Paul Dessau
by Graciela Corkery

9
Arminius defeats Romans
The defeat of three Roman legions in the Teutoberg Forest by Arminius, establishes the Rhine as a natural boundary of the Roman empire

781
Alcuin takes job at Aachen
Charlemagne, meeting the English scholar Alcuin on a visit to Italy, invites him to become head of the palace school in Aachen

796
Alcuin moves to Tours
Alcuin leaves the palace school at Aachen to become abbot of the monastery of Tours

1250
Tannhäuser among the Minnesinger
Tannhäuser is one of the Minnesinger, the German equivalents of the French troubadours

1397
Germany develops harpsichord
The keyboard of the organ is adapted in Germany to strings, thus providing the harpsichord - first mentioned in a manuscript of this year

1400
Master singers compete in German towns
Guilds of singers and song-writers develop in German towns, calling themselves Meistersinger, or master singers

1631
Swedes victorious at Breitenfeld
Gustavus II and the Swedish army win a conclusive victory over the imperial forces at Breitenfeld

1632
Swedish king dies in cavalry charge
The Swedish army wins another convincing victory at Lützen, but Gustavus II dies leading a cavalry charge

1634
Passion play in Oberammergau
A Passion play is performed for the first time at Oberammergau, in the spirit of the Counter-Reformation

1704
Marlborough wins at Blenheim
The duke of Marlborough wins a major victory over the French at Blenheim, capturing twenty-four battalions and four regiments

1720
Bach's Little Keyboard Book
Johann Sebastian Bach compiles the Little Keyboard Book a set of pieces to teach his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

1721
Bach writes Brandenburg Concertos
Johann Sebastian Bach writes the six Brandenburg Concertos for his employer at the court of Köthen

1722
The Well-Tempered Clavier
J.S. Bach publishes The Well-Tempered Clavier, a collection of 24 Preludes and Fugues

1727
St Matthew Passion
J.S. Bach conducts the first performance of his St Matthew Passion in the St Thomas's church in Leipzig

1741
Goldberg Variations
J.S. Bach publishes his set of Goldberg Variations, supposedly written for performance by the young harpsichordist Johann Gottlieb Goldberg

1744
2nd part of Well-Tempered Clavier
J.S. Bach publishes another set of 24 Preludes and Fugues, as an addition to his previous Well-Tempered Clavier

1749
Mass in B Minor
Shortly before his death (in 1750) J.S. Bach completes his Mass in B Minor, worked on over many years

1759
Frederick the Great not invincible
Frederick the Great suffers his first major defeat, by a Russian and Austrian army at Kunersdorf

1762
England has its own Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach's youngest son, Johann Christian, moves to London and becomes known as the English Bach

1774
Storm and stress
Goethe's play Götz von Berlichingen, a definitive work of Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress), has its premiere in Berlin

1782
Schiller sensation
Friedrich von Schiller's youthful and anarchic play The Robbers causes a sensation when performed in Mannheim

1782
Beethoven's Dressler Variations
12-year-old Ludwig van Beethoven publishes his first composition, Piano Variations on a March by Dressler

1792
Beethoven to study with Haydn
Beethoven leaves Bonn and goes to Vienna to study composition with Haydn

1794
Goethe and Schiller in Weimar
Goethe and Schiller become friends, and together create the movement known as Weimar classicism

1804
Beethoven disgusted with Napoleon
Beethoven changes the dedication of his third symphony on hearing that his hero, Napoleon, has made himself an emperor

1813
Napoleon defeated at Leipzig
The allies inflict a heavy defeat on Napoleon at Leipzig, in the so-called Battle of the Nations

1826
Mendelsohn's first Midsummer Night's Dream
17-year-old Felix Mendelssohn composes an overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream, amplifed with huge success eighteen years later

1829
Mendelssohn revives St Matthew's Passion
After a century of neglect, the 20-year-old Felix Mendelssohn conducts an influential revival in Berlin of J.S. Bach's St Matthew Passion

1829
Mendelssohn visits Hebrides
German composer Felix Mendelssohn visits the Hebrides and see's Fingal's Cave, later the theme of his Hebrides Overture

1832
Schumann's Papillons
Robert Schumann's first published composition is Papillons ('Butterflies'), twelve short dance pieces for piano

1840
Schumann's Frauenliebe und -Leben
Robert Schumann composes the song cycle Frauenliebe und -Leben ('Woman's Love and Life')

1840
Schumann marries Clara
Robert Schumann marries the pianist Clara Wieck, daughter of his first teacher

1843
Mendelssohn's final Midsummer Night's Dream
Mendelssohn's overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream, amplified now with incidental music, is greeted as a masterpiece at a performance of the play in Potsdam

1851
Wagner writes anti-semitic tract
Richard Wagner writes an anti-semitic tract, Jewishness in Music

1854
Schumann attempts suicide
Robert Schumann throws himself into the Rhine, in an attempt to commit suicide, and spends the last two years of his life in an asylum

1869
Brahms' German Requiem
Johannes Brahms' German Requiem, setting passages from Luther's translation of the Bible, has its first complete performance in Leipzig

1870
Wagner marries Liszt's daughter
Richard Wagner marries Cosima, the daughter of the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt

1876
Brahms's first symphony
Johannes Brahms' first symphony has its premiere in Karlsruhe

1880
Academic Festival Overture
Johannes Brahms' Academic Festival Overture is performed first at Breslau university, which has conferred on him an honorary Ph.D.

