Vienna, 1905 – 1998, Lima
Hans Lewitus was in July 1905 in Vienna and received his first piano instruction at the age of six. Alongside his studies in law, he pursued formal musical training at the Vienna Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1930 with a diploma in clarinet. In 1936, Lewitus was engaged by the renowned violinist Bronislaw Huberman as one of the founding members and principal clarinetist of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra. Two years later, he accepted an invitation from Theo Buchwald to join the National Symphony Orchestra of Peru as principal clarinetist. Hans Lewitus spent the remainder of his life in Lima, where he was active not only as a member of the National Symphony Orchestra of Peru but also as a clarinet instructor at the National Conservatory of Music in Lima.
Among the artistic highlights of his career were his collaboration with the Peruvian poet, singer-songwriter, and folklorist María Isabel Granda y Larco (widely known by her stage name Chabuca Granda), the composition of incidental music for Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors in a production directed by Ricardo Roca Rey, and the music for Crossing Niagara by Alonso Alegría. In addition, Lewitus accompanied numerous distinguished soloists at the piano.
After retiring from the National Symphony Orchestra, Lewitus devoted himself increasingly to the recorder and to private instruction in piano, clarinet, and recorder. During this period, he produced arrangements of sacred works by Johann Sebastian Bach for recorder quartet, arrangements of Latin American folk music for recorder, as well as piano compositions such as Lima Romántica and Oda a Chabuca. These works, together with three CDs, were published posthumously by his son Ricardo. Hans Lewitus died in September 1998 in Lima, Peru.
