July 6, 1898:
Hanns Eisler is born at Hoffmeisterstraße 14 in Leipzig, in the German Empire, the last of three children born to Rudolf Eisler, a philosopher, and Marie Ida Fischer, daughter of a butcher.
August 31, 1920:
Hanns Eisler (22) marries Charlotte Demant, a singer, pianist, and teacher.
March 29, 1923:
Arnold Schoenberg (48) determines that his pupil, Hanns Eisler (24) has completed his studies with him.
April 10, 1923:
Piano Sonata no.1 op.1 by Hanns Eisler (24) is performed for the first time, in Prague.
May 1, 1925:
Hanns Eisler (26) is awarded the Arts Prize of the City of Vienna.
September 4, 1925:
Duo for violin and cello op.7 by Hanns Eisler (27) is performed for the first time, in Venice.
December 11, 1927:
Zeitungsauschnitte op.11, a cycle for voice and piano by Hanns Eisler (29), is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
June 12, 1928:
Ballade vom Soldaten by Hanns Eisler (29) to words of Brecht, is performed for the first time, as part of Lion Feuchtwanger’s Calcutta, 4 May, in the Berlin Staatstheater.
September 6, 1929:
Incidental music to Mehring’s play Der Kaufmann von Berlin by Hanns Eisler (31) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
December 13, 1930:
Die Massnahme, a Lehrstück for tenor, three speakers, chorus, and orchestra by Hanns Eisler (32) to words of Brecht, is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
December 10, 1931:
Niemandsland, a film with music by Hanns Eisler (33), is shown for the first time, in Berlin.
January 17, 1932:
Incidental music to Brecht’s (after Gorky) play Die Mutter by Hanns Eisler (33) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
May 2, 1932:
Hanns Eisler (33) travels to the USSR to compose music for Joris Ivens’ documentary film Die Jugend hat das Wort.
May 14, 1932:
Slatan Dodow’s film, Kuhle Wampe oder: Wem gehört die Welt?, with music by Hanns Eisler (33), is shown for the first time, in Moscow.
July 26, 1933:
Victor Trivas’ film Dans les rues, with music by Hanns Eisler (35), is shown for the first time, in Paris.
May 2, 1934:
Jacques Feyder’s film Le grand jeu, with music by Hanns Eisler (35), is released in France.
April 3, 1935:
The German Embassy in Washington sends to the Foreign Office in Berlin reports of appearances by Hanns Eisler (36) in New York and San Francisco.
April 12, 1935:
The Kleine Sinfonie op.29 by Hanns Eisler (36) is performed for the first time, in London.
June 8, 1935:
The three-day International Olympiad of Workers’ Music opens in Strasbourg, directed by Hanns Eisler (36).
June 15, 1935:
A music festival takes place in Königshöhe, near Reichenberg, Czechoslovakia as part of an effort to combat fascism. An important participant is Hanns Eisler (36).
October 5, 1935:
Hanns Eisler (37) begins a composition course and lectures at the New School for Social Research. They will go through 18 January.
November 4, 1936:
Incidental music to Brecht’s play Die Rundköpfe und die Spitzköpfe by Hanns Eisler (38) is performed for the first time, in Copenhagen.
December 7, 1937:
Hanns Eisler (39) marries his second wife, Louise von Gosztonyi Jolesch.
January 21, 1938:
Hanns Eisler (39) arrives in the United States on a visitor’s visa but intending to stay.
February 1, 1940:
Hanns Eisler (41) begins a Rockefeller Foundation grant to study music and its relationship with film. The grant is for $20,000 with $6,000 of that going directly to Eisler.
April 9, 1940:
Gestapo agents visit the offices of Universal Edition in Vienna. They carry off 33,000 copies of 45 separate publications, all music of Kurt Weill (40), Hanns Eisler (41), and Anatol Rathaus.
September 26, 1940:
Hanns Eisler (42) attempts to cross from Mexico into the United States with a permanent visa but he is denied entry.
March 17, 1943:
Fritz Lang’s film Hangmen Also Die, with music by Hanns Eisler (44) is shown for the first time, in a preview in New York. See 26 March 1943.
March 26, 1943:
Fritz Lang’s film Hangmen Also Die, with music by Hanns Eisler (44) is shown publicly for the first time, in Los Angeles.
September 13, 1944:
14 Arten, den Regen zu beschreiben for flute, clarinet, violin/viola, cello, and piano by Hanns Eisler (46) is performed for the first time, at the home of Arnold Schoenberg in Los Angeles for Schoenberg’s 70th birthday.
October 17, 1944:
Clifford Odets’ film None but the Lonely Heart, with music by Hanns Eisler (46), is released in the United States.
July 23, 1945:
Gustav Machaty’s film Jealousy, with music by Hanns Eisler (47), is released in the United States.
September 1, 1945:
Frank Borzage’s film The Spanish Main, with music by Hanns Eisler (47), is shown for the first time.
April 3, 1946:
Harold Clurman’s film Deadline at Dawn, with music by Hanns Eisler (47), is released in the United States.
July 19, 1946:
Douglas Sirk’s film A Scandal in Paris, with music by Hanns Eisler (48), is released in the United States.
May 11, 1947:
The New York Journal American quotes a “former communist” that Hanns Eisler (48) is "more than just a member of the Communist Party—he was one of the real top policy makers in the field of music, movies, and the arts." (eislermusic.com)
May 12, 1947:
Hanns Eisler (48) testifies before the House Un-American Activities Committee in Los Angeles.
June 2, 1947:
Jean Renoir’s film The Woman on the Beach, with music by Hanns Eisler (48), is released in the United States.
July 8, 1947:
Edward Dmytryk’s film So Well Remembered, with music by Hanns Eisler (49), is shown for the first time, in London.
