Eberhard Kraus

Eberhard Kraus

Eberhard Kraus (born February 17, 1931 in Regensburg ; † October 23, 2003 there ) was a German organist , harpsichordist and composer . His main work was his work as a cathedral organist at Regensburg Cathedral from 1964 to 1996.

Live and act

Eberhard Kraus completed organ , piano , harpsichord and composition studies at the State University of Music in Munich with Heinrich Wismeyer and Friedrich Högner from 1950–1956 . He received several honorary diplomas and awards at international competitions and in 1959 was included in the national selection of concerts by young artists of the German Music Council. This was followed by concert tours as an organist and harpsichordist in Germany, Italy, Spain, France, England, Ireland, Scotland, Yugoslavia, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

His compositional oeuvre encompasses more than 300 works from a wide variety of disciplines in the guise of twelve-tone technique . He also created organ transcriptions and reconstructions of works by other composers. At the age of 21 (1952), Kraus founded the so-called "Sunday Organ Lessons" in the Minoritenkirche in Regensburg, a series of concerts of lively music history from all epochs including modern times, which he supervised for over 50 years as a mentor, interpreter and organizer until shortly before his death (1,100 concerts).

Kraus taught music theory at the University of Regensburg as well as organ and organ building studies at the Academy for Catholic Church Music in Regensburg . He was the director of the Collegium musicum Regensburg with a series of oratorios and a chamber music series , and initiated the cathedral concerts in the High Cathedral in Regensburg, at which around 100 renowned guest organists of international origin played over the course of 27 years.

Eberhard Kraus founded the Regensburg Bach Week and the “Studio Neue Musik Oberpfalz” concert series. In addition, he carried out research on music history, which he published in many articles and books (e.g. in the four-volume organ documentation , in historical organs of the Upper Palatinate, etc.).

Kraus made numerous radio recordings for domestic and foreign broadcasters. There are also many record and CD productions with his participation, a total of around 200 works by around 55 different composers (including Johann Sebastian Bach Das Orgelbüchlein and the entire harpsichord work by Georg Friedrich Handel , recorded on historical instruments from the collection of the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg ). Eberhard Kraus was editor of the edition series Cantantibus organis with compositions of old masters (24 issues).

The "Eberhard Kraus Foundation" for the promotion of young organists (founded in 2004) aims to promote young, talented organists selected by the Board of Trustees by arranging and rewarding concerts in important churches or concert halls. She is committed to the task of including and interpreting a larger organ work by the composer Eberhard Kraus in the respective program.

honors and awards

Eberhard Kraus received several awards, e.g. B. the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon , the Culture Prize East Bavaria and the order " Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice " from Pope John Paul II.

He was involved in numerous social projects in the Holy Land . In 1975 he was appointed Knight of the Order of Knights of the Holy Sepulcher by Cardinal Grand Master Maximilien Cardinal de Fuerstenberg and invested in the order on May 2, 1975 in the Regensburg Cathedral by Lorenz Cardinal Jaeger , Grand Prior of the German Lieutenancy .

Fonts

• Historic organs in the Upper Palatinate. Munich 1990.
• Organs and organ music. Regensburg 1972, 3 editions.
• With organ sound and drum sound. Regensburg 1980.
• Handbook of Organ Practice for EGB Praise to God. Regensburg 1977.
• Organ documentation of the Diocese of Regensburg , episodes 1–4. Regensburg 1974–1987.

Discography (selection)

