Simon Breu (* January 15, 1858, in Simbach am Inn, Bavaria; † August 9, 1933, in Bad Brückenau, Bavaria) was a German composer and music teacher.
Simon Breu was born on January 15, 1858 in Simbach am Inn, Lower Bavaria, as the second of five children. After attending elementary school, on October 1, 1870, he submitted an application to the "Royal Government of Lower Bavaria" for merciful admission to the ''Royal Taxidermy School'' in Pfarrkirchen. These years served him as preparation for the teacher training seminar in Straubing. Here his musical talents were also discovered. Already at the age of 16 he was allowed to play the great organ in the ''St.-Jakobs-Church'' in Straubing. At the age of 17, he left the seminary in Straubing as a young teacher and got his first job as an assistant teacher in Hengersberg, Lower Bavaria. This is also where he composed his first Marian songs. The young school assistant also wrote authentic Bavarian dances and was appointed to this position soon after passing the examination. Soon the whole was acquainted with the musical school teacher from Hengersberg.
After his transfer to Neustadt an der Donau, he met with the city priest and member of the state parliament, Josef Zach, who soon connected the young Simon Breu with the Cäcilian movement (church music) which originated in Regensburg. Now his musical path was mapped out. His first choral songs were written here which were adopted and premiered by the "Liedertafel Kelheim". In 1881 Simon Breu was called back to Straubing. As a teacher at the ''Kreistaubstummenanstalt'' (county institute for the deaf and mute), a position as a senior teacher and housefather was advertised but he was still too young. Instead, he was offered the position as an ordinary teacher, which he accepted.
In 1885 Simon Breu moved to Würzburg, where he took over the position of the deceased Kapellmeister and conductor of the "Würzburger Sängerverein", for which the director of the music school recommended him. The latter had quickly recognized the ability of the native Simbacher. Afterwards, Simon Breu commenced thorough studies at the ''Royal Music School of Würzburg''. In 1889 the now already well known musician took over the musical direction of the "Akademischer Gesangverein" (today Akademisch-Musikalische Verbindung zu Würzburg). During this time a number of his best compositions were written. "Sonntag ist's", written down during a break from lessons. The song became one of the most sung male choirs in Germany. A dozen or so student songs were also created during this period as he was concurrently a teacher, conductor and music student.
In 1890, Simon Breu met Johannes Brahms and Richard Strauss in Bad Ischl, Austria, and the Wagner singer Marianne Wilt. Accompanied by Brahms at the piano, she sang several songs by Simon Breu. The decisive hour for the now already renowned composer came in 1894, when the ''Würzburg Music School'', where he had studied himself for an extended period, appointed him as teacher for theory and choral singing. The time as a teacher for the deaf and mute had come to an end. His love for music could now become Simon Breu's profession. He used his skills so intensively that he designed a new curriculum for the training of school musicians. His revolutionary new teaching methods were soon introduced in all higher educational institutions in Bavaria He became the clerk of the Bavarian Ministry of Culture for music education in 1912.
He dedicated his creative work mainly to male choirs. He became honorary choir master of the most famous choirs. The "Deutsche Jugendliederbuch für höhere Lehranstalten" (German Youth Song Book for Higher Education Institutions), which he edited and served for decades as a textbook in schools. When Emperor Wilhelm II ordered the publication of a "Folk Song Book for Male Choirs", the former Lower Bavarian played a decisive role. His musical estate comprises a total of about 300 works. Many of his songs are now part of the inalienable stock of the choral society's repertoire and some of them have become so popular that the composer has been completely forgotten.
Numerous were the honors and awards bestowed upon the great Lower Bavarian. In 1906 he became a professor and in 1924 he became a senior teacher. He received several awards from Prince Regent Luitpold. On his 75th birthday in 1933, the city of Würzburg presented him with the city plaque in bronze [1] On the same occasion, the Simbach municipal council also took the opportunity to appoint him an honorary citizen of his home municipality. His birthplace in the Innstraße (Inn Street) has carried a commemorative plaque ever since.
In contrast to his professionao successes, Simon Breu had suffered misfortune in his private life. His beloved wife Helene died in 1883 after only one year of marriage and immediately after she had given birth to his son, who also died. The composer bore the heavy burden of this stroke of fate. He never remarried. His sister Regina from then on oversaw the household for him for 33 years.
At the age of 75, Simon Breu suffered an injury to his foot during a health cure in Bad Brückenau, which resulted in phlebitis with a subsequent embolism. Simon Breu died quietly and peacefully on August 9, 1933. Today, streets named after Simon Breu in his native town Simbach am Inn and in his places of work Hengersberg, Würzburg and Münnerstadt in Lower Franconia remind us of this extraordinary Lower Bavarian.
Source: Wikipedia
Note: Translated from the German version of Wikipedia into English.
