Kurt Honolka

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Kurt Honolka
Born(1913-09-27)27 September 1913
Died7 October 1988(1988-10-07) (aged 75)
EducationGerman University in Prague
Occupations
Organizations

Kurt Honolka (27 September 1913 – 7 October 1988) was a German musicologist, journalist, and music and theatre critic. He is known as a translator of the librettos of Czech operas into German, such as Smetana's Dalibor and Janáček's Osud.

Career[edit]

Born in Litoměřice, Bohemia, Honolka studied musicology and law at the German University in Prague,[1] and earned a Ph.D. in law. He worked almost exclusively as a musicologist. He became a member of the Nazi Party in 1939.[2] He published in the daily newspapers Prager Tagblatt[3] and Der neue Tag. From 1941, he wrote war reports (Kriegsberichte), for example Kampfflieger über England. Aus dem Tagebuch einer Kampffliegerstaffel (Fels-Verlag, Essen 1942),[2] and Fliegerkameraden (Fels-Verlag, Essen 1944).[4]

Honolka was a music critic for the Stuttgarter Nachrichten and editor of the Feuilleton section from 1949 to 1963.[1][3] He also worked as a musicologist and translated several librettos of operas to German, especially those by Czech composers.[3] He tried to revive forgotten works by notable composers by using new, more dramatic texts, for example Weber's Euryanthe and Schubert's Alfonso und Estrella. He also translated songs and choral music.[5] His translation to German of Smetana's Dalibor was used in a new production in 2019 of the Oper Frankfurt.[6]

Honolka received the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg in 1980. He was awarded the Schubart-Literaturpreis of the city of Aalen in 1986. He died in Stuttgart on 7 October 1988.[5]

Works[edit]

Publications by Honolka are held by the German National Library, including:[7]

Books[edit]

  • Das vielstimmige Jahrhundert (1960)
  • Musik im 20. Jahrhundert (1960)
  • Der Musik gehorsame Tochter (1962)
  • Knaurs Weltgeschichte der Musik[8] Droemer Knaur 1968, New edition 1979, ISBN 3-426-03610-X.
  • Antonín Dvořák. Mit Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten[9] Rowohlt 1974. (New edition 2002, ISBN 3-499-50220-8)
  • Bedřich Smetana in Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten[10] Rowohlt, Reinbek 1978, ISBN 3-499-50265-8.
  • Die großen Primadonnen. Vom Barock bis zur Gegenwart[11] Heinrichshofen, Wilhelmshaven 1961. (New edition 1982, ISBN 3-7959-0279-7)
  • Leoš Janáček. Sein Leben – sein Werk – seine Zeit.[12] Belser, Stuttgart/ Zürich 1982, ISBN 3-7630-9027-4.
  • Papageno. Emanuel Schikaneder. Der große Theatermann der Mozart-Zeit.[13] 1984, ISBN 3-7017-0373-6.
  • Schubart. Dichter und Musiker, Journalist und Rebell. Sein Leben, sein Werk.[14] Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-421-06247-1
  • Hugo Wolf – sein Leben, sein Werk, seine Zeit.[15] Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-421-06477-6.

Translations of opera librettos to German[edit]

Literature[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Kurt Honolka" (in German). Rowohlt. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  2. ^ a b Fred K. Prieberg: Handbuch Deutsche Musiker 1933–1945, Kiel 2004, p. 3198.
  3. ^ a b c "Honolka, Kurt". Who's Who? (in German). Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  4. ^ Nachtrag zur Liste der auszusondernden Literatur 1947.
  5. ^ a b "Honolka, Kurt (1913 Leitmeritz, Böhmen - 07.10.1988 Stuttgart)" (in German). Lexikon zu Leoš Janáček. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  6. ^ "Dalibor" (PDF) (in German). Oper Frankfurt. 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  7. ^ "Publications by Kurt Honolka" (in German). German National Library. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  8. ^ Knaurs Weltgeschichte der Musik on ZVAB
  9. ^ Antonín Dvořák. Mit Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten on WorldCat
  10. ^ Bedřich Smetana in Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten on WorldCat
  11. ^ Die großen Primadonnen. Vom Barock bis zur Gegenwart on Stanford Libraries
  12. ^ Leoš Janáček. Sein Leben – sein Werk – seine Zeit on WorldCat
  13. ^ Papageno. Emanuel Schikaneder. Der große Theatermann der Mozart-Zeit on WorldCat
  14. ^ Schubart. Dichter und Musiker, Journalist und Rebell. Sein Leben, sein Werk on WorldCat
  15. ^ Hugo Wolf – sein Leben, sein Werk, seine Zeit on Stanford Libraries

External links[edit]

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