Bauhaus Chapel

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The Bauhaus band was a band founded by Andor Weininger and Heinrich Koch in 1923 at the Weimar Bauhaus , originally to accompany the Bauhaus festivals , which wanted to approach modern “spontaneous music” experimentally. Initially, the focus was on Dadaist elements alongside Eastern European folk music and improvised rhythmic noise. Later in Dessau , the band developed into an American-style jazz band, which could also intone pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach and Mozart . Sound recordings have not been preserved, however. The Bauhaus band, which existed until 1933, arose from improvised music performances by the students.

description

Before the Bauhaus band existed, individual students made music at festivals and events organized by the Bauhaus. The Bauhaus band was probably founded in the winter of 1923/1924. The first line-up included Andor Weininger, Heinrich Koch, Rudolph Paris and Hanns Hoffmann-Lederer . Initially, piano, bumbass , lotus flute , drum and drums were used as simple instruments to create mood and effects, of which only the piano was suitable for playing a melody. Xanti Schawinsky described the band's music as rhythmic, piercing noise; this was due, among other things, to the simple and unconventional instruments that produced their own sound effect. In addition, other noise and sound-producing materials such as wires, nails and chairs were used. Accordingly, the appearances resembled happenings in which Andor Weininger also gave performances with abstract songs and cabaret interludes at the end.

During the Bauhaus in Dessau from 1925 onwards, the Bauhaus band approached musical American jazz and popular dance music . Theodore Lux Feininger assessed the new direction as “ bourgeoisisation of the group that once emerged from a vigorous bohemian ”. According to Feininger, the performance character, resulting from an offensive failure to master the instruments, has taken a back seat.

reception

The Bauhaus band did not produce any significant compositions. Nevertheless, she developed her own musical profile, which in terms of appearance, instruments and repertoire did not correspond to a usual musical group of the 1920s. Although music was not taught at the Bauhaus, the life and study of the Bauhaus people was determined by music, accompanied by the rhythms of the Bauhaus band. The chapel was one of the few Bauhaus works that gained fame beyond Weimar and left a positive impression on society as a whole. The band had its last appearance in February 1933 at the farewell party of the Bauhaus shortly before its self-dissolution forced by the National Socialists . Sound documents of the Bauhaus band have not survived. Since the end of the 1990s, new Bauhaus bands have been formed in various locations, including Weimar.

occupation

Following the Bauhaus exhibition of 1923 , which included a series of musical performances, the Hungarian Bauhaus member Andor Weininger founded the Bauhaus Chapel in the spring of 1924. This included Hanns Hoffmann-Lederer and Rudolf Paris on drums, Heinrich Koch played the devil's violin , and Weininger took over the piano. The first photograph of the band (taken by Louis Held ) comes from the year it was founded; it was taken at an event in the Ilmschlösschen in Weimar. A used piano was purchased for rehearsals, and the canteen served as a rehearsal room. The Bauhaus band was mainly organized from among the Bauhaus students. Well-known members of the group were Andor Weininger (piano), Oskar Schlemmer (movement, dance), Xanti Schawinsky (wire, nails, revolver shots), Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack (accordion), Kurt Schmidt (violin) and Theodore Lux Feininger (clarinet ). Traditional instruments were played as well as the flexaton and lotus flute to generate noise . The slapstick associated with the Bauhaus band made them known and popular across the region. It also contributed to the positive image of the Bauhaus as an advertising medium outside of Weimar and Dessau. The line-up and instrumentation changed over the years.

In the early 1920s had the chapel no wind, because wind instruments during the Great Depression were prohibitive. It was only later that the trombone, saxophone, banjo and clarinet and flexaton were added. The following artists were part of the changing cast:

  • Waldemar Alder (trumpet)
  • Roman Clemens (banjo and drums)
  • Edmund Collein , Andor Weininger and Friedrich-Wilhelm Strenger (piano)
  • Lotte Gerson-Collein (saxophone)
  • Ernst Egeler, Hans Hoffmann, Rudolf Paris and Werner Jackson (drums)
  • Theodore Lux Feininger (banjo and clarinet)
  • Heinrich Koch (devil's violin)
  • Fritz Kuhr (banjo and bumbass)
  • Walter Matthiesen (trombone)
  • Hermann Röseler (trombone and banjo)
  • Xanti Schawinsky (alto and tenor saxophone, cello, flexaton and lotus flute)
  • Josef Tokayer (saxophone and trombone)

repertoire

The repertoire of the Bauhaus band during the Weimar period mainly included improvisations based on folk songs from Germany , Hungary, Czechoslovakia, the Balkans and Russia as well as Jewish melodies. The pieces listed had extraordinary titles, which mostly consisted of a word such as “Unika”, “Matuto”, the “Russian”, the “Hungarian”, the “ Chromatic ”. Other titles were word creations with Dadaist echoes, such as "Bo-la-bo". Jazz classics , hit songs , improvised and classical pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were also played . The band's best-known piece of music was a Bauhaus march , to which the words “Itten-Muche- Mazdaznan ” could be sung as a humorous swipe at the Bauhaus masters Johannes Itten and Georg Muche's penchant for mysticism . The song was based on the first seven notes of a song by Hungarian recruits. It became known internationally as the Bauhaus whistle and was considered the “signature tune” of the Bauhaus people .

Weininger described an appearance with the words:

“We saw a kind of evolution in dance styles. First there was the foxtrot - that was the most common dance at first. Then came Onestep and Twostep, Ragtime and Charleston, then Blues and Shimmy, then Java "

- Michael Siebenbrodt: Jazz band and total work of art - Music at the Bauhaus in Weimar. P. 124.

In addition to jazz, folklore and contemporary music, Weininger mixed Hungarian sounds into the pieces. The band initially played at internal Bauhaus festivals and on excursions to rural Thuringia, where they were the celebrated focal point. She soon gained notoriety beyond Weimar. This led to public appearances in Berlin , Hanover and other cities. The Bauhaus band performed as a jazz band in the second half of the 1920s, including at Berlin carnival and dance events in large halls.

literature

  • Andi Schoon : The Bauhaus Chapel. In: The order of sounds. Bielefeld 2006, pp. 53-54 ( transcript-verlag.de PDF).
  • Martha Ganter: Musical life at the State Bauhaus in Weimar. In: Weimar – Jena: The big city 5/3. 2012, pp. 182–190 ( verlagvopelius.de PDF).
  • Michael Siebenbrodt : Jazz band and total work of art - music at the Bauhaus in Weimar. In: Hellmut Th. Seemann, Thorsten Valk (Hrsg.): Overtone stories. Music culture in Weimar. Yearbook of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar. Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2011, pp. 121-136.
  • Uwe Sauerwein: For the anniversary, the Bauhaus is remembering its stage . In: The world . January 9, 2019, in Dessau it was stricter ( welt.de ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Andi Schoon: The Bauhaus Chapel. In: The order of sounds. Bielefeld, 2006, pp. 53-54.
  2. ↑ Between Bach and Flex-a-ton In: 1919-2019. The modern in Thuringia. Pp. 73-73 ( das-ist-thueringen.de PDF).
  3. ↑ a b Michael Siebenbrodt : Jazz band and total work of art - Music at the Bauhaus in Weimar. In: Hellmut Th. Seemann, Thorsten Valk (Hrsg.): Overtone stories. Music culture in Weimar. Yearbook of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar. Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2011, pp. 121-136.
  4. ↑ The Jackson Archive at bauhaus.de
  5. ↑ Martha Ganter: Musical life at the State Bauhaus in Weimar.
  6. ↑ It hits! They have to hear us - they think of us.
  7. ↑ new bauhaus chapel