History Commons^™

German-American Compositional Identity In William Henry Pommer’S The Legend Of St. Etheldethelwethelberga And Quartet No. 1 In G Minor, Nikolaus Schroeder

Student Summer Scholars Manuscripts

William Henry Pommer (1851-1937) presents an interesting case study of German-American composition in the Midwest. Pommer’s family was among the first settlers of the self-consciously German town of Hermann, Missouri. Pommer first studied in St. Louis, then traveled to Leipzig and Vienna, where his teachers included Reinecke and Bruckner. Upon returning to the US in 1875, he was active as a composer for about twenty years and also became a prominent music educator in Missouri schools and universities. Pommer occupies a unique compositional position; he interacted with American performers, composers, and educators for most of his life, but received his …