Gerard Bunk

Gerard Bunk at the Walcker organ by St. Reinoldi, Dortmund - lithograph by Emil Stumpp , 1931

Gerard Bunk (born March 4, 1888 in Rotterdam , † September 13, 1958 in Kamen ) was a German-Dutch organist , pianist , harpsichordist , choir director and composer .

Live and act

Bunk had been a student at the Rotterdam Conservatory of Maatschappij tot Bevordering der Toonkunst since 1901. The focus of his training was on studying the piano with Anton Verheij .

After a short stay in Hull and London (with the pianist Mark Hambourg ) he came to Bielefeld in 1906 to study with the piano teacher Hans Hermanns , whom he followed at the Hamburg von Bernuth Conservatory. In 1907 Bunk became a piano teacher at the Conservatory in Bielefeld.

On the organ he trained mainly autodidactically, whereby his pianistic skills paid off: “Playing the organ in such unparalleled abundance as in Bunk's life [...] was only possible due to the perfection acquired from the piano at a young age the keyboard. He was one of the few organists who - in preparation for playing their instrument, as it were - 'finished learning' on the piano. And when the great career of the organist began in Bielefeld, the guarantee of pianistic virtuosity remained undiminished. ”On June 20, 1907, Bunk gave his first organ concert in the Bielefeld synagogue . Here and in the Marienkirche in Neustadt he played other cyclical concert series in the following years.

On May 5, 1910, Bunk stepped in for Karl Straube at the first concert of the Max Reger Festival in Dortmund and took turns with Reger on the “giant organ” built in the previous year by St. Reinoldi . Reger then recommended him to the Hüttner Conservatory in Dortmund, where Bunk taught piano and later also organ. Enthusiastic about the magnificent sound of the organ in the Reinoldikirche, Bunk declared that his life's goal was to become the organist of this instrument. At first he worked as an organist at the Old Catholic Crimean Chapel from 1912, and at the St. Petri Church in Dortmund from 1920 . Bunk saw himself at the height of his career when he was finally elected organist of the "epoch-making organ work" by St. Reinoldi, which was considered the reference instrument of the Alsatian organ reform, and conductor of the Bach Society . Since 1929 Bunk has organized biweekly "organ celebrations" in which he performed a large part of the organ literature known at the time. Through the organ celebrations, Bunk achieved the reputation of one of the leading organ artists of his time; the press called it "the living organ history".

Bunk headed various music clubs since 1912. Among the chamber music associations to which he belonged during his life, the "Dortmund Trio" between 1920 and 1929 with the Dutch violinist and later conductor Paul van Kempen and the cellist Carl Roser was probably the most important. After the war he teamed up with Friedrich Enzen and Rudolf Evler in the “Trio Association Bunk-Enzen-Evler”. Since the beginning of broadcasting , Bunk was heard in radio broadcasts of the Reichssender Köln , Reichssender Berlin and Radio Hilversum , in broadcasts from the Reinoldikirche, often also with the Bielefelder Kinderchor . In 1928 he obtained German citizenship. In the same year he met Albert Schweitzer , with whom he had corresponded since 1910, at his organ concert in St. Reinoldi. In 1929 he was listed in the Riemann Musiklexikon as a "sought-after companion"; In fact, Bunk assisted numerous vocal and instrumental soloists on the piano (or less often on the organ) such as: the sopranos Julia Culp , Elena Gerhardt , Lotte Leonard , Ilona Durigo , Karin Branzell , Lola Artôt de Padilla , Henny Wolff , Ria Ginster ; contralto Adrienne Osborne , Emmi Leisner , Maria Olszewska ; the tenors Hermann Jadlowker , Heinrich Knote , Karl Erb (who Bunk called his "wing man"); the baritones Hans Joachim Moser , Heinrich Schlusnus , Heinrich Rehkemper , Emil Schipper , Hermann Weißenborn , Hermann Schey , Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender , Karl Schmitt-Walter ; the bass player Felix von Kraus ; the violinists Hans Benda , Willy Heß , Max Strub , Alma Moodie , Joseph Szigeti , Franz von Vecsey , Juan Manén , Marta Linz ; the cellists Hermann Busch , Emanuel Feuermann , Gaspar Cassadó . From 1943 to the beginning of 1944 he was on tour with the Viennese cellist Slavko Popoff on extensive tours through southern Germany and Austria; the concerts were often organized by the Nazi organization " Kraft durch Freude " ( Kraft through Joy ). Bunk also accompanied dancers on the piano, for example Grete Wiesenthal in 1908 and Edith von Schrenck often in the 1920s . In 1930 Bunk also became organist at the organ in the Dortmund synagogue , which was also built by Walcker , an office which he resigned on May 11, 1933 under unknown circumstances. In the 1930s he conducted the “Orchestra of Professional Musicians at the Dortmund Employment Office”, made up of unemployed musicians, mainly in radio concerts on the Cologne radio station. In 1936 he was appointed church music director by the Old Prussian Evangelical Church Council. In 1937 he bought a harpsichord from the Neupert company , on which he now also gave concerts.

