarus, ballad for mixed choir and orchestra Op. 5; after Friedrich Schiller (1904) • Der Dinurstrom, ballad for mixed choir and orchestra op. 11; after Wilhelm Hertz (1906) • Das Schlachtschiff Téméraire (1796), Ballad for male chorus and orchestra Op. 12; after Detlev von Liliencron (1906) • Auferstehung (former title: Totenfeier), Cantata for four soloists, mixed choir and orchestra op. 26; after words of the Bible, arranged by Alfred Bertholet (1915) • Three Choirs a cappella Op. 33; after Joseph von Eichendorff (1931) • Five Songs for mixed choir a cappella Op. 34 (1931)
Lieder with piano accompaniment
Lieder with piano accompaniment
• Sechs Lieder für tiefe Stimme op. 1 (1903) • Sieben Lieder op. 2 (1903) • Acht Gedichte von Anna Ritter op. 3 (1903) • Sechs Lieder op. 6 (1904) • Fünf Lieder für tiefe Stimme op. 7 (1904) • Sieben Gedichte von Peter Cornelius op. 8 (1905) • Sechs Gedichte von Theodor Storm op. 9 (1905) • Zwei Gedichte von Theodor Storm, Vier Gedichte von Klaus Groth op. 13 (1906) • Fünf Gedichte von Wilhelm Hertz op. 14 (1903/04) • Drei Gedichte von Emanuel Geibel op. 15 (1906) • Fünf Gedichte von Friedrich Hebbel op. 16 (1907/08) • Fünf Gedichte von Peter Cornelius op. 17 (1908) • Zwei Sonette von Michelangelo und altitalienisches Sonett op. 18 (1906/08) • Sieben Gedichte von Emanuel Geibel op. 19 (1906/08) • Sieben alte deutsche Gedichte op. 23 (1909/10) • Gedichte von Hermann Hesse op. 24 (1917, then 1929) • Geistliche Lieder in fünf Bänden op. 27 (1917–1919) • Kleine Lieder zu Kinderreimen in four volumes op. 28 (1916–1919) • Lieder auf alte Deutsche Gedichte op. 29 (1912/14, 1920–1925)
Instrumental works
Instrumental works
Sonatina for piano Op. • Piano Trio Op. (1902) • Symphonic Prologue to Carl Spitteler's Olympic Spring for Orchestra Op. 10 (1905) • Passacaglia and Fugue in B flat minor for piano op. 20 (1908/09) • Variations and Fugue on a separate theme in E flat major for piano Op. 21 (1909) • Variations on an own theme D major for piano Op. 22 (1909) • Festival Overture for Orchestra (1920s) • Six Suites for violin solo Op. 31 (1921/22) • Slow movement for string quartet Op. (1921/22)
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.
Riehen.
Birth place
Locarno.
Death place
Students
• Dora Pejačević (1885–1923), composer • Max Butting (1888–1976), composer • Gerhart von Westerman (1894–1963), composer • Robert Gerhard (1896–1970), composer • Paul Ben-Haim (1897–1984), composer, conductor • Albert Moeschinger (1897–1985) • Walter Simon Huber (1898–1978), music teacher, organist and choir director • Willy Burkhard (1900–1955), composer • Hermann Reutter (1900–1985), composer, pianist • Franz Rupp (1901–1992), pianist and accompanist • Hans Haug (1900–1967), composer, conductor, pianist • Heinrich Sutermeister (1910–1995), composer

Fotografie auf
C. Ruf Photograph · https: swisscollections.ch/Record/9956356680105504

Fotografie auf
Friedrich Müller Hofphotograph · https: swisscollections.ch/Record/9956356570105504
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Walter Courvoisier”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q630611: Walter Courvoisier
General reference · Wikidata
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Walter Courvoisier, revision 1370779294 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
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 21 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
44,023 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Walter BrownPerson
- Walter BullockPerson
- Walter Burle MarxPerson
- Walter Cecil MacfarrenPerson
- Walter DamroschPerson
- Walter DavisPerson
- Walter DeutschPerson
- Walter DobschinskiPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Walter Courvoisier?
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.