Carl Leonhardt

German composer, conductor, and professor of music (b. February 11, 1886 in Coburg – d. May 8, 1969 in Tübingen). Leonhardt studied music at the conservatory and the university in Leipzig between 1905 and 1907. He then worked as Solorepetitor and Kapellmeister (conductor) at the Hanover Opera. In 1920, he became Erster Kapellmeister (First Conductor) at the Nationaltheater in Weimar; in 1921, he was awarded the title Professor. In 1922, he became Generalmusikdirektor in Stuttgart, frequently recording and performing on the radio (Reichssender Stuttgart). In 1937, under Nazi rule, he was appointed Full Professor and Director of the Institute of Musicology (Musikwissenschaftliches Institut) at the University of Tübingen. In 1940, he was nominated to become the President of the Reichsmusikkammer, established by the Nazis as the professional organization of all musical artists, but Propaganda Secretary Goebbels is said to have rejected him as „etwas zu wissenschaftlich“ (a bit too scholarly). Between 1942 and 1944 Leonhardt conducted a number of concerts in German-occupied Paris. Until 1945, he also taught at the Musikhochschule (College of Music) in Stuttgart. After the war, he resumed his teaching duties at the University of Tübingen until his retirement in 1951.