Prausnitz was a conductor and teacher who promoted contemporary classical music
LEWES, Del. -- Internationally acclaimed conductor Frederik Prausnitz, who promoted contemporary classical music, has died.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|  |
Prausnitz died Nov. 12 of cancer at his home in Lewes, according to his daughter. He was 84.
Prausnitz worked with several American and European orchestras and served on the faculties of New York's Juilliard School, Boston's New England Conservatory and the Peabody Institute's conservatory in Baltimore.
Born in Cologne, Germany, he was sent to Philadelphia in the 1930s to avoid service in the Nazi army. His family soon followed.
Prausnitz attended Juilliard from 1941 to 1945 and worked at the school until 1961.
In the early 1970s, he had a contentious tenure as music director the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. His selections of contemporary programming led to tension with the orchestra's board and he made an appeal to audience members during the intermission of one concert for their support. The board bought out his contract in 1974.
"His work at Syracuse gained him great critical acclaim, but his uncompromising zeal in presenting his new and difficult music ultimately lost him local financial support and his position," said Jon Newsom, head of music at the Library of Congress in Washington.
Prausnitz led the Peabody Symphony Orchestra from 1976 to 1980 and then directed Peabody Conservatory's orchestral conducting program from until 1998.
His recordings included works by Carl Ruggles ("Lilacs" and "Portals"); William Walton ("Facade," with Dame Edith Sitwell reading her poetry); Elliott Carter (Double Concerto and Variations for Orchestra); and Roger Sessions (Rhapsody for Orchestra, Eighth Symphony and "Montezuma").
His books included "Roger Sessions: How a 'Difficult' Composer Got That Way," published in 2002, and "Score and Podium: A Complete Guide to Conducting," published in 1983.
His marriages to Evelyn Prausnitz and Marion Prausnitz ended in divorce. Margaret Britten Prausnitz, whom he married in 1961, died in 1999.
Survivors include two children from his third marriage, F. Sebastian Prausnitz of Baltimore and M. Maja Prausnitz of London, and a brother, Walther Prausnitz of Moorhead, Minn.
A memorial service will be held Dec. 4 at 1 p.m. at St. George's Chapel in Dagsboro. 
