Bernard Grün

Bernard Grun (German: Bernhard Grün; 11 February 1901 – 28 December 1972) was a German composer, conductor, and author. He is primarily remembered as the compiler of The Timetables of History.

Grün was born on 11 February 1901 in Startsch, Moravia, Austria-Hungary (now Stařeč, Czech Republic). He completed a degree in philosophy and a doctorate in law at Vienna and Prague, going on to study music theory at Vienna's national music academy under Alban Berg, Hans Gál, Felix von Weingartner, and Egon Wellesz. He composed chamber music and songs and took work as a conductor in Karlsruhe and Mannheim before joining the Comedy House (Komödienhaus) in Vienna.

His first major work was the 1929 Bohemian Musicians, performed in Vienna in 1930. He completed Marlene's Wedding and Gaby before being forced to leave Austria ahead of its unification with Nazi Germany. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1935, anglicizing his name to "Bernard Grun".

In 1946, he published his compilation The Timetables of History, adapted from Werner Stein's Kulturfahrplan, presenting human history since 5000 BC in tabular form. Each century, then decade, then year, is presented with its major events (if known) divided under the seven headings:

• Influential leaders and political events
• Literature & Theater
• Religion, Philosophy, Learning
• Visual Arts
• Music
• Scientific and technological inventions
• Daily Life, innovations, trends.

It has been in constant publication, with the most recent update in 2005.

Over the course of his life, he served as the musical director of theaters in Prague, Vienna, Berlin, and London, including His Majesty's Theatre. In addition to his own output, he was also responsible for adapting various musical works, including Bizet's Carmen, Lehár's Count of Luxembourg, Millöcker's Dubarry, and Benatzky's White Horse Inn. He married the British fashion designer Edith Hart.

He died on 28 December 1972 in London.

Print

Grun authored the books:

• The Timetables of History (1946)
• Private Lives of the Great Composers, Conductors, and Musical Artistes of the World (1954)
• Prince of Vienna: The Life, the Times, and the Melodies of Oscar Straus (1955)
• The Golden Quill (1956)
• Fanny Beloved (1959)
• Die Leichte Muse: Kulturgeschichte der Operette (1961)
• Aller Spass dieser Welt (1965)
•  , translated as Gold and Silver: The Life and Times of Franz Lehár (1970)
• Alban Berg: Letters to His Wife (1971, editor and translator)
• Bernard Grun's Beste Musiker Anekdoten (1974)
• Mit Takt und Taktstock: Musikeranekdoten (1979)

Music

Grun composed the music for over 30 musicals, including:

• Böhmische Musikanten (1929)
• Musik um Susi (1932)
• Marlenes Brautfahrt (1933)
• Die Tänzerin Fanny Elßler (1934)
• Gaby (1936)
• Balalaika (1936 musical, with George Posford)
• Madame Sans-Gêne (1937)
• Old Chelsea (1943, in part)
• Summer Song (1956 arrangement of Dvorak)

Filmography

Grun's work featured in over 60 films, mainly in the 1930s and '40s, including:

• Die Erlebnisse der Berühmten Tänzerin Fanny Elßler (1920, writer)
• High Fury (1947, composer, arranger, & conductor)
• An Auto and No Money (1932, composer)
• Balalaika (1939 & 1948, composer)
• Magyar Melody (1939, composer)
• Brass Monkey (1948, composer)
• The Blind Goddess (1948, composer)