Eberhard Kraus at the Steinmeyer organ of the Minoritenkirche in Regensburg

• Johann Sebastian Bach: Famous harpsichord works ( Italian Concerto , Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in D major BWV 912, Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue , French Suite No. 6 in E major), Label: Da Camera / Sastruphon (LP)
• Johann Sebastian Bach: Do you want to give your heart to me - From the little music book Anna Magdalena Bach (with Charlotte Lehmann, soprano , Marc Stehle, baritone , Eberhard Kraus, harpsichord) (Aria di giovannini, Menuet in G major / G minor / G- Major, Marche in D major, Menuet in G major, Musette in D major, As often as I use my tobacco pipe, etc.), Label: Sastruphon SM 007029
• Organ music from six centuries (organ works by JS Bach, Max Reger , Charles-Marie Widor , from the Codex St. Emmeram , the Buxheimer organ book , by Josquin Desprez / Alonso Mudarra, Th. Preston, Gregor Aichinger , Nicolas Antoine Le Bègue , Domenico Scarlatti , Johann Simon Mayr and Eberhard Kraus), label: Calig
• Romantic cathedral music (organ works by Max Reger, Franz Liszt , Johannes Brahms ), label: MPS / BASF
• Historical organs in the Eastern Bavarian Danube region (organ works by Georg Muffat , Gottlieb Muffat , FA Hugl, G. Pachelbel, Theodor Grünberger , M. Königsberger), label: Christopherus / disco-center
• Italian church music of the late baroque (with Gertraud Stoklassa, soprano, and Eberhard Kraus, organ) (organ works by Domenico Scarlatti, Antonio Foggia , Giovanni Battista Bassani , Pietro Andrea Ziani , Gaetano Felice Piazza , Domenico Zipoli and Giovanni Battista Martini ), label: Christopherus
• Court music with the Prince of Thurn and Taxis (harpsichord works by Joseph Touchemoulin , Joseph Riepel , Karl Alexander Prince of Thurn and Taxis and Franz Xaver Pokorny ), label: Polydor International GmbH
• Georg Friedrich Händel : Famous harpsichord works (Suite in E major, Suite in G minor, Air and Doubles in F major, Menuet in B major (Aylesford collection), Suite in G major), Label: Da Camera
• The Munich Baroque Trio plays trio sonatas (with Bernhard Walter, transverse flute , Sebastian Ladwig, viola da gamba , Eberhard Kraus, harpsichord) (chamber music by Jean-Baptiste Loeillet , Johann David Heinichen , Joseph Bodin de Boismortier and Philipp Heinrich Erlebach ), label: Camerata
• Organ concert in Regensburg Cathedral (organ works by Josef Gabriel Rheinberger , Joseph Renner jun. , Max Reger and Eberhard Kraus), label: Christopherus
• Hans-Ludwig Schilling - Organ works (Canonical variations on Singet, praises God with joy and fantasy e Ricercare 63 on Veni creator spiritus ), Label: Da camera magna SM 93225
• Music per organo (organ works by Bach, Liszt, Reger, Franck and Boelmann), label: PDU EMI
• Musica natalizia barocca per organo (organ works by PJ Desponsatione, Jean-François Dandrieu , Valentin Rathgeber , Louis-Claude Daquin , Georg Muffat, JS Bach, Johann Pachelbel , Dietrich Buxtehude , Theodor Grünberger and Marianus Königsperger ), label: PDU EMI (LP) , PILZ CD 160 143 (CD, under the title Christmas Organ Music )
• Musica organistica del Barocco Europeo (organ works by Georg Muffat, Dietrich Buxtehude, JS Bach, A. Philips, Francesco Durante , Bohuslav Matěj Černohorský , Juan Cabanilles and Jean-François Dandrieu )
• Lotte Backes - Organ Works , Label: Mixtur (Recordings: Sender Free Berlin / Bayerischer Rundfunk)
• Sacred music from six centuries (with the Munich Madrigal Choir under the direction of Franz Brandl) (organ works by Gabriel Joseph Rheinberger), brand: academica, no.M-2081, 1981
• Concert music in Rohr (concert for organ alone op.25 by Father Konstantin Mach )
• Johann Sebastian Bach - Great Organ Works (Doric Toccata and Fugue BWV 538, Prelude and Fugue in D major BWV 532, “Who only lets God rule” BWV 642, Fantasy and Fugue in G minor BWV 542, Prelude and Fugue in E minor BWV 548), label: Mediaphon, 1984
• Johann Sebastian Bach - Famous Organ Works ( Toccata and Fugue in F major BWV 540 , Doric Toccata and Fugue BWV 538, Fantasy in G major BWV 572), Label: VIOLA
• Music of a saint - Alfons von Liguori (pieces for harpsichord by Gaetano Greco and Alessandro Scarlatti ), label: Lorby
• Awake the trumpets lofty sound (Alessandro Scarlatti: Toccata in C major for 3 trumpets, timpani and organ), label: Deutsche Grammophon 419 245-1
• The Munich Baroque Trio (flute, viol, harpsichord), works by Antonio Lotti , Bach, Rameau, Johann Joachim Quantz
• Georg Friedrich Händel - Complete harpsichord works , cassette with 10 records or CDs, label: Da camera magna (LP), EBS (CD)
• Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 8 - Rafael Kubelík , organ part: Eberhard Kraus, label: Deutsche Grammophon 2707062
• Johann Sebastian Bach - Concerts for harpsichord and orchestra : Harpsichord Concerts BWV 1052, BWV 1063 and BWV 1064 (the latter two for three harpsichords, all solo parts recorded by E. Kraus in the playback process), with the Pro Arte chamber orchestra under Kurt Redel , Label: Zyx Classic CLS 4158 (CD)
• The Best of Bach II - Signature Series , on it: Prelude and Fugue in A minor BWV 559 (for organ), Label: St. Clair CSS30152
• Johann Sebastian Bach - Das Orgelbüchlein : Organ chorals and choral movements. Eberhard Kraus at the organ of the Niedermünsterkirche in Regensburg. With the choir of the church music school in Regensburg under the direction of Karl Norbert Schmid. Label: Christophorus SCK 70359
• Bach Organ Works Eberhard Kraus - Organ / Organ - 1st Prelude and Fugue in E minor BWV 548, 2nd Trio Sonata No. 6 in G major BWV 530, 3rd Prelude and Fugue in D major BWV 532, 4th Vom Himmel hoch , here I come from, Canonical Changes BWV 769, 5th Toccata and Fugue in F major BWV 540. Label: Point Classics, 2672692, 1996
• Various harpsichord recordings of works by the composers Hugh Ashton, Pierre Attaignant, Johann Sebastian Bach (the Well-Tempered Clavier, English and French Suites, Italian Concerto, etc.), John Bull, William Byrd, Antonio de Cabezoni, Francois Couperin, Johann Joseph Fux, Girolamos Frecobaldi, Georg Friedrich Händel, Johann Kuhnau, Leopold Mozart, Hans Neusiedler, Jacob Paix, Henry Purcell, Jean Philipe Rameau and Bernhard Schmid for the label Primaton Produktion Munich (source: catalog raisonné Part I by Eberhard Kraus)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ eberhard-kraus.de
2. ↑ eberhard-kraus.de
3. ↑ eberhard-kraus.de , accessed on April 22, 2010

Web links

• Works by and about Eberhard Kraus in the catalog of the German National Library
• Foundation and publishing house Eberhard Kraus
• Kraus biography at the Collegium Musicum Regensburg ( Memento from August 18, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
• Kraus biography at Bach-Cantatas.com (English)