Georg Hendrik Witte

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Georg Hendrik Witte around 1880

Georg Hendrik Witte (born November 16, 1843 in Utrecht / Netherlands; † February 3, 1929 in Essen ) was a Dutch professor, composer, royal and municipal music director and head of the music association in Essen. He significantly shaped the musical life of the city of Essen.

Life

Witte was born as the third child of the German organ builder Christian Gottlieb Friedrich Witte (1802–1873) and Dorothea Antoinetta, née Dorothea Antoinetta. Lagers (1810–1884). His brothers were Johann Frederik (1840–1902), Georg Hendrik I (1842–1842), Johann Christiaan (1845–1909), Rudolf (1847–1847) and Rudolph (1850–1905). Witte grew up in Utrecht. At an early age he followed his inclinations for music. After finishing school he studied from May 1859 to July 1862 at the Royal Music School in The Hague in the subjects of piano, violin and organ. His teachers included WFG Nicolai (organ, composition) and Charles van der Does (piano).

Witte continued his music studies at the Leipzig Conservatory (1862-1865). His teachers included Ignaz Moscheles , Carl Reinecke , Moritz Hauptmann and Ernst Friedrich Richter . The first published compositions were also created during this time. From 1867 to 1869 he stayed in Thann, Alsace, as the successor to Franz Stockhausen, where he gave music lessons to major daughters and led a wind orchestra. Then he returned to Leipzig. When the Franco-German war broke out, Witte went to his parents' house in Utrecht and performed there with chamber music and organ concerts. Since he saw no professional prospects in the Netherlands, he decided to return to Leipzig.

On the recommendation of Carl Reinecke, in November 1871 Witte took over the position of director of the music club in Essen, founded in 1838, as the successor to Philipp B. Rüfer, which he held until he retired from active service in 1911. The development of musical life in Essen went hand in hand with the tumultuous economic and industrial development of the city. Witte's invitation to Johannes Brahms , whom he particularly admired, to a concert dedicated to the composer on March 2, 1884 was a major musical event for Essen. Brahms agreed to a fee of 600 marks, "which can be exceeded with pleasure".

On May 26, 1882, Witte was appointed Royal Prussian Music Director. The city of Essen provided the vocal ensemble of the Essener Musikverein founded by Wilhelm Nedelmann in 1838 with a corresponding orchestra and on April 1, 1899 established the office of city music director for the choir director Georg Hendrik Witte. Today's Essen Philharmonic was formed from this 42-member municipal orchestra led by Witte. His other initiatives include the new building of the municipal hall, which was opened in 1904 as part of a two-day music festival in the presence of Richard Strauss. On May 29, 1905, Witte was appointed royal professor.

From 26. to 28. May 1906 took place in Essen the annual meeting of the "General German Music Association" (ADMV) and the "42. German Tonkünstlerfest ”, which Witte was commissioned to carry out. The focus was on the world premiere of the 6th Symphony by Gustav Mahler under the direction of the composer.

As part of the choir work, Witte set up the so-called “small choir school” with weekly lessons for the youngsters. The knowledge and experience he gained in the process found its way into the scientific-pedagogical work completed in 1920/21 on "Theory and Practice in Music - Contributions to Cultivating Sound Awareness with Practical Waving and Advice for Beginners in Music". In the post-war period, however, there was no publisher interested in printing this work, the manuscript of which has been lost.

In the later years of his activity, Witte had to defend himself against opponents and critics of the concert programs that competed with the Essen Music Association and its director with the establishment of the “Musical Society” and its own concert events.

family

Witte married Maria Elbers (1852–1891), daughter of the lawyer Friedrich Wilhelm Elbers and Anna Adelheid, born in Essen in 1874. Brügelmann. The daughter, Johanna, who was born a year later, died just a month after the birth. Since then, the marriage has remained childless. After Maria's death, Witte married Gertrud Breidbach (1868–1951), daughter of Josef Breidbach (1831–1913) and his wife Clara Caroline Henriette, born in 1892. Grindel (1843-1911). This marriage resulted in three children: Hermann Witte (1893–1965), Oskar Witte (1895–1990) and Marianne Witte married. Schmidt (1897-1977).

Witte died on February 3, 1929 of complications from bronchitis. In recognition of his services, the city of Essen renamed the former Gärtnerstrasse Wittestrasse - today Hendrik-Witte-Strasse - in the so-called Tonkünstlerviertel in Essen's southern district . Hendrik Witte was buried in the Bredeney cemetery.

Compositional work

Witte's printed compositional work includes compositions with and without opus information. The early works were created during the stay in Leipzig. The most famous compositions from this period are the waltzes for the piano for four hands, written in 1868 and dedicated to Johannes Brahms, the award-winning piano quartet in A major, op. 5, and the quintet for string instruments and horn (1871). The most mature work is the Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 18, first performed in Essen in 1889 and published by Tischer & Jagenberg, which Adolf Busch played in a concert on February 15, 1916 in Gürzenich in Cologne. The concert overture for orchestra performed on July 14, 1874 in Essen under the direction of the composer has been lost, as has the unknown work called Opus 9. Witte's compositions are written in the style of the “ Leipzig School ”. In Gaston Dejmek's judgment, they have a "balance of delicate formals, the fluidity of harmoniously bound sentences, the sensitive expression of everything that is singing."

