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Eduard Lucerna (1869-1944)

Started by Wheesht, Wednesday 14 October 2026, 10:01

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Wheesht

Eduard Lucerna, born Klagenfurt 11 November 1869, died Gries near Bolzano 26 November 1944, was an Austrian choral director and a self-taught composer. He was a pharmacist by profession and also a keen mountaineer.
The only music tuition he had was by his mother, a pianist. In 1924, a six-page article about the composer and his work was published in "Der Schlern", magazine for South Tyrolean Regional Studies. An English translation is available here.
(Most of) His scores, both published and in manuscript, are today held by the Austrian National Library in Vienna. He set to music his sister Camilla Lucerna's Lyrical Drama Zlatorog.
According to the German wikipedia entry on the composer, his Concerto for Strings in B flat major has been recorded. His Corsican Serenade is available on Youtube in a performance by the Amarida Ensemble.

Here are translations of two reviews of symphonic works:

Innsbrucker Nachrichten, Friday, 27 June 1913

QuoteSuccesses of a Tyrolean composer
In the "Franzensbader Tagblatt" of the 19th of this month, we read: 'The latest symphony concert once again presented something extraordinary, something unique: the work of a self-taught composer. For this reason, let us begin – whilst paying all due appreciation and respect to Beethoven's mighty 'Fifth' – with the 'Symphonic Dances from Tyrol' by Eduard Lucerna, a three-movement work which our tried-and-tested spa orchestra, under the artistic direction of its musical director Gustav Schmidt, performed with beautiful tone and rich atmosphere. Who, then, is Eduard Lucerna? A modest, unassuming man, yet one who is deeply passionate about fine music, who until recently worked as a chemist and choirmaster of the folk song society in Bolzano, but has now sought and found a new sphere of activity in Klagenfurt. As a researcher in the field of German folk songs, the composer of Tuesday's new work has long enjoyed a fine reputation, to which respectable successes in the symphonic field — a 'Symphony No. 6 in C major' has already been composed — have recently been added. Pharmacist Lucerna, the new figure on the Franzensbad symphonic scene, is self-taught and arouses particular interest precisely because of this. Nor can one pass by his creation without due consideration; it is so thoughtfully and profoundly conceived that it absolutely must be accorded a certain measure of attention – and that may well turn out to be rather substantial. Lucerna owes part of his collection of original 'Tyrolean folk songs and dances' to a blind musician named Anton Mulser in Kastelruth, who in turn had learnt them as a boy from his old clarinet teacher, Josef Carbon, a village musician. From this treasure trove of old melodies, some of which may date back over 100 years, the Bolzano composer drew the material for his 'Symphonic Dances' and thereby created a work which, in its presentation, is certainly just as endearing and worthy of appreciation as the traditional material itself remains valuable to us.

Signale für die Musikalische Welt, 3 June 1931, p. 648

QuoteIn Bolzano, the local orchestra society gave the premiere of a four-movement 'Sinfonietta' by the composer Eduard Lucerna, a resident of Gries. Old German folk songs are masterfully woven into a work that appeals to the musical layperson through its folk-inspired themes and its ever-alert sense of sound, whilst compelling the connoisseur to admire the artistry of its composition, the mastery of a free form that nonetheless adheres to its own laws, and the skilful guidance and distribution of the voices in a colourful, yet never overloaded, instrumentation. A work brimming with life, which deserves to be highlighted. It was rehearsed very carefully and with great sensitivity by Maestro Mario Mascagni (a cousin of Pietro Mascagni) and brought to a well-deserved resounding success.