Eugene Jochum

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Eugen Jochum (1961)

Eugen Jochum (born November 1, 1902 in Babenhausen , Swabia, † March 26, 1987 in Munich ) was a German conductor and is one of the best-known interpreters of Anton Bruckner's works .

Life

Eugen Jochum, son of a teacher, organist, choir regent and director of the orchestra and theater association, grew up in a Catholic family with his brothers Otto and Georg Ludwig . At the age of four he received his first piano lessons and at six his first organ lessons; at nine he helped out in the churches of his home country. This is how the original desire to become a church musician arose. He studied first at the Leopold Mozart Conservatory in Augsburg (organ, piano) and from 1922 to 1925 at the Munich Music Academy with Siegmund von Hausegger and Hermann von Waltershausen, orchestral conducting and composition and with Emanuel Gatscher the organ. He also worked as a répétiteur at the Munich Opera .

His successful debut as a conductor on March 16, 1926 with the Munich Philharmonic with Bruckner's 7th Symphony determined his future career. His first engagements as Kapellmeister took him to Mönchengladbach , to the Kiel Opera House (1927–1929), to Lübeck , where he took over the direction of the symphony concerts of the “Verein der Musikfreunde”, and to the Nationaltheater Mannheim . 1930-1932 he held the post of music director at the Theater Duisburg and the Duisburg Symphony Orchestra , he also in the 1932-1934 Municipal Opera Berlin held. In addition, Jochum was the musical director of the program “Funkstunde”, conducted the Berlin Philharmonic and at Sender Berlin . As the successor to Karl Böhm , he was general music director of the Hamburg State Opera from 1934 to 1949 and director of the Philharmonic Orchestra .

During the Nazi era he performed several times at concerts as part of NSDAP events and in occupied territories, but was not a party member himself. For example, he conducted concerts with the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra on Hitler's birthday in 1933 and when Hitler visited on August 17, 1934 in Hamburg, Arno Pardun's battle song Volk zum Gewehr . On January 15, 1935, Jochum conducted a concert of the Berliner Philharmoniker "in view of the national importance" on the day of the Saar vote . On November 24, 1936, Jochum, who was appointed Staatskapellmeister by Hitler that year, conducted the Munich Philharmonic in the 1st  KdF concert for the DAF . He conducted further KdF concerts on February 6 and October 12, 1938 in Berlin. On July 15, 1939, he gave a concert on Munich's Königsplatz on “German Art” Day . In 1941 he toured the areas occupied by the German Wehrmacht with the Berliner Philharmoniker and gave concerts in Brussels and Paris. In 1943 he conducted a concert by the conservatory orchestra in Paris. On the other hand, he succeeded in performing works by composers ostracized by the regime such as Bartók , Hindemith or Stravinsky , even against political pressure , at least until the end of the 1930s. Jochum's name is on the list of God-gifted people approved by Hitler in August 1944 .

In 1949 he founded the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks , which he also directed until 1960 and made it one of the leading orchestras in Germany. In addition, he often appeared as a guest conductor at the Munich Opera. He was invited to the Bayreuth Festival in 1953 for Tristan , 1954 for Lohengrin and Tannhäuser and 1971 to 1973 for Parsifal .

Eugen Jochum in 1981

After working in Munich, he shared leadership of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam with Bernard Haitink from 1960 to 1963 , with whom he undertook a two-month highly acclaimed concert tour through the USA in 1961. As successor to Joseph Keilberth , he was artistic director of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra from 1969 , of which he was chief conductor from 1971 to 1973 and which appointed him honorary conductor. In the 1960s and 1970s he also made many guest appearances at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and at the Bavarian State Opera. Jochum was one of the most famous conductors in those years and was hired by all leading orchestras in the world.

His daughter is the pianist Veronica Jochum von Moltke . She sits on the board of the Eugen Jochum Foundation , which has awarded the Eugen Jochum Prize to conductors since 2012.

