Eberhard Werdin

Eberhard Werdin (born October 19, 1911 in Spenge ; † May 25, 1991 in Weilheim in Upper Bavaria ) was a German composer and music teacher .

Life

Werdin studied at the Hanover Pedagogical Academy for two years . During this time he began to study composition. He then moved to Bielefeld , where he became a student of the Austrian composer Otto Siegl . At the same time he taught at an elementary school in his hometown Spenge . Werdin finally moved to the Cologne University of Music , where he studied school music with Philipp Jarnach . After graduating, he became a teacher at the Carl Duisberg Grammar School in Leverkusen . From 1952 he headed the Leverkusen City Music School and from 1955 to 1969 he lectured at the Robert Schumann University in Düsseldorf .

In 1973 he was awarded the title of professor and in 1986 the Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class.

He died on May 25, 1991 in Weilheim in Oberbayern at the age of 79 and was buried in his birthplace Spenge. Until his death he lived in Cologne-Dellbrück .

plant

Werdin wrote incidental music, works for school orchestras and professional orchestras , choral music and chamber music , including a large number of works for brass instruments . He has also written on aspects of musical education.

Working at the music school inspired him to write numerous pieces for school use. Therefore, he devoted himself to youth music for many years of his life. Many of his youth operas were written during his time at the Leverkusen music school. Regarding his motivation, he explained in a radio interview in 1983: "This unity of rhythm and sound, of play and dance, of language and song - to sum it all up was my main concern."

Werdin dealt intensively with Carl Orff's school work and European folklore also influenced his work significantly. During the war he came into contact with folk music in Ukraine , Russia , Romania and France, among others , and later incorporated numerous folkloric elements into his compositions.

Addressed by the Middle High German language , the sound of which was pleasantly different for him from everyday colloquial language, in 1950 he wrote the choral works “Drei Mixed Choirs” (op. 24) and “Three Women's Choirs ” (op. 26) in Middle High German.

In the Leverkusen indoor pool he organized the well-known “indoor pool concerts”, using the good acoustics for unusual productions: for example, he had Handel's “water music” played by two oboes and a bassoon while the musicians were pulled across the water in a rubber dinghy.

After his retirement, Werdin, who played the violin and viola himself, shifted the focus of his work to chamber music.

Musical and scenic works for amateur stages (selection)

• "The Emperor's New Clothes", op. 20, (1947)
• "The fisherman and sine fru", op. 30, (1951)
• "Farmer's Calendar", op. 31, (1947)
• "The Pied Piper", op. 53, (1958)
• "The Wonder Clock", op. 28, (1950)

Games for children (selection)

• "The Heinzelmännchen", op. 39, (1954)
• "Puss in Boots" (1961)
• "The fairy tale of the dancing pigs", op. 67, (1963)
• "Circus Troll", op. 81, (1968)

Cantatas and choral music (selection)

• "Three mixed choirs", op. 24, (1950)
• "Three women's choirs", op. 26, (1950)
• "Veni redemptor gentium", op. 44, (1955)
• "Two drinking songs", op. 37, (1953)
• "The Game of Life and Death" (1962, scenic cantata)
• "König Midas", op. 82, for mixed choir, baritone, speaker, 2 pianos and percussion (1969)
• "Canticle of the Sun of Francis of Assisi", op. 107, (1976)

Works for brass instruments (selection)

• "Suite for Brass", op. 52, (1957)
• "Small Concerto" for two trumpets and timpani (1963)
• "Double Concerto" for flute and guitar with string orchestra (1969)
• "Hungarian Czardas Suite", op. 95.1, (1972)
• "Serenade", op. 97, (1973)
• "Sonatina" for trumpet and piano (1967)

Chamber music (selection)

• "Slavic Dance Variations", op. 25, (1950)
• "Capricious impressions from an aquarium", op. 103, for flute and guitar (1974)
• "Dance impressions", op. 131, (1982)

Methodical works

• "Basic considerations for the Orff-Schulwerk", (1958)
• "Rhythmic-musical exercise, a text and exercise book", (1959)
• "Basic musical training on song", (1966)

literature

• Michael Schenk: Between ideology and innovation. Eberhard Werdin and the importance of music practice in school music and music schools in the post-war period . Essen 2001, ISBN 3-89206-059-2
• Horst Braun: Eberhard Werdin, in: Ursula Eckart-Bäcker (Ed.), Studies on the History of Music of the Rhineland III, Cologne 1965, p. 139ff. (Issue 62)

Web links

• Works by and about Eberhard Werdin in the catalog of the German National Library