Felix Woyrsch

Felix Woyrsch (born October 8, 1860 in Opava / Silesia (today Opava ); † March 20, 1944 in Hamburg-Altona ) was a composer , organist , choir director and city music director in Altona.

Felix Woyrsch, drawing by Johann Valett , Hamburg around 1930

Life

Felix Woyrsch grew up in Dresden and later in Altona . His circumstances did not allow him to attend a music college and so Woyrsch was essentially self-taught . He found his place of work in Altona. In 1887 he became director of the Altonaer Liedertafel and in 1893 director of the Altonaer Kirchenchor and in 1895 he took over the management of the Altonaer Singakademie , became organist at the Friedenskirche and then at the Johanniskirche .

In 1903 he created the city symphony and folk concerts, with which the title of city music director was associated. He had already been appointed professor in 1901, and in 1917 he became a member of the Prussian Academy of the Arts in Berlin. In addition to many other honors and prizes, he received the Beethoven Prize of this academy in 1937 . Until 1931 he was “orchestra and choir conductor, then professor and municipal music director i. R. ". His music was performed in large numbers in Germany until 1933. His oratorical works in particular received the greatest attention and recognition. Performances in the USA, England, the Netherlands and Russia are verified. Although Woyrsch was forced to retire in 1933, in the following years the 5th Symphony was broadcast on the radio outside of Altona on October 9, 1935 (Reichssender Hamburg, together with Das Deutsche Sanctus and the three Böcklin Fantasies ) Variations on a theme of their own in Dortmund 1938, 4th Symphony in Schwerin 1940, theme and variations in Oberhausen 1941. The Skaldic Rhapsody op. 50, with the three movements hero saga - lamentation - homeward journey was premiered on April 2, 1903 in Altona. The work has no ideological connection to the later period, but ties in with the general interest in the time in the beginning of the 20th century for Nordic mythology .

Appreciation

Although Woyrsch highly valued his contemporaries Igor Stravinsky , Arnold Schönberg and Paul Hindemith , as a composer he felt less committed to musical innovation and more dedicated to developing a personal style in the classical-romantic tradition. After his death, he was quickly forgotten.

The Pfohl Woyrsch Society e. V. Hamburg, founded in 1993, has set itself the goal of preserving Felix Woyrsch's musical legacy and making it accessible to a wider public.

