Gurlitt, Manfred (1890-1972)

German conductor and composer. He studied composition with Kaun and Humperdinck, conducting with Muck, and piano with Breithaupt in Berlin. After various operatic appointments he was made general musical director at Bremen in 1914 and of the Berlin Staatsoper from 1924. Later he appeared as guest opera conductor in Germany and Spain, but his works were banned by the Nazis and he went to live in Japan in 1939, forming the Gurlitt Opera Company.

Works operas Die Heilige, Wozzeck (after Büchner, 1926), Soldaten, Nana (after Zola, 1933), Seguidilla bolero, Feliza; incidental music for two Spanish plays; music for films; Goya symphony, Shakespeare symphony; cello concerto; chamber concertos for piano and violin; piano quintet in C minor; piano sonata; songs with chamber orchestra.