Hermann Neuling - Biography

Born to parents Hermann and Dorothea Neuling, the younger Hermann began learning violin, trumpet and horn with the highly respected local teacher Kaufman. In 1911 he joined the Stadtpfeife Öbisfelde, which Kaufman directed, and began performing at local church events and festivities in the area. Hermann had at least one brother, who unfortunately died during the First World War. During the war Hermann served with the medical corps, whilst continuing to play music whenever possible. He later attended the Leipzig Conservatory and studied with many leading musicians, including the famous Hungarian conductor Arthur Nikisch (1855-1922). In 1921, whilst engaged with the Münster Opera, Hermann married Maria Winkler and also celebrated the birth of their first daughter Brunhilde Leonore.

In 1924, there was an opening for a low horn player at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden (Berlin State Opera), which Hermann not only won, but also held until retiring in 1961 (and moving to Brühl, near Cologne and Bonn). Early in his tenure, the famous Russian conductor Serge Koussevitzky (1874-1951) approached Neuling to relocate and join the Boston Symphony Orchestra, however his wife was against the move. How very different life may have been removed from the war and the wall in Berlin!

While based in Berlin, Hermann taught at the Berlin Conservatorium and also traveled extensively with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. It was also during these years that he composed the etudes, method book and solos that are still in print and used all over the world today, often composing during the day to keep himself occupied prior to the evening opera performances.

Hermann Neuling's favourite composers were Wagner and Weber, and he certainly performed many of their works in Bayreuth as a longtime member of the Wagner Festival Orchestra. At the festival he played alongside many of Germany’s leading horn players, including Hans Berger, Fritz Huth, Hans and Josef Koller, Bernhard Krol, Walter Lexutt, Rolf Lind, Heinz Lohan, Erich Penzel, Gert Seifert and Martin Ziller. He also worked with many famous conductors there, including Wilhelm Furtwängler, Eugen Jochum, Herbert von Karajan, Rudolf Kempe, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Heinz Tietjen.

Following his retirement from the Berlin Opera in 1961, Hermann was invited to teach at the conservatory in Izmir, Turkey's third largest city. Many German musicians were already employed in similar roles and it was hoped that being located on the Aegean Sea, the long hot and dry summers would be beneficial to his health. He taught at the school from 1963-1965, however illness later prevented him from returning, and unfortunately he passed away early in 1967.