With the destruction of St. Reinoldi on May 23, 1943, the organ celebrations ceased. After the end of the war, Bunk conducted the Bach Association on concert tours through Rhineland and Westphalia and in the largely undamaged Dortmund Nicolaikirche . “Our Bach mission [...] cannot have ended with the last wonderful singing [...]. If this singing were to fall silent forever, it would be the worst loss for a church musician, whom the perfect rendering of the motets 'Jesu, Meine Freude' [...] and similar masterpieces could best overcome the heavy loss of his beloved organ . "

In 1952, Bunk ordered an organ from the Walcker company for the gold hall in Dortmund's Westfalenhalle . Two years later he resumed the organ celebrations on a small interim organ in the partly newly built Reinoldikirche (north aisle) with his arrangement of Bach's Art of Fugue for the organ. In 1958 he was awarded a bronze Reinoldus plaque by the city of Dortmund ; in May he inaugurated a new Walcker organ in St. Reinoldi, which he could then play again. In the run-up to its demolition for the construction of the youngest organ in St. Reinoldi in 2020, there was heated debate as to whether the instrument from 1958, which was designed according to the principles of organ movement, was actually an organ according to Bunk's ideas: "Save the Bunk organ ! "

Grave in the Dortmund main cemetery, field 147

composer

As a composer, Bunk receives the greatest attention with his organ works. Schweitzer sees the influences of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and César Franck combined in the legend op. 29 and emphasizes their "calm and plastic structure [...] compared to the formlessness and restlessness that is now [1910] in use for organ compositions" . After completing the Symphony op. 75 in 1925, Bunk initially restricted his composing, presumably because of the high demands on the cantor of St. Reinoldi, but also because of the general stylistic shift towards New Music.

As his special reaction to the war events, according to the librettist Martha Heinemann allegedly "under the impression of the destruction of his hometown Rotterdam" on May 14, but above all as a sign of a time hostile to the Church, he began the oratorio Great is God's Glory after the 1940 Old Testament, in which he made a confession of his faith in late romantic tones. After the premiere in 1948, he wrote mainly arrangements of his own and other works. The best known was his transfer of the Musical Sacrifice of Johann Sebastian Bach to the organ.

Works (selection)

Choral works

• The 1st Psalm for soprano solo, choir and organ, op.47 (1912). Bärenreiter, Kassel 2013
• Christmas legend for three female voices, op. 72 (1921). Bärenreiter, Kassel 2013
• Blessed are you poor , motet for eight-part choir a cappella, op. 77 (1930/57). Bärenreiter, Kassel 2013
• Should I not sing to my God , motet for four-part choir a cappella, op. 83 (1947). Bärenreiter, Kassel 2013

Organ works

Single issues

• 7 Variaties op O Sanctissima op.4a (1906). Butz (in: O Sanctissima! Romantic organ arrangements of the Christmas carol O you cheerful ), Sankt Augustin 1999
• Introduction, variations and fugue on an old Dutch folk song in D minor, Op. 31 (1908). Butz, Sankt Augustin 2000
• Sonata for Organ in F minor, op.32 (1909/10; revised 1930). Bärenreiter, Kassel 2002
• Marche festivale A major op.43 / Pièce héroïque in C major op.49 (1912/1914). Butz (as Two Festive Organ Pieces ), Sankt Augustin 2004
• 8 character pieces for organ, op. 54 (1910–1919). Möseler, Wolfenbüttel 2003
• 6 Organ Pieces, op. 65 (1919–1936). Möseler, Wolfenbüttel 2006
• Choral improvisations (1956-1958). Butz, Sankt Augustin 2002

Complete edition

• All organ works. Bärenreiter, Kassel 2008–2015

I.

