Born in Hamburg, Erdlen received his musical education at the Bernuth Conservatory in his native town and through studies with Emil Krause (composition), Goby Eberhardt (violin), Karl Goltermann (piano and organ) and Wilhelm Vilmar (singing).
Like Erwin Lendvai, he was active in the Lobeda Movement founded by Carl Hannemann, whose members were later particularly fond of his Deutsches Requiem and the Saar-Kantate.
In addition to his work as a composer, he was active as a music writer and music critic from 1911 to 1936 and gave guest performances as a conductor in Hamburg, Wiesbaden, Kiel, Dresden and at the Nordische Rundfunk AG [de].
[2] From 1945 onwards, he worked as a freelance artist and music writer in Hamburg.
His musical legacy can be found in the Deutsches Komponistenarchiv in the Europäisches Zentrum der Künste Hellerau [de] in Dresden.