Peter Zauner (composer)

Peter Zauner (December 1, 1886 in Pöttsching, June 26, 1973) was an Austrian farmer, Kapellmeister, composer, church musician and music teacher. In his Austrian homeland he is primarily remembered as the composer of the anthem of the Burgenland state.[1]

Grave of honor for Peter Zauner, Pöttsching cemetery

Life

Peter Zauner was the son of a Burgenland winegrower, master shoemaker and musician, who was a member of the Carl Michael Ziehrer musical ensemble, where he rose to play the lead violin. His son Peter received his first violin lessons at the age of five. During his military service in Vienna, beginning in 1903 he received further music lessons and joined the military music corps of the Infantry Regiment 71 in Trenčín and worked from 1908 as a conductor in Pöttsching and Wiener Neustadt.[2]

During the First World War he served as a Combat medic at the rank of a Sergeant. Upon his return to his hometown Pöttsching he took over his family farm and from 1919 to 1948 he served as music teacher in the rural areas of the Mattersburg and Eisenstadt districts. He established his legendary Z-Banda and quickly became a role model for countless concert bands of the Burgenland. He and his band had already been renown throughout the various regions of Austria, when he composed his Burgenland national anthem. At the 1936 Vaterländische Front competition for the composition of the anthem, the jury panel pointed out, that the work should preferably be of artistic value, easy to sing and folkloristic. In its closing session on April 30, 1936, the jury selected Peter Zauner's musical composition of Ernst Görlich's poem Mein Heimatvolk, mein Heimatland (My people, my homeland) from a total of 283 applications. Peter Zauner continued to be a winemaker and in 1938 he founded the First Burgenland Wine Cooperative Pöttsching (Erste burgenländische Winzergenossenschaft Pöttsching). He also made a name for himself as he promoted the cultivation and growth of tobacco in his home region.[3][2]

Works

Between 1901 and 1968 Zauner produced a total of 234 musical compositions, mainly works for strings and wind orchestras (Marches, Waltzes, Polkas, Ländlers), piano works, vocal works (songs for folklore theater pieces). The Burgenland national anthem was his 58th work. The Wieser Graben-Polka, also known as Erinnerungen an Brennberg (Memories of Brennberg) - a folk music classic - remains one of Zauner's most popular works throughout Alpine German-speaking countries.[4][3]

See also

• Carl Michael Ziehrer

References

1. Ernst Görlich. "Die Burgenländische Landeshymne". Land Burgenland. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
2. "Die Entstehung der Landeshymne" (PDF). Burgenland At. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
3. Gerhard J. Winkler. "Zauner, Peter". Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon online. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
4. "Wieser Graben-Polka (Erinnerungen an Brennberg)". Musicalinfo. Retrieved May 31, 2020.