Paul Bekker (1882-1937) in 1925.
- Profession: Musicologist
- Relation to Mahler: Paul Bekker is the autor of the first major work on the Mahler Symphonies.
- Correspondence with Mahler:
- Born: 11-09-1882 Berlin
- Died: 07-03-1937 New York
- Buried: 00-00-0000
He was one of the most articulate and influential German music critics of the 20th century.
1921. Gustav Mahlers Sinfonien by Paul Bekker (1882-1937)
Bekker took violin lessons with Fabian Rehfeld and Benno Horwitz, his piano teacher was Alfred Sormann. He made his debut as violinist (first violinist) with the Berliner Philharmoniker and then went to Aschaffenburg and Görlitz as a conductor. From 1906 Bekker worked as a music critic and writer. He wrote for the Berlin Latest News, from 1909 for the Berliner Allgemeine Zeitung, from 1911 to 1922 for the Frankfurter Zeitung. In 1919 he coined the term New Music and sat down henceforth for their first pioneer: Gustav Mahler, Franz Schreker, Arnold Schönberg and Ernst Krenek.
The music library of Yale University houses the Paul Bekker Collection, which contains a variety of letters, documents, receipts, photographs, printed scores and other forms of miscellany, some of which have great historical and musicological value.