Catalog raisonné

With opus details

  • Waltz for the Pianoforte, op. 1 - dedicated to Anna Mehlig, Breitkopf & Härtel 1865/66
  • Three clay pieces for the piano for four hands, op. 2 - dedicated to Clara Schumann, GF Peters
  • Waltz for the pianoforte, op. 3 - dedicated to Charles van der Does, Bremen, Praeger & Meier
  • Four impromptus for the pianoforte, op.4 - dedicated to Ignaz Moscheles, Bremen, Praeger & Meier (1866)
  • Quartet in A major for pianoforte, violin, viola and violoncello, op.5 - Carl Reinecke donated, Bremen, Praeger & Meier, 1867 (new edition by Merton Music, No. 4738)
  • Five songs for soprano or tenor with accompaniment of the pianoforte, op. 6 - assigned to Josef Schild, Bremen, Praeger & Meier
  • Waltz for the piano for four hands, op.7 - Johannes Brahms dedicated, Bremen, Praeger & Meier, 1868
  • Sonatina in C major for piano for four hands, op. 8 - Marie Mertzdorff, Cécile Paraf and Jeanne Schayer, Leipzig, EW Fritzsch
  • Three songs for a voice with accompaniment of the piano, op. 10 - Ida Eichhoff dedicated, Bremen, Paeger & Meier
  • Deux morceaux characteristiques pour le piano, op.11, Bremen, Praeger & Meier
  • Concert for violoncello, op.12 (1877)
  • Two character pieces for the pianoforte, op. 13 - donated to Carl Heymann, Bremen, Praeger & Meier
  • Three pieces for pianoforte and violoncello, op. 14 - WFG Nicolai zugeeignet, (price composition), Leipzig, J. Rieter-Biedermann
  • Sonata for pianoforte and violoncello, op.15 - Adolphe Fischer dedicated (price composition),
  • Elegy for violin and orchestra, op.16 - dedicated to Joseph Joachim, Bremen, Praeger & Meier (reprinted by H.-J. Witte, 2011)
  • To the sun! For mixed choir and orchestra or pianoforte, op. 17 - poem from Paul Heyse's novel Die Kinder der Welt , dedicated to the memory of a dear deceased, Bremen, Praeger & Meier
  • Concerto for violin in D major, op.18, Tischer & Jagenberg, Cologne 1914

Without opus information

  • Avondlied for voice with accompaniment of the pianoforte
  • Nachts, poem by O. Rocquette, for voice with accompaniment of the pianoforte
  • Festival march - to celebrate December 13, 1881, for four-handed pianoforte
  • Arrangement of Allegretto alla Polacca from the Serenade op.8 by L. van Beethoven for the pianoforte
  • 25 Clavier-Etudes by JB Cramer
  • Choral book - following the Protestant hymn book for Rhineland and Westphalia, December 1894/1900
  • Three songs from “Der Trompeter von Säckingen” based on texts by Josef Victor von Scheffel
  • Quintet for string instruments & horn

Most of the compositions were performed several times in public concerts during Witte's lifetime. In the meantime they have largely been forgotten, are out of print as printed notes and are mostly only available in antiquarian versions. Most of the compositional legacy is in the family archive of the Witte descendants. The image catalog of the music department of the Berlin State Library also contains a significant part of the works under Music Books and Notes I that are incorrectly cataloged there under the name Georg Heinrich Witte.

In the virtual Petrucci music library of the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), the sheet music of the following works by GH Witte is offered:

  • Waltz for the pianoforte, op.1
  • Three clay pieces for the piano for four hands, op.2
  • Piano quartet in A major, op.5
  • Five songs for soprano or tenor with accompaniment of the pianoforte, op.6
  • Waltz for piano four hands, op.7
  • Sonatina in C major for pianoforte for four hands, op.8
  • Deux morceaux caractéristiques pour le piano, op.11
  • Two character pieces for the pianoforte, op.13
  • Three pieces for violoncello and piano, op.14
  • Elegy for violin and orchestra, op.16
  • To the sun for mixed choir and orchestra or piano, op.17
  • Concerto for violin and orchestra in D major, op.18
  • Avondlied for voice
  • At night for singing voice
  • Quintet for string instruments & horn. op.post.
  • Festival march for pianoforte for 4 hands, op. Post.

literature

  • Gernot Wojnarowicz (editor): Essen Music Association 150 Years 1838–1988, Festschrift, An illustrated history of the Essen Music Association in essays, Essen 1988
  • Gaston Dejmek: Georg Hendrik Witte - Life and Work - A contribution to the history of the Essen Music Association
  • Theater & Philharmonie Essen GmbH (Ed.): 100 Years of Essen Philharmonic Orchestra, druck-team Hütte GmbH, Essen 1999

Individual evidence

  1. ^ (Letter from J. Brahms to GH Witte, in: Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung of May 7, 1988, No. 107).
  2. ↑ Chorstadt Essen - It started with Nedelmann ; on Essen.de
  3. ↑ Franz Feldens: Johann Wilh. Georg Nedelmann . In: Music and musicians in the city of Essen . Bacmeister's National Verlag, Essen 1936, p. 181 ff .
  4. ↑ Erwin Dickhoff: Essen heads. Ed .: City of Essen, Historical Association for the City and Abbey of Essen. Klartext, Essen 2015, ISBN 978-3-8375-1231-1 , p. 369 .
  5. ↑ http://musikipac.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/ipac_musik/catalog/main?cn=S&lin=S7660959&rin=S7670035&ro=1&css=11&cop=:osy
personal data
SURNAME Witte, Georg Hendrik
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch composer, royal and municipal music director
DATE OF BIRTH November 16, 1843
PLACE OF BIRTH Utrecht
DATE OF DEATH February 3, 1929
Place of death eat