Franz Xaver Meyer (conductor)
Franz Xaver Meyer (born August 28, 1933 in Vienna ; † September 3, 2017 there ) was an Austrian conductor , pianist , choir director and music teacher .
Life
Meyer was born in 1933 as the son of the tenor and director of the Vienna Cathedral Choir Rudolf Meyer (1894–1961) and great-great-nephew of Leopold von Meyer . He received his musical training from Josef Lechthaler (private), at the Academy for Music and Performing Arts Vienna (today mdw) from Ferdinand Grossmann , Hans Gillesberger , Anton Heiller , Alfred Uhl (1952 matriculation examination for composition and music theory; 1955 teaching qualification) and Henriette Berger-Schmölz (1953 state examination for piano with distinction) and at the University of Vienna , where he wrote a dissertation on Diecomplained uplift in the Nibelungenlied (1959) to the doctor of German studies.
From the age of ten he was a member of the Vienna Boys' Choir ; afterwards he was a member of the Wiener Kantorei and the Wiener Singakademie . In 1951 Meyer founded the Vienna Madrigal Choir, which won first prize at the Austrian Federal Youth Singing in Salzburg in 1956 and which he directed until 2006. In 2009 this choir dissolved. From 1956 to 1959 he was conductor and choirmaster of the Vienna Boys' Choir , from 1960 to 1984 of the Vienna Academy Chamber Choir and from 1976 to 1987 of the Vienna Men's Choir . From 1964 to 1984 Meyer was the choir director at the Theater an der Wien , whose choir members were largely identical to those of the Vienna Academy Chamber Choir at that time.
At the Franz Schubert Conservatory he headed the department for elementary music education and taught ensemble management, solo singing and cultural studies; Furthermore, between 1960 and 1994 he taught music and German at several Viennese grammar schools, most recently at the Goethe-Gymnasium Astgasse, whose school choir, the Vienna Goethe Choir, he founded and directed for decades.
Meyer also worked as a guest conductor of domestic and foreign ensembles, for example at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance , as a juror in choir competitions, as an employee in music magazines, as a speaker at choir directing and voice training seminars in Vienna, Lower Austria, Upper Austria and South Tyrol as well as a specialist advisor to the Austrian Ministry of Education in educational commissions and as a visiting lecturer, etc. a. at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna .
In addition to the musical precision he always strives for, the ability to depict the character of the phrases with his hands is particularly noteworthy. The gestures of his conducting showed a magical aesthetic that one could not or did not want to escape.
From 1991 he ran a vocal studio he founded.
Meyer was married to the opera singer and singing teacher Helga Meyer-Wagner . Her son Christian is a cultural manager, her daughters Angelika (1963–1988) and Roswitha were or are actresses.
In his home parish Scheiblingstein / Klosterneuburg he played the organ for decades during church services.
Works
- Xaver Meyer: Choir Direction, Universal Edition, Vienna, 1984, ISBN 978-3-7024-0123-8
Honors
- 1976: Gold Medal of Merit of the Republic of Austria
- 1995: Gold Medal of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria
- 2001: Papal Commander's Cross of the New Year's Eve
- 2002: Silver Medal of Honor for Services to the State of Vienna
- 2003: Gold Medal of Honor for Services to Church Music in the Diocese of St. Pölten
- 2003: Gold medal for services to the state of Lower Austria
literature
- Alexander Rausch : Meyer, family, noble of. In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon . Online edition, Vienna 2002 ff., ISBN 3-7001-3077-5 ; Print edition: Volume 3, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-7001-3045-7 .
- Vienna Madrigal Choir: a chronicle of 50 years of choral history, Vienna 2001 (brochure in the Austrian National Library, Music Collection, 1654543-C)
Web links
- Xaver Meyer on the website of the Vienna Madrigal Choir
- Xaver Meyer Directory of phonograms on discogs.com
- Honored by the City of Vienna in 2003
Individual evidence
- ^ Considerations on the almost 55th anniversary of the Vienna Madrigal Choir . 1133.at. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
- ↑ Austrian Music Lexicon: Meyer, Familie, Edle von
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Meyer, Franz Xaver |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Meyer, Xaver |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian conductor, pianist, choir director and music teacher |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 28, 1933 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Vienna |
| DATE OF DEATH | 3rd September 2017 |
| Place of death | Vienna |