Appreciation

Eugen Jochum in 1982

Eugen Jochum, one of the outstanding conductors of the 20th century, was still influenced by the end of German Romanticism . In addition to composers such as JS Bach , Haydn , Mozart , Beethoven , Brahms and Wagner , whom he particularly valued , his preference was mainly for the work of Bruckner . He also devoted himself to the choral works and recorded all nine Bruckner symphonies for the first time on record between 1959 and 1967 , the first as a subscription edition at the end of 1967 and again in 1973 by Deutsche Grammophon as part of its 75th anniversary edition in a cassette as a complete recording published. For his interpretations, he preferred the original versions in Leopold Nowak's sheet music edition , since "Bruckner's symphonies are only possible in their original form." From 1950 he was also President of the German section of the International Bruckner Society .

Jochum could not gain much from the musical creation of the 20th century (“That contradicts all my ideas about music”), but was not closed to everything. In addition to the works by Carl Orff ( Carmina Burana , Catulli Carmina ) and Karl Höllers (Symphonic Fantasy, Sweelinck Variations) , which he has also recorded, the premieres under his direction include the following compositions: Boris Blacher's Concerto for Strings (1942), Werner Egks Suite française (1950), Alberto Bruno Tedeschi's Concerto per il principe Eugenio (1951), Karl Amadeus Hartmann's 6th Symphony (April 24, 1953) and Gottfried von Einems Tanz-Rondo op.27 (November 13, 1959), the last two works mentioned each with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich.

Quote

“I see my musical talent as a gift from above. I want it to never become an end in itself, and I believe that it is my duty to serve - to be a medium for the thoughts of the great Masters, who in turn express thoughts of the Supreme Being. "

- Eugen Jochum

Awards and honors

Discography (notes)

From the large number of recordings available on sound and image carriers, the following are only mentioned as examples:

  • Anton Bruckner: The nine symphonies . Hamburg 2002, Universal Music 469 810-2
    Re-release of recordings from 1957–67 with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.
  • Centenaire Eugen Jochum. Archives 1933–1945 . 4 CD box; France 2002, TAHRA Tah 466-469. ADD.
    With works by Wagner, Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, Reger and Corelli and the Berlin Philharmonic, the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg and the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
  • Centenaire Eugen Jochum. Archives 1948–1961 . 4 CD box; France 2002, TAHRA Tah 470-473.
    With works by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Mussorgski and the Berlin Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.
  • Centenaire Eugen Jochum. Archives 1963–1986 . 4 CD box; France 2002, TAHRA Tah 474-477.
    With works by Brahms, Grieg, Schubert, Debussy, Berlioz, Wagner, Bach and Franck and the Concertgebouw Orchestra and the RIAS Symphony Orchestra .

Further extensive discographic information can be found in the database of the German Music Archive; see web links.

Fonts

  • On the interpretation of the finale of the Fourth Symphony by Anton Bruckner. In: Karlheinz Schmidthüs (Ed.): Christian Realization. Romano Guardini on his 50th birthday. In: The shield comrades . Supplement 1, ZDB -ID 208000-x . Burgverlag, Rothenfels am Main 1935. New publication in: Eugen Jochum . Edited by Eugen-Jochum-Gesellschaft eV, Ottobeuren. Plöger, Annweiler 2005, p. 169–, ISBN 3-89857-185-8 .
  • The original version of the Bruckner symphonies . In: Bruckner-Fest Hamburg 1938, program booklet. New publication in: Eugen Jochum . Edited by Eugen-Jochum-Gesellschaft eV, Ottobeuren. Plöger, Annweiler 2005, pp. 177–, ISBN 3-89857-185-8 .
  • On the phenomenology of conducting. (Private printing). S. l. 1938.
  • On the interpretation of Anton Bruckner's Fifth Symphony. An accountability report. In: Franz Grasberger (ed.): Bruckner studies. Leopold Nowak on his 60th birthday. Bruckner studies, volume 1964. Musicological publishing house, Vienna 1964.
  • The improvisational aspect of opera is particularly appealing. In: Egloff Schwaiger: Why the applause. Famous artists about their music. Ehrenwirth, Munich 1968. (1973 edition: ISBN 3-431-01285-X ).
  • On the interpretation of Anton Bruckner's symphonies. Supplement to the complete recording of all Bruckner symphonies with the Berliner Philharmoniker, DGG Stereo 2720037-18. New publication in: Eugen Jochum. Ed. Eugen-Jochum-Gesellschaft e. V., Ottobeuren. Plöger, Annweiler 2005, p. 181–, ISBN 3-89857-185-8 .

