Waldemar Edler von Baussnern (1866-1931) was a German composer and music teacher. He was the son of a financial official. He grew up in both Transylvania and Budapest. Between 1882-1886 he was a student of Friedrich Kiel and Woldemar Bargiel at the Berlin Musical Academy after which he conducted various choirs. After 1909 he became director of the Grossherzlichen Musikschule in Weimar. From 1916 to 1923 he served as director of the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt am Main. In 1923 he became undersecretary of the Berliner Akademie der Kunste. He died in Potsdam. Baussnern's extensive catalogue of compositions includes almost all musical genres, yet it displays an emphasis on both choral symphonic and orchestral composition. Stylistically, Baussnern stands out as a maverick to his contemporaries, remaining a composer who defies classification. Generally, however, his music is rooted in the 19th century, yet exhibits independence of form, ranging from extremes of conventional tonality to frequently polyphonic chromaticism, nonetheless never metamorphosing into atonality.
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