Catalog raisonné

op. 1 Drei Notturnos for piano
op. 2 Four songs for a voice with piano and violin (or violoncello) (including Heine )
op. 3 Three songs for baritone with piano
op. 4 Schnitter Tod Old German harvest song for male choir
op. 5 Serenade for tenor
op. 6 Three Persian songs for baritone with piano
op. 7 Two songs for mixed choir
op. 8 Two waltzes for piano
op. 9 "If he just wanted to ask" ( Burns ) song for soprano with small orchestra
op. 10 Four songs for mixed choir
op. 11 Three songs for male choir
op. 12 Edward ballad “Your sword, how is it so red from blood” Old Scottish ballad (from Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry , translated by Herder ) for baritone with orchestra
op. 13 Waltz (E flat major) for piano four hands
op. 14 Spanish songbook for one voice with piano
op. 15 Three songs for soprano with piano
op.16 Ten Pied Piper Songs for baritone with piano ( Wolff )
op. 17 theme with variations for piano
op. 18 The Birth of Jesus A Christmas cantata based on the words of the Holy Scriptures for soloists, choir and orchestra
op. 19 Four songs for male choir
op. 20 The priest of Meudon. Comic Opera in One Act (Hamburg 1886)
op. 21 wedding motet “Wo du hinehst”, for mixed choir
op. 22 album sheet for violin and piano
op. 23 Four Impromptus for piano
op. 24 Three songs for male choir
op. 25 Four songs for mixed choir
op. 26 songs with piano
op. 27 The women's war. Volksoper in 3 acts (Hamburg 1890)
op. 28 Four male choirs ( Pfau , Uhland , Kastropp )
op. 29 Motet "Be true to death", for mixed choir.
op. 30 Three songs for male choir
op. 31 Five songs with piano
op. 32 German army ban. Cantata for solos, male choir and orchestra
op. 33 German folk songs for mixed choir, freely arranged. 3 booklets
op. 34 Six songs for female choir in "Novellos octave Edition" (German and English)
op. 35 Two songs for a voice with piano
op. 36 Three songs for male choir
op. 37 Two songs for male choir
op. 38 Three male choirs
op. 39 Der Vandalen Excerpt Ballade for male choir and orchestra
op. 40 Symphonic prologue to Dante's “Divina Commedia”, for large orchestra
op. 41 Four songs for male choir
op. 42 The Amber Witch ( Dahn ). Ballad for mixed choir (or male choir) with piano accompaniment
op. 43 Festival prelude for organ on the chorale "Now thank all God"
op. 44 improvisations for piano
op. 45 Passion Oratorio based on the words of the Holy Scriptures for soloists, choir, orchestra and organ
op. 46 Three sacred folk songs for mixed Cho.
op. 47 Three songs for a voice with piano
op. 48 Metamorphoses for piano
op. 49 Sapphic Ode to Aphrodite for soprano solo, female choir and orchestra
op. 50 Skaldic Rhapsody, Concerto (D minor) for violin and orchestra
op. 51 Dance of Death. A mystery for solos, choir and orchestra
op. 52 l. Symphony (C minor) for large orchestra
op. 53 Three Böcklin fantasies for large orchestra Die Toteninsel , Der Eremit, Im Spiel der Wellen
op. 54 "Da laughed Schön-Sigrid" ballad for choir and orchestra
op.55 string quartet (A minor)
op. 56 Overture to Shakespeare's Hamlet for large orchestra
op. 57 Ode to Death ( Hölderlin ) for male choir and orchestra
op. 58 “Mors triumphans!” Quartet on the spiritual folk song “It is a reaper who is called death”, for four trumpets
op. 59 10 chorale preludes for organ
op. 60 Second Symphony (C major) for large orchestra
op. 61 Since Jesus walked on earth a mystery for solos, choir, boys' choir, orchestra and organ
op. 62 Passacaglia on the Dies irae for organ
op.63 string quartet (C minor)
op.64 string quartet (E flat major)
op.65 Piano Trio (E minor)
op.66 piano quintet (C minor)
op.67 Ten songs and chants for a voice with piano (including Heine and Kerner )
op. 68 “How shines the bright moon” ( Keller ) for male choir a cappella
op. 69 Three eight-part motets for mixed choir
op. 70 III. Symphony (E flat minor) for large orchestra
op. 71 4th Symphony (F major) for large orchestra
op. 72 Sextet (B flat major) for 2 violins, 2 violas and 2 violoncello
op. 73 Das deutsche Sanktus ( Martin Luther ) for choir and orchestra
op.74 String Quartet (B flat major)
op. 75 5th Symphony (D major) for large orchestra
op. 76 theme and variations for large orchestra
op. 77 VI. Symphony (C major) 3 (picc.), 2d1, 2 (Bs.Klar.), 2 - 4,3,3, (1), timp, hp, 12.10.8.6.4
op. 78 String Quartet (C minor) unpublished

Recordings

Felix Woyrsch piano works, Rolf Plagge, piano, aulos / musikado 2004
Romantic Northern Germany (Sopr, Vl, Klav) Hamburg, 1999
Symphony No. 1 op.52 and Symphonic Prologue to Dante's Divina Commedia op.40, MDG 1994
Symphony No. 2, Op. 60 and Hamlet Overture, Op. 56, cpo 2011
Symphony No. 3 op.70 and Three Böcklin Fantasies op.53, cpo 2015
Symphony No. 4 op.71 and Symphony No. 5 op.75, cpo 2018
Passion Oratorio op. 45 - recording from March 9, 1997 / Choir St.Johannis Altona / conducted by Hartmut Imbt

literature

Axel Feuss: Felix Woyrsch, composer and town. Music director in Altona (1860–1944) . Exhibition catalog, Hamburg 1991, ISBN 3-927637-06-8
Ferdinand Pfohl. Felix Woyrsch, a sketch of his life and work . In: ZfM , 1934, vol. 101, pp. 1197-1203

Web links

Individual evidence

^ Fred K. Prieberg: Handbook of German Musicians . 2nd ed. P. 8460
^ Pfohl Woyrsch Society

personal data
SURNAME	Woyrsch, Felix
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German composer
DATE OF BIRTH	October 8, 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH	Opava , Slovakia
DATE OF DEATH	March 20, 1944
Place of death	Hamburg-Altona , Germany

[1] Fred K. Prieberg: Handbook of German Musicians . 2nd ed. P. 8460

[2] Pfohl Woyrsch Society