Uploaded November 2019 | Updated September 2026, 5 days ago
Ernst Hermann Meyer was born in Berlin. He received his first piano lessons at the age of six, and started composing at eleven. After finishing school, he worked as an apprentice at a bank, and in 1926 he started the advanced study for music at Heidelberg University, where in 1930 he completed his Ph.D. on the 17th century chamber music of North German composers. He became a pupil of Hanns Eisler. Being a Jew, he emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1933 to avoid detention by the Nazi Party; there he eventually became a close friend of leftist composer Alan Bush. In the UK, he researched English chamber music of the 17th century and lectured for the Workers Educational Association. In 1939 he began lecturing at Bedford College, London; in 1945 he was given a guest professorship at King's College, Cambridge.
Meyer returned to East Germany (GDR) in 1948 and became one of the most influential figures of music culture there. He was active politically as a communist, and his works include choral, orchestral, and chamber music written to display commitment to Marxist–Leninist ideals. In 1982 the second edition of his book Early English Chamber Music was published.
Meyer was head of the German Society of Composers and Musicologists and professor of musicology at Berlin's Humboldt University.
Honors and awards:
1952 Nationalpreis der DDR III. Klasse für Kunst und Literatur (im Kollektiv „Das Mansfelder Oratorium“)
1955 Vaterländischer Verdienstorden in Silber
1961 Artur-Becker-Medaille
1962 Händelpreis des Bezirkes Halle
1963 Nationalpreis der DDR I. Klasse für Kunst und Literatur
1964 Johannes-R.-Becher-Medaille in Gold
1964 Verdienstmedaille der DDR
1965 Ehrendoktorwürde der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
1966 Erich-Weinert-Medaille
1969 Banner der Arbeit
1971 Vaterländischer Verdienstorden in Gold
1975 Medaille für Kämpfer gegen den Faschismus 1933 bis 1945
1975 Nationalpreis der DDR I. Klasse für Kunst und Literatur
1980 Karl-Marx-Orden
1985 Ehrenspange zum Vaterländischen Verdienstorden in Gold
Ernst Hermann Meyer was born in Berlin. He received his first piano lessons at the age of six, and started composing at eleven. After finishing school, he worked as an apprentice at a bank, and in 1926 he started the advanced study for music at Heidelberg University, where in 1930 he completed his Ph.D. on the 17th century chamber music of North German composers. He became a pupil of Hanns Eisler. Being a Jew, he emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1933 to avoid detention by the Nazi Party; there he eventually became a close friend of leftist composer Alan Bush. In the UK, he researched English chamber music of the 17th century and lectured for the Workers Educational Association. In 1939 he began lecturing at Bedford College, London; in 1945 he was given a guest professorship at King's College, Cambridge.
Meyer returned to East Germany (GDR) in 1948 and became one of the most influential figures of music culture there. He was active politically as a communist, and his works include choral, orchestral, and chamber music written to display commitment to Marxist–Leninist ideals. In 1982 the second edition of his book Early English Chamber Music was published.
Meyer was head of the German Society of Composers and Musicologists and professor of musicology at Berlin's Humboldt University.
Honors and awards:
1952 Nationalpreis der DDR III. Klasse für Kunst und Literatur (im Kollektiv „Das Mansfelder Oratorium“)
1955 Vaterländischer Verdienstorden in Silber
1961 Artur-Becker-Medaille
1962 Händelpreis des Bezirkes Halle
1963 Nationalpreis der DDR I. Klasse für Kunst und Literatur
1964 Johannes-R.-Becher-Medaille in Gold
1964 Verdienstmedaille der DDR
1965 Ehrendoktorwürde der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
1966 Erich-Weinert-Medaille
1969 Banner der Arbeit
1971 Vaterländischer Verdienstorden in Gold
1975 Medaille für Kämpfer gegen den Faschismus 1933 bis 1945
1975 Nationalpreis der DDR I. Klasse für Kunst und Literatur
1980 Karl-Marx-Orden
1985 Ehrenspange zum Vaterländischen Verdienstorden in Gold
