Died 1979
South Africa | Name Hans Adler | |
Hans Georg Adler (1904–1979) was a musicologist, collector, and classical music promoter in South Africa.
Contents
- Early life
- Contact and interaction with the musical scene in Southern Africa
- The collection and museum
- Additional information
- Links and Citations
- References
Early life
He was born in Germany, into a family interested and involved in classical music. His mother, Johanna Nathan was a professional soprano, and performed for noted composers such as Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Busoni and Julius Stockhausen (who was her tutor). He studied music under Eduard Jung (a piano teacher from Dr Hoch's Conservatorium, Frankfurt, specialising in talented future prospects) and left Nazi Germany for South Africa in 1933. There he was employed by a hardware Wholesaler Corporation, and frequently performed keyboard works on air with the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
Contact and interaction with the musical scene in Southern Africa
His passion for classical music grew as he matured, and fed his desire to offer South African music lovers the highest quality of international concert presence. He was Chairman of the Johannesburg Music Society (South Africa's oldest Musical Society, a registered non-profit organisation) from 1954 through till 1969, when he became honorary chairman. The Society was among the first to invite many international artists and groups to perform in South Africa, and quickly expanded. Johannesburg soon became the centre of performers' broad African tours, that included the large cities of South Africa (Pretoria, Durban, East London, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, recordings with the South African Broadcasting Corporation -SABC-) as well as visits to Kenya, the former Northern and Southern Rhodesia, Mozambique, the Islands of Mauritius and Reunion, the former South West Africa, Angola and sometimes the former Belgian Congo. Consequently, the quality and variety of concert life and classical music appreciation in Southern Africa improved vastly.
For this achievement and the musical museum he had built up, a PhD(Hon) degree from the University of the Witwatersrand was conferred on him in 1978.
The collection and museum
This passion for, and love of music consumed most of his spare time, and after World War II, he began expanding on the small library inherited from his father with classical music dictionaries, encyclopaedias, manuscripts, complete composer compendiums, etc. in many languages, and volumes of music scores. In addition, he acquired ancient and early keyboard instruments -a 1589 Clavicytherium, Clavichords, a Glasschord, Spinettino, Harpsichords, a Hammerklavier and early pianos (eventually comprising 19 instruments, plus 2 modern Steinway Grands)- depicting the development of the piano; the collection also included a Viola d'Amore.
His library grew very comprehensive, especially in keyboard compositions and productions, and, together with the instrument collection, evolved into a museum housed in his Johannesburg home. Tours for University students were sometimes conducted, and the SABC periodically aired early composers' works which he would perform there, (often together with touring overseas performers) on authentic Harpsichord(s) or a Clavichord or Hammerklavier. Most of the musicians and groups touring Southern Africa through his invitation, between 1954 and 1978 were invited to browse in the Library and or try out the instruments. A number discovered interesting or little-known works.
The Fine Arts Departments of South African Universities were very interested in the Museum (which was considered by some musicologists to be one of the more outstanding museums of this nature in private hands), and it was eventually willed to the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, who opened a "Hans Adler Memorial Museum" in their Arts Building in 1980.