Theo Mackeben

Theo Mackeben, born 5 January 1897 in Preußisch Stargard, Westpreußen, died 10 January 1953 in Berlin, was a German pianist, conductor, and composer, particularly of film music.^[1]

Relief from Mackeben's tombstone

Life and career

From 1916 to 1920 Mackeben studied violin and piano at the Hochschule für Musik Köln, as well as taking lessons from Jules de Westheim.^[1] He then became active as a café and radio pianist during the 1920s, at the Café Größenwahn and the Hotel Esplanade in Berlin.^[1]

In 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm he conducted the first performance of Dreigroschenoper.^[1] Mackeben arranged the music from Millöckers operetta Gräfin Dubarry, for a 1931 production entitled Die Dubarry including an original song Ich schenk mein Herz nur dir allein.^[2]

In the 1930s he composed music for stage plays and over 50 films, including some directed by Max Ophüls, Gustaf Gründgens, and Willy Forst. After the war, he wrote a piano concerto and a Sinfonische Ballade for cello and orchestra, while also being conductor at the Metropol-Theater.^[1]

Recordings

As a conductor, Mackeben's recordings from the late 1920s through the 1930s include extracts from Dreigroschenoper and Die Dubarry, Scassola's Laendische Suite, Mendelssohn's 'Spring Song', and fantasies from Smetana's Bartered Bride, Zeller's Der Vogelhändler, Verdi's La Traviata, Weill's Mahagonny, and Suppé's Die schöne Galathee, on labels such as Telefunken and Berlin.^[3]

A selection of Mackeben's music was recorded by the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne conducted by Emmerich Smola and published in 1995 by Capriccio.^[4]

Works

Operettas

• 1931: Die Dubarry
• 1932: Die Journalisten
• 1934: Lady Fanny and The Servant Problem
• 1934: Liebe auf Reisen
• 1938: Anita und der Teufel
• 1943: Der goldene Käfig
• 1950: Die Versuchung der Antonia

Film scores

• Chasing Fortune (1930)
• I Go Out and You Stay Here (1931)
• A Tremendously Rich Man (1932)
• Five from the Jazz Band (1932)
• How Shall I Tell My Husband? (1932)
• Thea Roland (1932)
• Liebelei (1933)
• Love, Death and the Devil (1934)
• The Grand Duke's Finances (1934)
• Make Me Happy (1935)
• The Devil in the Bottle (1935)
• Pygmalion (1935)
• Girls in White (1936)
• Under Blazing Heavens (1936)
• Dance on the Volcano (1938)
• Heimat (1938)
• The Life and Loves of Tschaikovsky (1939)
• Bel Ami (1939)
• Das Herz der Königin (1940)
• Bal Paré (1940)
• Ohm Krüger (1941)
• Wedding in Barenhof (1942)
• Women Are No Angels (1943)
• The Bath in the Barn (1943)
• And the Heavens Above Us (1947)
• Chemistry and Love (1948)
• The Trip to Marrakesh (1949)
• Don't Dream, Annette (1949)
• Who Is This That I Love? (1950)
• The Sinner (1951)
• Miracles Still Happen (1951)
• The Sergeant's Daughter (1952)
• Captive Soul (1952)
• Piano Concerto (1945)