Günther Ramin

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Günther Ramin 1950
300 Pfennig special stamp from Germany (1998) for Ramin's 100th birthday

Günther Werner Hans Ramin (born October 15, 1898 in Karlsruhe , † February 27, 1956 in Leipzig ) was a German organist , harpsichordist , choir director and composer .

Life

Ramin was born as the son of the superintendent in Karlsruhe. In 1900 the Ramin family moved to Groß-Lichterfelde near Berlin and in 1903 to Schkeuditz between Halle and Leipzig. From 1910 he first visited the Latina August Hermann Francke . In the same year he was accepted into the St. Thomas Choir under St. Thomas Cantor Gustav Schreck and attended the St. Thomas School in Leipzig . Afterwards he studied on the advice of the then Thomas organist Karl Straube from 1914 to 1917 at the Conservatory of Music in Leipzig, initially concentrating on the piano. His teacher was Robert Teichmüller . Later came organ lessons from Karl Straube, whom he also represented in the St. Thomas Church, and composition studies with Stephan Krehl . From 1917 to 1918 he took part in the First World War in France as a one-year volunteer .

In 1919 (election) and 1923/24 (transfer of office / employment contract) Ramin succeeded the Straube Thomas organist at the Leipzig Thomaskirche, who had been appointed Thomaskantor . In 1920 he also became a Gewandhaus organist and taught as an organ teacher at the Conservatory's Church Music Institute . In 1932, shortly after his appointment as professor , he was offered a professorship at the Berlin Conservatory, but soon gave up this professorship. From 1922 to 1935 he was also the choir conductor of the Leipziger teacher's choir. From 1929 to 1935 he was also the conductor of the Leipzig Symphony Orchestra .

Like his teacher Straube, he was involved in the German organ movement . He was inspired by Hans Henny Jahnn and the discovery of the Arp Schnitger organ in St. Jacobi in Hamburg . In 1929 he published his thoughts on the clarification of the organ problem . From 1933 he was co-editor of the magazine Musik und Kirche , which is closely related to the organ movement and has been published by Bärenreiter-Verlag since 1929 .

Ramin traveled through Europe as an organ virtuoso and also made guest appearances in the USA (1933, 1934) and in South America (1954). His international success aroused desires among the National Socialists, who tried to use him for their own purposes. He played in 1935 at the wedding of Hermann Goering and consecrated in 1936 the great Walckerorgel on the Nazi Party in Nuremberg one. In 1942 he was appointed director of the Reichs Bruckner Choir in Linz . The first concerts under Ramin's direction took place in Leipzig. In April 1944, Ramin resigned from this choirmaster's office. He was one of two organists on Goebbels' so-called Gottbegnadeten list from 1944, which protected artists from military service.

From 1933 to 1938 and again from 1945 to 1951, Ramin also directed the GewandhausChor , in 1935 he became director of the Berlin Philharmonic Choir , which he had to give up in 1943 due to the war. From 1943 to 1944 he directed the newly founded Reichs-Brucknerchor of the Reichsrundfunkgesellschaft Leipzig, which was made up of members of the disbanded radio choirs. His contract was limited in time because Ramin was not prepared to give up the leadership of the St. Thomas Choir and move with the Reichs-Brucknerchor to Linz at St. Florians Stift .

It was very important to Ramin to lead a mixed choir, as this choir sound came closer to its ideal sound than that of a boys' choir alone. As a Thomaskantor, he often put together performances by the St. Thomas Choir and the Gewandhaus Choir . He officially gave up his collaboration with the Gewandhaus Choir due to overload. But before that there were disputes between the Gewandhauskapellmeister and him about the artistic interests of the choir.

On October 18, 1939, Ramin (again as Straube's successor) was appointed Thomaskantor in Leipzig, which he remained from 1940 until his death. With the change of office from Straube to Ramin, the activity of the St. Thomas Choir in the St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig was stopped. Since then, this has mainly appeared in the Thomaskirche. The aim of the change of cantorate was to give the St. Thomas Choir more secular tasks, among other things by founding the Musisches Gymnasium Leipzig in 1941, of which Ramin was appointed artistic director. Since he was struggling with contradictions, he gave up this post at the end of 1942. The aim of the National Socialists to couple the Thomaskantorat with the artistic direction of the Musisches Gymnasium Leipzig had failed.

