Ferdinand Andergassen

Ferdinand Andergassen (born March 25, 1892 in Feldkirch ; † September 10, 1964 in a traffic accident) was an Austrian composer and church musician .

Life

Ferdinand Andergassen studied piano and organ as well as music theory at the Academy for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna .

Andergassen is one of the most important musicians in his hometown Feldkirch, where he worked for many years as a cathedral organist in the Feldkirch parish church, as a music teacher at the Feldkirch music school, as a teacher at the then famous Jesuit high school " Stella Matutina " and at the teacher training institute. Away from the musical centers, Andergassen lived a modest, creative life that was never the subject of many public honors. In his youth he was impressed by the works of Richard Wagner and later by the influences of Impressionism and Expressionism . His music spans the entire spectrum of compositional work - symphonies , piano works, chamber music works , choral works, etc. He composed the first large orchestral mass at the age of 21. He never followed a style in his works. Ultimately, Ferdinand Andergassen created his own world of sound. Andergassen advanced far into the modern age with his chamber music compositions. Often bitter, then again powerful, a bit strange, mostly humorous can his music be described. In his works, polyphonic elements also prevailed, which certainly had their origin in his church music activity. Many of his works were created by and for the Feldkirch music group. In recognition of his musical work, he was awarded the title of professor by the Federal President in 1950. Ferdinand Andergassen's handwritten estate, only a small part of which has been published so far, is kept in the music archive of the city of Feldkirch. It is thanks to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Feldkirch and the Musikschule der Stadt Feldkirch that some of these valuable works are now accessible again as sound recordings or sheet music.

Works

Ferdinand Andergassen created 4 symphonies, 9 large masses, 3 orchestral masses, 1 requiem, 2 organ masses, 1 mass for choir and horn ensemble, motets, proprien, song cycles, some orchestral songs, around 200 songs with piano accompaniment, 6 string quartets, 1 string trio, a piano trio, 2 piano concerts, 6 piano sonatas, 2 operas, 2 operettas and much more. In 1935, Andergassen received the Ministry of Education's sponsorship award for the oratorio “The Song of Wandering”.

To date, only a small part of his work has been published in print. The majority of his compositional work is stored in the music archive of the city of Feldkirch and is waiting there to be rediscovered.

Works (selection)

• "A Little Dance Suite, Op. 69" for piano,
• "De sancto spiritu" - Andergassen's first a cappella mass,
• "Sursum Corda" - orchestral mass,
• "Pictures from the Varieté - String Quartet,
• "Suite in the old style" for string orchestra,
• "Suite for 3 horns and piano",
• "Song cycle" for string quartet and horn,
• "The Song of Wandering" - oratorio,
• "Dido" - opera,
• "The Frog King" - fairy tale opera,
• "Winter am Arlberg" - operetta,
• "Arrow in the Heart" - Operetta (performed in Feldkirch and Bregenz in 1935),
• "Partita" (1957 composition prize from Radio Vorarlberg for this work).

Web links

• Works by Ferdinand Andergassen in the catalog of the German National Library