Austrian conductor, composer, musicologist, and teacher.

Career Summary

Paumgartner was assistant to Gustav Mahler at the 7th Salzburg Music Festival in 1906, co-repetiteur under Bruno Walter at the Vienna Court Opera in 1911/12, conductor of the Vienna Tonkünstler-Orchester 1914-17, replaced Eusebius Mandyczewski as teacher (score-reading and song repertory) at the Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst (=Vienna Conservatory) in 1915/16, was head of the music-historical headquarters at the War Ministry 1916-18, Director of the Mozarteum in Salzburg 1917-38, from 1945 to 1959 its Director, and its President from 1953 on.

Among others, Paumgartner was involved with Max Reinhardt in the founding of the Salzburg Festival, and from 1960 to 1971 President of its directorate. From 1949, he was also a professor at the Vienna Akademie, teaching music theory and history. His best-known pupil was Herbert von Karajan.

Paumgartner and Schenker

In 1914, Viktor Zuckerkandl introduced Paumgartner to Schenker, and in September 1914 Paumgartner reviewed Schenker's monograph Beethovens Neunte Sinfonie in Heimgarten, a clipping of which is preserved in Schenker's scrapbook (OC 2/p. 45). Schenker reported the review enthusiastically to Emil Hertzka (UE), saying that he would like "to pay him this courtesy" (WSLB 227, September 24, 1914).

Schenker reports in his diary that in spring 1919 he planned to spend the summer vacation in the Salzburg region. After he experienced difficulty in obtaining authorization to travel, he wrote to Pamgartner as Director of the Mozarteum at the beginning of June, asking him to intervene on his behalf with the Salzburg regional government.

Correspondence with Schenker

Only one letter, from Paumgartner to Schenker, is known to survive as OJ 13/15 (1915). A file of "typed excerpts from Schenker's Tagebücher and from letters and reviews by Paumgartner," survives as OJ 59/13.

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