Ernst Ludwig Maschke

Morceaux fantastiques for art harmonium op.15

Ernst Ludwig Maschke was born in Königsberg (East Prussia) in 1867. In 1888 he entered the Leipzig Conservatory, and in 1892 he became a master student of Max Bruch in Berlin. After several other positions, he became organist at the Königsberg Schlosskirche in 1910 and later moved to the Königin-Luise-Gedächtniskirche. Maschke was also director of the state institute for church music and a prolific composer throughout his life. His descent from a Jewish family led to his exclusion from the church service and the Reichsmusikkammer in 1937. In 1940 he died of a stroke during an interrogation by the Gestapo (the Nazi's secret police).