1889
Strauss's Don Juan
The tone poem Don Juan, by the 25-year-old Richard Strauss, has a passionately mixed response at its premiere in Weimar

18th Dec 1894
Paul Dessau born in Hamburg.
Paul Dessau born in Hamburg, Germany. The first child of Sally Dessau and Louise Burchard

1910
Mahler's 'Symphony of a Thousand'
Gustav Mahler conducts in Munich the first performance of his Eighth Symphony, subsequently known as the 'Symphony of a Thousand'

1911
Hoffmansthal's Everyman
Hugo von Hofmannsthal adapts the English medieval morality play Everyman ('Jedermann') for performance in Salzburg

1911
Das Lied von der Erde
Bruno Walter conducts in Munich the first performance of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, a few months after the composer's death

1912
Becomes répétiteur in Hamburg
becomes répétiteur at the City Theatre (Stadttheater) in Hamburg, studies Felix Weingartener

1914
Kapellmeister in Bremen
Second Kapellmeister at the Tivoli Theatre in Bremen

1915 July 30
Flame thrower used in action
The Germans make their first effective use of a new weapon, the flame thrower, in an attack on the British in the second batte of Ypres

1915
Military service
Drafted for military service during WW1

1916 May 31
Rival fleets clash off Jutland
The German and British fleets clash off Jutland, in a hard-fought but inconclusive encounter

1917
Klemperer is music director at Cologne
Otto Klemperer starts a seven-year spell as music director of Cologne opera, and begins to acquire an international reputation

1919
Kapellmeister in Cologne
Kapellmeister at the opera house in Cologne under Otto Klemperer between 1919 and 1923

1922
Furtwängler conducts in Berlin
The German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler is appointed to the Berlin Philharmonic, and spends most of the rest of his life with the orchestra

1923
Hindemith's Das Marienleben
Paul Hindemith sets Rainer Maria Rilke's song-cycle Das Marienleben

1923
Kapellmeister in Mainz
Kapellmeister in Mainz

1925
Principal Kapellmeister at Berlin opera
Principal Kapellmeister at the Städtische Oper Berlin under Bruno Walter

1927
First collaboration between Brecht and Weill
Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill write Mahagonny Songspiel for the Baden-Baden music festival

1927
Meets Bertolt Brecht
Meets Bertolt Brecht at Baden-Baden festival

1928
Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera, by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, opens to great acclaim in Berlin

1930
The Blue Angel
Joseph von Sternberg directs Marlene Dietrich in the film The Blue Angel, shot in both German and English, making her an immediate international star

1933
Testament of Dr Mabuse
Fritz Lang's film The Testament of Dr Mabuse is banned in Germany because of implicit criticism of Nazi thugs

1933
Schoenberg leaves Germany
Arnold Schoenberg leaves his teaching post in Germany, now under Nazi control, and in 1934 settles in Los Angeles

1933
Emigrates to Paris
Emigrates to Paris and composes

1934
Riefenstahl films Nuremberg rally
German photographer Leni Riefenstahl glorifies Hitler and the Nuremberg rally in her film Triumph of the Will

1934
Korngold goes to Hollywood
Erich Korngold, one of Austria's most admired composers, moves to Hollywood

1935
Weill moves to USA
The German composer Kurt Weill moves to New York, where he writes Broadway musicals

1936
Carmina Burana
Carl Orff's cantata Carmina Burana has its premiere in Frankfurt

1936
Meets René Leibowitz
Meets René Leibowitz and studies the 12 tone system

1938
Composes for Brecht play
Composes for Brecht play Fear and Misery in the Third Reich

1943
Moves to Hollywood
Moves to Hollywood to work in film industry. Meets Arnold Schoenberg

1946
Furtwängler acquitted of collaboration
German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler is acquitted of the charge of collaborating with the Nazis

1946
Joins Communist Party
Joins the USA Communist Party

1947
Brecht's Galileo
Bertolt Brecht's play The Life of Galileo has its premiere in Los Angeles with Charles Laughton in the lead

1948
Four Last Songs completed
Richard Strauss completes his Four Last Songs in the year before his death

1948
Returns to Germany
Returns to Germany and further collaboration with Brecht

1949
Berliner Ensemble
Bertolt Brecht establishes a new theatrical company, the Berliner Ensemble, in East Germany

1950
Four Last Songs
Kirsten Flagstad sings the posthumous premiere, in London, of Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs

1952
Teaches at public drama school Berlin
Teaches at public drama school Berlin after some time becoming Professor

1953
Composes for Brecht
Composes for Brecht Caucasian Chalk Circle

1956
Stockhausen's Song of the Children
Karlheinz Stockhausen's Song of the Children combines electronic sounds and the human voice

1957
Stockhausen's Gruppen
German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen uses three separate orchestras to achieve acoustic space in Gruppen

1968
Stockhausen's Stimmung
Karlheinz Stockhausen's Stimmung ('Tuning') employs six unaccompanied voices for 75 minutes

1977
Three Acts of Recognition
German author Botho Strauss's play Three Acts of Recognition wins him an international audience

28 June 1979
Paul Dessau dies
Paul Dessau dies aged 84 on the outskirts of Berlin