Eisler, Hanns

(Johannes), remarkable German composer of politically oriented works; b. Leipzig, July 6, 1898; d. Berlin, Sept. 6, 1962. Eisler studied music on his own while still a youth, then at the New Vienna Conservatory and later privately with ARNOLD SCHOENBERG from 1919 to 1923. He also worked for a time with Schoenberg's student ANTON WEBERN. In 1924 he won the Vienna Arts Prize.

Eisler went to Berlin in 1925 and taught at the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory. In 1926 he joined the German Communist Party. After the Nazis came to power in 1933 he left Germany, making visits to the U.S. and being active in Austria, France, England, and other European countries.

Eisler settled in the U.S. and taught at the New School for Social Research, N.Y., during the 1930s and at the University of California, Los Angeles, in the 1940s. However, his communist beliefs led him to be questioned by the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1947, whereupon he voluntarily left the U.S. In 1949 he settled in East Berlin and became a professor at the Hochschule für Musik and a member of the German Academy of the Arts.

Under Schoenberg's influence, Eisler adopted the 12-TONE method of composition for most of his symphonic works. However, he demonstrated a great capacity for writing music in an accessible style. His long association with the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht resulted in several fine scores for the theater. Eisler's songs and CHORAL works became popular in East Germany. He composed the music for its national ANTHEM, Auferstanden aus Ruinen, which was adopted in 1949. He never composed his projected OPERA Johannes Faustus, for which he wrote the LIBRETTO in 1952. Some believe the work was left uncompleted because of the resistance of government officials.