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Wolf Rosenberg (*17). January 1915 in Dresden † January 18, 1996 in Frankfurt am Main was a German music critic and composer. In addition to his publications in books and magazines, he was known mainly through radio broadcasts in the Bavarian Radio, Hessian Radio and Südwestfunk.

Live life
Wolf Rosenberg first grew up in Dresden as the son of a Jewish hat manufacturer. After the death of both parents, his grandfather took him in Berlin in 1925. The grandfather encouraged his musical talent and enabled him to teach piano, cello and clarinet. Early on, Rosenberg was particularly interested in opera. From 1932 he attended the Odenwald School in Heppenheim, where he made a lifelong friendship with Wolfgang Hildesheimer. 1934–36 he studied philosophy, history and art history in Bologna and Florence, then in Jerusalem composition with Stefan Wolpe. In 1939, his encounter with Hermann Scherchen, who was guest conductor in Palestine, provided him with important impulses. After attending conducting courses with Scherchen in Switzerland, he continued his training with conductor Michael Taube in Tel Aviv and taught composition and musical analysis in Jerusalem.

Since Rosenberg did not identify with Zionism, he left Palestine after the end of the Second World War. After stopovers in Cyprus and Zurich, he returned to Germany in 1948, supported by the dancer Jo Mihaly and settled first in Munich and then in Frankfurt. After working as a pianist, cultural functionary in the environment of the Communist Party of Germany and author of school radio broadcasts for Radio Frankfurt, he followed in 1950 a call to the Hochschule für Musik in East Berlin, where he taught piano and music theory. Suspected of Zionist agent activity, he fled a year later to West Berlin and returned to the Federal Republic of Germany, where he first found accommodation with Wolfgang Hildesheimer in Ambach on Lake Starnberg. From 1954 Rosenberg lived in Munich, after 1970 in Frankfurt am Main. In addition to his work for press and radio, he gave guest lectures and seminars in Germany, the USA and the Netherlands, in particular on electronic music.

Wolf Rosenberg had been married to cultural manager Pamela Rosenberg since 1968, with whom he had two sons.

Action
In his work as a music critic, Wolf Rosenberg focused on questions of a workable interpretation of music (especially based on ideas of Arnold Schönberg) as well as on singing culture. His critique of star cult and commercialization of the music business, a “misguided public taste” and “uncritical music criticism” he often presented with irony and sarcasm. His 1968 book The Crisis of the Art of Vocal Art found strong resonance in professional circles, an excerpt of which was published in Nachric