Wikipedia:
Eduard Künneke (* January 27, 1885 in Emmerich; † October 27, 1953 in Berlin-Wannsee) was a German operetta composer.
Künneke, the son of a merchant, studied musicology and literary history in Berlin from 1903 to 1905. From 1905 to 1906, he attended a master class with Max Bruch. From 1907 to 1909. he worked as a répétiteur and as a chorus director at the New Operetta Theater on ''Schiffbauerdamm''. From 1908 to 1910, he also worked as a conductor for the record label ''Odeon'' and from 1910 to 1911. he was Kapellmeister at the Deutsches Theater. After his opera ''Robin's End'' (1909) it was performed at 38 German theaters following its premiere at the National Theater in Mannheim, He relinquished the position of chorus master. From 1906, he was a lecturer in vocal accompaniment at Stern's Conservatory.
During his time as Kapellmeister with Max Reinhardt, Künneke composed incidental music for the production of ''Faust II''.
Eduard Künneke's lightly buoyant music is characterized by rhythm and harmonic stylistic images. His best-known work was the operetta ''Der Vetter aus Dingsda'' (1921). Many of his songs are still popular today. His ''Piano Concerto and the Dancing Suite'' for jazz band and large orchestra are works of a much higher standard and can be classified as upscale light music.
After the Nazi "seizure of power" he became a member of the NSDAP on May 1, 1933 (membership number 2.633.895), but was expelled as early as 1934 because of "non-Aryan affiliation," confirmed in 1936 by the party district court. Nevertheless, he was allowed to continue composing with special permission from the Reich Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, because of the propaganda value. During the Nazi era, Künneke wrote more operettas, marches, and film scores. In 1944, Künneke was on the ''Gottbegnadeten'' list (Important Artist Exemption List) of the Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda.
The composer was for many years (since 1926 - premiere of his operetta ''Lady Hamilton'' in Breslau) a close friend of the conductor Franz Marszalek. While working at the WDR Cologne, he strongly supported Künneke and made numerous recordings (many of which are no longer available) of his music with the Cologne Radio Orchestra or the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra. These include a performance, in 1960, of Schubert's arrangement of the ''Piano Sonata in D Major, D 850'', for piano and orchestra, written during the last years of the war.
Künneke's first marriage was to the opera singer Grethe Polkowski (* 1880) in 1908, from whom he divorced in 1919, and his second marriage was to the soprano Katharina Müller (1882-1967) in 1920. His second wife was the daughter of the actor Hugo Müller (1847-1902) and performed under the name "Katharina Garden"; the actress and singer Evelyn Künneke came from this marriage.
After a long illness, Eduard Künneke died of heart failure on October 27, 1953, in the Heckeshorn Clinic in West Berlin. His grave is located in the state-owned Heerstraße Cemetery in Berlin-Westend (grave location: II-W7-71). His remains rest there next to those of wife Katharina and near his daughter Evelyn.
His estate is in the archive of the Academy of Arts in Berlin.
Note: Translated from the German version of Wikipedia into English.
