IKURO 06091

GREGOR HEUER
Gregor Heuer was born in 1915 in Charkow in the
Ukraine, son of a German merchant and received his
first piano instruction from the age of 7. From 1933 to
1940 he studied at the National University for Music in
Tallinn (Estonia) completing the composition class
(Artur Kapp) in 1937 and the piano class (A. Lemba)
in 1940.
Gregor Heuer took on Estonian nationality in 1936;
worked from 1935 as both a pianist and active
composer. Likewise he worked as korrepetitor in the
Tallinn Theatre. In Spring 1941 he came to Germany
with the resettlement of the Baltic Germans.
Commitments followed as Kappellmeister at the
National Theatre in Allenstein in South East Prussia, at
the German Opera in Kiew and at the City Theatre in
Gablonz/Neisse. In 1944 he was called up into the
armed forces and for five years was a Russian prisoner
of war. Bitter and disappointed he returned to
Germany, his compositional spirit shattered. He tried
to get himself together again as a pianist, however poor
health prevented him returning to the large concert
podiums. Gregor Heuer acquired a reputation as an
outstanding pedagogue and he taught untiringly to the
end of his life. He died in Augsburg in March 1989.
Tallinn 1939
The main compositions of Gregor Heuer was when the
young musician lived in Tallinn. One can count two
piano concertos, a number of symphonic tone poems,
chamber music and songs specified in the years 1936
to 1940 in many successful concerts and Estonian
Radio broadcasts. In 1941 he developed his last large
work the ballet “Dead Dance” for the theatre in
Allenstein. Most of the original manuscripts were lost
in Gablonz in 1944 lost for good. Only a few works
remained in the possession of friends; they are now in
the Music Museum in Tallinn. Two of his songs from
1939 are in the Estonian National Library. After the
War the composer Gregor Heuer remained excluding
some songs and smaller works silent.
Translation: Alan Hacker