Günther Ramin's grave site

After 1945 Ramin managed to quickly restore the St. Thomas' Choir to a high international reputation. As Thomaskantor, he was primarily committed to the work of his great predecessor Johann Sebastian Bach . Ramin was President of the Bach Committee of the GDR , executive board member of the New Bach Society , artistic director of the Bach Competition in 1950 and director of the Bach festivals in Leipzig in 1950, 1953 and 1955. He was also a board member of the International Bach Society . In 1950 Ramin was made an honorary doctorate from the University of Leipzig . A year later he received the national 2nd class prize of the GDR for his services at the Leipzig Bach Festival.

Günther Ramin's circle of students was large, some of whom were later also known such as Hugo Distler , Paul-Heinz Dittrich , Albrecht Haupt , Diethard Hellmann , Hanns-Martin Schneidt , Carl Seemann , Karl Richter , Helmut Walcha , Günter Metz and Ruth Zechlin .

On February 27, 1956, Ramin died at the age of 57 as a result of a stroke in Leipzig. He was buried in the Leipzig Südfriedhof (2nd division). His successor in office was Kurt Thomas .

Commerzienrat Gustav Jung was Günther Ramin's uncle.

Awards

Works

  • Vocal works
    • The thirteenth psalm. Lord, how long will you forget about me? (1928). Psalm composition for four-part male choir and orchestra.
    • The beautiful splendor of God breaks out of Zion. and Lord, hear my prayer !. Two motets for four- to six-part choir.
  • Organ works
    • Fantasy in E minor (1924)
    • Prelude, Largo and Fugue (1927)
    • Organ choir suite (1928)
    • Choral Prelude (1931)
    • Canzona
  • Chamber music
    • Sonatas in C major for violin and piano op.1 (1922)

Documents

Letters from Günther Ramin from 1926 to 1949 are in the holdings of the Leipzig music publisher CFPeters in the Leipzig State Archives .

Varia

  • The Jehmlich - Organ of Wurzner cathedral was built in 1932 - the selection of the 46 registers in its characteristic timbre responsible Günther Ramin.

literature

  • Bernd-Rainer Barth , Elke Reuter:  Ramin, Günther . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
  • Elisabeth Hasse: Memories of Günther Ramin. Berlin 1958
  • Diethard Hellmann (ed.): Johann Sebastian Bach end and beginning. Commemorative publication for the 75th birthday of Thomas Cantor Günther Ramin. Wiesbaden 1973
  • Lenka von Koerber : The Thomaskantor. Detailed curriculum vitae of Günther Ramin as an independent book chapter (pp. 141–155) In: Lenka von Koerber: Der Thomanerchor und seine Kantor. Hamburg-Volksdorf 1954, DNB 452503159 .
  • Wolfgang Langner: The Gewandhaus Choir in Leipzig. Beucha 2005.
  • Martin Petzoldt : Die Thomasorganisten zu Leipzig , in: Christian Wolff (Hrsg.): Die Orgeln der Thomaskirche zu Leipzig , Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2012, pp. 95-137 (pp. 125–129), ISBN 3-374-02300- 2 .
  • Charlotte Ramin: Günther Ramin. A life story. Freiburg 1958.
  • Charlotte Ramin: companions in the spirit of Johann Sebastian Bach. Darmstadt 1981.
  • Ramin, Günther. In: Brockhaus-Riemann Musiklexikon. CD-Rom, Directmedia Publishing, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89853-438-3 , p. 8533 f.
  • Gottfried Schmiedel: Günther Ramin. In: Dietrich Brennecke, Hannelore Gerlach, Mathias Hansen (eds.): Musicians in our time. Members of the music section of the GDR Academy of the Arts. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1979, p. 96 ff.

Web links

Commons : Günther Ramin  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ P. 14 in: Fritz Fichtner: The cathedral to Wurzen and its renewal. Special print from the work “Saxon Buildings and Art Monuments” with 27 illustrations. Published by the Saxon Heritage Protection Association, Dresden 1933.
personal data
SURNAME Ramin, Günther
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ramin, Günther Werner Hans (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German organist, harpsichordist, choir director and composer
DATE OF BIRTH October 15, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Karlsruhe
DATE OF DEATH February 27, 1956
Place of death Leipzig