• 7 Variaties op O Sanctissima op.4a (1906)
• Preludium en Fuga over een thema uit de Eroica-Symphonie van Beethoven op.8 (1906)
• Sonatina in D minor, Op. 10 (1906/07)
• 4 organ pieces in polyphonic style op.12 (1906/07)
• 5 Organ Pieces op.16 (1907)

II

• Prelude and Fugue in D minor, op.17 (1907)
• 5 Organ Pieces op.18 (1907)
• 5 pieces op. 28 (1907–1912)
• Legend in G minor, Op. 29 (1908)

III

• Introduction, Variations and Fugue on an Old Dutch Folk Song in D minor, Op. 31 (1908)
• Sonata in F minor op.32 (1909/10; revised 1930)
• Passacaglia in A minor op.40 (1911; revised 1929)

IV

• Marche festivale in A major op.43 (1912)
• Pièce héroïque in C major op.49 (1914)
• 8 Character Pieces op.54 (1910-1919)
• Fantasy in C minor op.57 (1915)

V

• 6 organ pieces op.65 (1916–1936)
• Variations and fugue on the old Dutch folk song Merck toch hoe sterck for harpsichord op.80 (1937)
• Music for Organ in C minor op.81 (1939)

VI

• Wilhelmus van Nassouwe en Choral Now all thank God (1907)
• Little Fantasy on CHDB for Organ or Piano (?)
• Choral prelude Wake up, the voice calls us (1956?)
• (37) Choral improvisations (1956–1958)
• Gerard Bunk: love of the organ. Memories from a musical life (CD with facsimile of the first edition)

• Selected organ works. Breitkopf, Wiesbaden 1996

• Legend in G minor op.29 (1908)
• Passacaglia in A minor op.40 (1911; revised 1929)
• Fantasy in C minor op.57 (1915)

Organ and voice or instruments

• Are you with me , old-style aria for mezzo-soprano (or soprano) and organ, ad libitum cello (1907) / Where you are going , old-style aria for mezzo-soprano and organ, ad libitum violin, viola or oboe (1908). Butz (as two arias), Sankt Augustin 2003
• Legend in F sharp minor op.55b for organ and string orchestra or string quartet (1914; edited 1945). Butz, Sankt Augustin 1999
• Andante sostenuto in E major for organ and string orchestra op. 75IIIa (1923–1925; edited 1948). Butz, Sankt Augustin 2003

Autobiography

Gerard Bunk: love of the organ. Memories from a musical life . Dortmund 1958

literature

• Jan Boecker: "The organ stubborn, but mastered ..." - The concert appearances of the Dutch organist, pianist and composer Gerard Bunk (1888–1958) in Germany during the German Empire, Weimar Republic and the 'Third Reich'. With a catalog raisonné . Dissertation. Munster 1995.
• Ders .: Foxtrot, Edelweiss and an organ piece. The Zermatt episode of Gerard Bunks, summer 1923, in: "... near heaven" For Wolfgang Stockmeier: A book by friends and colleagues on his 75th birthday , ed. Michael Heinemann and Antje Wissemann, Munich 2006, pp. 79–87 .
• Émile Rupp: The history of the development of organ building . Einsiedeln 1929.
• Rudolf Schroeder: Music in St. Reinoldi in Dortmund from the Middle Ages to our time . Reprint from: Contributions to the history of Dortmund and the Grafschaft Mark. Vol. 63/1966.
• Ders .: The Dortmund Conservatory . Dortmund 1969.
• Ders .: Gerard Bunk 1888–1958 . Dortmund 1974.
• Oscar Walcker: Dortmund, Reinoldikirche, 1909, in: Memories of an organ builder . Kassel 1948, pp. 73-79.

Web links

Commons : Gerard Bunk  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website about Gerard Bunk
• YouTube channel with music by Gerard Bunk

Remarks

1. ↑ Geïllustreerd muzieklexicon, onder redactie van Mr. G. Keller en Philip Kruseman, medewerking van Sem Dresden , Wouter Hutschenruijter (1859-1943) , Willem Landré , Alexander Voormolen en Henri Zagwijn , uitgegeven in 1932/1949 bij J. Philips Kruseman, Den Haag, p. 86
2. ↑ Schroeder 1974, p. 91 f.
3. ^ Gerard Bunk: Encounter with Max Reger, in: Mitteilungen des Max-Reger-Institut, Bonn, 6/1957, pp. 26-30
4. ↑ Dortmunder General-Anzeiger
5. ↑ Arthur Zywietz: The Gerard Bunk era, in: History of the Unna Music Association 1847–1996, Unna 1996, pp. 49–80
6. ^ Gerard Bunk: Ontmoeting met Albert Schweitzer, in: Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant of August 22, 1953, p. 5
7. ↑ cf. Eckart von Naso (with Annemay Schlusnus): Heinrich Schlusnus, Hamburg 1957, p. 134 f.
8. ^ Bunk to the Bach Association, in: Schroeder 1966, p. 78.
9. ↑ https://walcker.com/orgelwerken/die-bunkorgel-in-dortmund-reinoldi.php (accessed on June 13, 2020)
10. ↑ Boecker, p. 54.
11. ↑ Schroeder 1974, p. 33.