September 24, 1947:
Hanns Eisler (49) begins three days of testimony before the Committee on Un-American Activities of the US House of Representatives in Washington.
October 6, 1947:
Hanns Eisler (49) and his wife Louise surrender in Los Angeles to immigration officials. They are released on bail. Eisler is charged with irregularities in his entry into the United States (he since admitted to once belonging to the German Communist Party). He tells the press, “I recall when I read in a French paper in 1933 that Hitler had put a price on my head and the heads of other progressive artists. I was not surprised. But I never dreamed I’d experience the same thing in the United States, a country that I love.” (New York Times, 7 October 1947)
October 10, 1947:
Thomas Mann writes to Albert Einstein asking him to add his name to a telegram to President Benes of Czechoslovakia asking for an entry visa to that country for Hanns Eisler (49).
October 22, 1947:
Bohus Benes of the Czechoslovak consulate in San Francisco writes to Hanns Eisler (49) in Pacific Palisades, informing him that he fully supports issuing a Czechoslovak passport for him and will forward his appeal to his uncle, President Edvard Benes.
November 20, 1947:
Virgil Thomson (50) writes a letter declining to sign a petition in support of the composer Hanns Eisler (49), presently being charged with concealing membership in the Communist Party.
November 27, 1947:
Lettres Française publishes a protest signed by 20 French artists against deportation proceedings against Hanns Eisler (49) by the United States. Among those signing are Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Jean Cocteau, and Paul Eluard.
December 13, 1947:
The Los Angeles Times publishes an article identifying Igor Stravinsky (65) as the most important sponsor of a concert to benefit Hanns Eisler (49), presently being accused of concealing membership in the Communist Party.
December 14, 1947:
A letter written by Igor Stravinsky (65) two days ago is published by the Los Angeles Times. He tells the paper that he lent his name to the Eisler (49) concert for purely musical reasons and it was not a political statement.
February 6, 1948:
At a hearing of the US Immigration and Naturalization Service in New York, Hanns Eisler (49) is ordered out of the country.
February 28, 1948:
A farewell concert in honor of Hanns Eisler (49) is presented in Town Hall, New York. Among those sponsoring the event are Walter Piston (54), Roger Sessions (51), Roy Harris (50), Aaron Copland (47), David Diamond (32), Leonard Bernstein (29), and Randall Thompson. Eisler will be deported next month.
March 26, 1948:
Hanns Eisler (49) boards a plane in New York for Prague. His brief membership in the German Communist Party in 1926 was uncovered by the House Un-American Activities Committee and used to attack liberals who saved his life by getting him a visa to come to the US.
November 4, 1949:
Slatan Dudow’s film Unser Täglich Brot, with music by Hanns Eisler (50), is released in Germany.
February 8, 1950:
The German Democratic Republic adopts as its national anthem a setting of Johannes Becher’s hymn “Auferstanden aus Ruinen und der Zukunft zugewandt” by Hanns Eisler (51).
May 12, 1950:
Kurt Maetzig’s film Der Rat der Götter, with music by Hanns Eisler (51), is released in East Germany.
October 7, 1950:
Hanns Eisler (52) is awarded the National Prize, first class of the German Democratic Republic.
June 6, 1952:
Václav Gajer’s film Krízová trojka, with music by Hanns Eisler (53), is released in East Germany.
June 13, 1952:
Slatan Dudow’s film Frauenschicksale, with music by Hanns Eisler (53), is released in East Germany.
October 30, 1953:
After criticism of his libretto to Johann Faustus, Hanns Eisler (55) writes to the Central Committee of the East German Socialist Party, “After the attack on Faustus I discovered that I had no longer any desire to go on writing music. The extreme state of depression it left me in is something I had hardly ever experienced. But I have no hope now of finding that vital incentive to write music anywhere else than in the German Democratic Republic…I can visualize a place for me as an artist only in that part of Germany which is laying the foundations of Socialism.” (Blake, 392)
July 30, 1954:
Aldo Vergano’s film Schicksal am Lenkrad, with music by Hanns Eisler (56), is released in East Germany.
April 19, 1955:
Louis Daquin’s film Bel-Ami, with music by Hanns Eisler (56), is released in Austria.
January 17, 1957:
Incidental music to Brecht’s play Schweyk im zweiten Weltkrieg by Hanns Eisler (58) is performed for the first time, in Warsaw.
April 26, 1957:
Raymond Rouleau’s film Les sorcières de Salem, with music by Hanns Eisler (58) and Georges Auric, is released in France.
October 20, 1957:
Katzgraben, a film with music by Hanns Eisler (59), is released in East Germany.
June 26, 1958:
Hanns Eisler (59) marries his third wife, Stephanie Peschl Zucker-Schilling, in East Berlin.
November 22, 1958:
Lenin, a requiem for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra by Hanns Eisler (60) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
December 26, 1958:
Erich Engel’s film Geschwader Fledermaus, with music by Hanns Eisler (60), is released in East Germany.
April 24, 1959:
Deutsche Sinfonie op.50 for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra by Hanns Eisler (60), to words of Brecht, is performed for the first time, in Deutsche Staatsoper, Berlin.
April 8, 1960:
Louis Daquin’s film Les arrivistes, with music by Hanns Eisler (61), is released in France.
October 21, 1960:
Alberto Cavalcanti’s film Herr Puntila und sein Knecht Matti, with music by Hanns Eisler (62), is released in West Germany.
September 6, 1962:
Hanns Eisler dies of a heart attack in East Berlin, German Democratic Republic, aged 64 years and two months. His earthly remains will be laid to rest in the Dorotheenstädtischer Friedhof in Berlin.