Bernhard Hamann

Bernhard Hamann (born June 21, 1909 in Hamburg ; † January 27, 1968 there ) was a German violinist , concertmaster of the NDR symphony orchestra , composer and founder of the Hamann Quartet . He was the father of the actress Evelyn Hamann and the solo cellist Gerhard Hamann .

Life

Bernhard Hamann received his first violin lessons at the age of five. After only a year he was playing better than his teacher and at the age of nine he attended the conservatory in his hometown and a year later he played in public concerts. He also had perfect pitch . At the Lichtwark School he found an excellent music teacher in Hermann Schütt who encouraged him very much. At the age of 14 he was already playing safely from sight. Three years later he came to the Berlin University of Music on a scholarship from the City of Hamburg from 1926 to 1931 . His main subject was the well-known German violinist Gustav Havemann . During his student days he was temporarily concertmaster in the Academic Orchestra Berlin. From a young age, Hamann played as a soloist under Karl Muck, Eugen Papst, Arnold Fiedler, Hans Rosbaud and Hermann Abendroth.

In 1931 he was engaged by Karl Muck as first concertmaster of the Philharmonic Orchestra (alongside his future father-in-law Jan Gesterkamp), in 1934 he held the same position at the Reichssender Hamburg, from 1942 to 1945 at the Dresden Philharmonic and from that time until his death again in Hamburg with the NDR (formerly NWDR) Symphony Orchestra. Over the years he worked under the leadership of the most important musicians (including Richard Strauss, Igor Stravinsky and Paul Hindemith). The instrument on which Bernhard Hamann mainly played was a violin by Joannes Baptista Guadagnini from 1737. During a concert tour with the NDR Symphony Orchestra, he suffered a serious heart attack in autumn 1967 in Prague. He began to compose his “Prague String Quartet” in the local hospital and died shortly after its completion in Hamburg on January 27, 1968.

Hamann Quartet

Hamann's special love was making music in a string quartet . In 1933 he founded the first Hamann Quartet , of which he was the first violinist . This quartet association - newly founded in 1945 - had a large classical repertoire and had earned a special reputation at home and abroad. In addition, after the war , the Hamann Quartet had made a name for itself by performing “classical modern” composers such as Schönberg , Berg , Webern , Bartók , Stravinsky, who had not been performed in Germany for years , and by some world premieres such as Philipp Jarnach and Pierre Boulez .

Pedagogue

In addition to his artistic work, Hamann was also a very successful educator. Before he received a professorship at the Hamburg University of Music in 1955, he taught for several years at the Lübeck Music Academy. In Hamburg he led a master class for violin and chamber music. His endeavor was to continue the great German violinist tradition, the main characteristic of which he emphasized was the spiritual fulfillment of musical works. Joachim, Busch, Havemann, those were the names that he followed up on and whose commonality he saw in the fact that the focus was not on the perfect smoothness of the game, but rather on touching the listener directly through an inwardly directed, adventurous and spiritual game.

soloist

Between 1930 and 1966 he played regular solo concerts. He played violin concertos a. a. by Mozart , Beethoven , Brahms , Tschaikowsky and Pfitzner . On December 15, 1935, on the occasion of the 70th birthday of Jean Sibelius, he played his famous and extremely difficult violin concerto. The next day Hamann received a telegram from the composer saying: “Wonderfully played - greetings Sibelius”. In 1947 he played the world premiere of his own violin concerto in E minor (op. 9). Later, in 1962, he played the double concerto for violin, violoncello and orchestra in a- with his son Gerhard Hamann (January 27, 1935 - September 11, 2000), the first solo cellist of the Lower Saxony Symphony Orchestra, who was born in 1935. Minor by Johannes Brahms .

Broadcast recordings

In addition to his concert activities, Hamann took part as a soloist and chamber musician on around 300 radio recordings and some recordings in the period after 1945. His piano partners in performances and recordings of violin sonatas included a. Richard Beckmann, Ferry Gebhardt and Hans Priegnitz. He also recorded many of his own compositions.

Compositions

Bernhard Hamann did not stand out as a composer as he did as an artistic personality, but he produced some very beautiful and touching works, whereby it must also be mentioned that he never studied composition, but learned everything autodidactically.

• op. 1: 2 songs for mezzo-soprano and piano from "The Chinese Flute" (1933)
• op. 2: Rondo capriccioso for violin and orchestra ( Ries & Erler ) (1937) (also with piano)
• op. 3: String Quartet No. 1 in D minor (1937)
• op. 4: 3 songs for mezzo-soprano and piano from "The Chinese Flute" (1939)
• op.5: Concerto for violoncello and orchestra in D minor (Ries & Erler) (1938/39) (premiered by Gaspar Cassadó )
• op. 6: Symphonic impression for large orchestra (Ries & Erler) (1940)
• op. 7: Music for 3 violins for “Immensee” by Theodor Storm
• op.8: Sonata for solo violin in D minor (1942)
• op.9: Concerto for violin and orchestra (1944) (premiered by Bernhard Hamann)
• op.10: Music for 3 violins (1946/47)
• op.10a / b: Traumbild / Tarantella for violin solo (1945)
• op.11: Small suite for 2 violins (1947)
• op.11b: Quartet movement (1947)
• op.12: Suite for violin and piano (1948/49?) 3 movements
• op.13: Music for 2 violins (1948)
• op.14: String Quartet No. 2 (1948)
• op. 15: Christmas music (Vom Himmel hoch / Song of the Shepherds) for 2 violins and viol
• WoO: Music for a cultural film (1953)
• WoO: Nocturne and Jeu des Ondes for violin and orchestra (also with piano) (Ries & Erler)
• WoO: String Quartet No. 3 "Prague String Quartet" (1967)
• WoO: Numerous small pieces with a small cast (different years)

Hamann also wrote cadenzas for the violin concertos by Ludwig van Beethoven , Johannes Brahms , Joseph Haydn (C major), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (B major) and for Mozart's flute concerto in G major.

swell

• Gabriele Joachim (Ed.): Bernhard Hamann. Documents from his professional life, 27143496, Schleswig-Holstein State Library, 1999.
• Music in Past and Present (MGG), Volume 16 (1979).
• Riemann music dictionary.

Web links

• Works by and about Bernhard Hamann in the catalog of the German National Library
• Bernhard Hamann plays his own composition (YouTube video)
• Ries & Erler music publisher