Arnold Matz

Arnold Matz (born April 10, 1904 in Halle an der Saale, † April 25, 1991 in Leipzig ) was a German composer, composition teacher and longtime solo violist in the Gewandhaus in Leipzig.

Life

Matz grew up in a middle-class family and received his first violin lessons at an early age. After finishing school, he studied violin with Walther Davisson at the Leipzig Conservatory in the 1920s and became a member of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. In 1925 he took over the position of first violinist in the Gewandhaus Orchestra. In the years 1936–1940, Matz completed his training in composition with private studies with Johann Nepomuk David . In 1941 he was drafted into the Wehrmacht and in 1945 at the end of the war he became an American prisoner of war. An appointment to the Leipzig Music Academy as a teacher for composition / counterpoint and viola followed in 1947.

His appointment as professor at the same place of work in Leipzig dates from 1954. Over the years Kurt Masur and Fritz Geißler studied composition with Matz and many of his students were accepted into the Gewandhaus orchestra. When he retired and served for 44 years, he left the Gewandhaus Orchestra in 1969, but continued to teach at the university. From this time on he intensified his composition activity. After about ten more years of work, Matz ended his teaching at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music in Leipzig . In the last years of his life he still gave private lessons and composed other works until his death.

Arnold Matz was a grandson of the architect Martin Gropius and the father of the Stuttgart professor for ear training Irene Matz.

Works

Arnold Matz's compositional work revolved around chamber music, understandably with the viola at the center. But orchestral works and organ music are also on the list of works. As a composer he had a special reputation as a master of counterpoint . In his numerous compositions, original musicianship and strictly trained contrapuntal thinking are combined in an original way. Last but not least, sonatas and other pieces were dedicated to the rarely considered instruments and various combinations. With new compositional and technical requirements, they gained great importance for the education of music students.

• LITOTES, a poetic duo for viola and piano
• Introit and Passacaglia for string orchestra
• Concert for viola and orchestra (world premiere June 24, 1988 Neues Gewandhaus zu Leipzig)
• Four Fantasies (Sonata) for two violas
• Sonata contrappuntistica for alto recorder and pianoforte
• Intonation studies for viola
• Twenty-five caprices for viola: position studies in various composition techniques.
• Music for viola theme with variations for viola and piano
• Mixolydian sonatina for viola and piano
• Aria 12 variations and Chaconne fugue (on a given bass for organ or 3 string instruments). A teaching piece for double counterpoint and canon forms, organ
• Aria 12 variations and Chaconne fugue (on a given bass for organ or 3 string instruments). A teaching piece for double counterpoint and canon forms, violin, viola and violoncello
• Scale and chord studies for viola
• 8 etudes in the third position: viola
• Sonata for viola alone
• Eleven little duets
• Sonatina for bassoon and piano
• Sonata for oboe and piano
• Prelude and Allegro: for double bass and piano

Web links

• Works by and about Arnold Matz in the catalog of the German National Library
• Arnold Matz website operated by the Matz family