literature

  • Stefan Jaeger (ed.): The conductors' book of Atlantis. An encyclopedia. Atlantis, Zurich 1986, p. 178ff., ISBN 3-254-00106-0 .
  • Hans-Klaus Jungheinrich: The great conductors. Hermes Hand Lexicon. Econ, Düsseldorf 1986, pp. 70f., ISBN 3-612-10045-9 .
  • Brockhaus-Riemann music lexicon. Edited by Carl Dahlhaus, Hans Heinrich Eggebrecht. Atlantis-Schott, Zurich / Mainz 1995, Volume 2, pp. 260f., ISBN 3-254-08397-0 .
  • Stephanie Mauder: Eugen Jochum as chief conductor at Bayerischer Rundfunk. Studies on the history of Bavarian broadcasting, Volume 2, ZDB -ID 2322752-7 . Lang, Frankfurt am Main (et al.) 2003, ISBN 3-631-50467-5 .
  • Bettina von Seyfried (compilation): Eugen Jochum, 1902–1987: for the conductor's hundredth birthday. Booklet accompanying the display at the German Music Archive Berlin from November 15 to February 15, 2003. In: Alfred Cortot , 1877–1962. The German Library, Leipzig (among others) 2003, ISBN 3-933641-46-2 .
  • Fred K. Prieberg : Handbook of German Musicians 1933-1945. Kiel 2004, p. 3426 (CD-ROM lexicon).
  • Ernst Klee : The cultural lexicon for the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-10-039326-5 .
  • Wolfgang Schreiber: Great conductors. With a foreword by Sir Peter Jonas. Piper, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-492-25072-6 , p. 362 f.

Web links

Commons : Eugen Jochum  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ “The association appointed the concert conductor and from then on Lübeck became a springboard for young talents . On Ugo Afferni followed Hermann Abendroth , Wilhelm Furtwängler , who with Gustav Mahler befriended George Göhler and afterwards became Bayreuth -Dirigent Franz von Hoesslin , Karl Mannstaedt, Edwin Fischer , Eugen Jochum, Ludwig Leschetitzki and Heinz Dressel . "( Günter Zschacke : Moving orchestra's history in : Die Tonkunst . October 2013, No. 4, Vol. 7, 2013, ISSN  1863-3536 , p. 498.)
  2. ↑ Audio document in the German Broadcasting Archive, DRA 1820113-17.
  3. ^ National Socialist Silesian Daily from January 17, 1935.
  4. ^ Fred K. Prieberg : Handbook of German Musicians 1933–1945. Kiel 2004, p. 3421 f. (CD-ROM dictionary)
  5. ↑ quoted from: Stefan Jaeger (Hrsg.): Das Atlantisbuch der Dirigenten. Atlantis, Zurich 1985, p. 178, ISBN 3-254-00106-0 .
  6. ↑ quoted from: Stefan Jaeger (Hrsg.): Das Atlantisbuch der Dirigenten. Atlantis, Zurich 1985, p. 181.
  7. ↑ Quoted from: Stefan Jaeger (Ed.): Das Atlantisbuch der Dirigenten. Atlantis, Zurich 1985, p. 182.
  8. ↑ Hans Jürgen Brandt: Jerusalem has friends. Munich and the Order of Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, EOS 2010, p. 105 f.
  9. ↑ Announcement of awards of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In: Federal Gazette . Vol. 25, No. 159, August 25, 1973.
  10. ↑ a b c Table of contents (PDF) .
  11. ↑ Table of contents (PDF) .
personal data
SURNAME Jochum, Eugene
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German conductor
DATE OF BIRTH November 1, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Babenhausen, Swabia
DATE OF DEATH March 26, 1987
Place of death Munich