Gerhard Wimberger

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Gerhard Wimberger (born August 30, 1923 in Vienna ; † October 13, 2016 in Salzburg ) was an Austrian composer , conductor and university professor .

Life

Gerhard Wimberger was born in Vienna. From 1940 to 1947, interrupted by work and military service , he studied composition with Cesar Bresgen and Johann Nepomuk David as well as conducting with Clemens Krauss and Bernhard Paumgartner at the Mozarteum Salzburg .

On January 21, 1948, works by the young composer were premiered for the first time as part of a composition evening. From 1947 to 1951, Wimberger worked as a répétiteur and conductor at the Vienna Volksoper and at the Salzburg State Theater . From 1949 to 1953 he worked for the Salzburg Festival and from 1953 to 1981 as head of the conducting class at the Mozarteum . There he also directed a composition class from 1968 to 1991. His commitment to the Salzburg Festival, of which he was a director from 1971 to 1991, was significant. He worked hard to anchor contemporary music in the festival program.

From 1977 Wimberger was a corresponding member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts . From 1990 to 1998 he was president of the collecting society AKM . Wimberger was internationally active for many years as a conductor and jury member. On November 30, 2003, the Mozarteum Orchestra performed the oratorio Quaestio Aeterna - Deus on the occasion of his 80th birthday . Questions about God under Ivor Bolton for the first time. From 2006, Wimberger was a member of the Advisory Board of the Giordano Bruno Foundation . Wimberger contrasted the Christian religion with an “agnostic-atheistic religiosity based on humanism”. Wimberger wrote numerous essays, essays and other writings and gave many lectures on music and problems of new music as well as on philosophical and theological current issues.

His works have been performed in many countries by well-known orchestras , including the Vienna Philharmonic , Berlin Philharmonic , Munich Radio Orchestra , under well-known conductors such as Herbert von Karajan and by high-ranking soloists and ensembles.

Gerhard Wimberger, father of the actor Andreas Wimberger , died in October 2016 at the age of 93.

style

In a self-description , Gerhard Wimberger writes: “I assume intellectual, stylistic and technical honesty in every artistic-creative work. In addition, the balance between the emotionality of the sounding result and the rationality of the underlying constructive order has always been my top priority. For the realization of my ideas I use all of the sounding material, the traditional instruments as well as electronic practices. I try to eliminate prejudices and ideologies as much as possible and to allow myself to be guided only by creative curiosity, to avoid any compositional-stylistic one-sidedness and to keep a wide range of different approaches available to me as to how material becomes music. I think highly of unpretentious craftsmanship and keep advocating a social function for music. The meaning of every activity as a composer lies - depending on the task at hand - somewhere within the triangle marked by the dots: 'Realizing one's own composer's dreams', 'enrichment' and 'entertainment' for the listener. "

As his artistic credo, he also formulated:

“I compose in an unorthodox style and try

  • to balance the forces of tradition, present and progress that affect me and to keep my work free from fashionable attitudes,
  • to think my musical thoughts so clearly that others can understand them,
  • to order a broad area in the broad field of artistic content between seriousness and cheerfulness,
  • in this way to merge the compositional and stylistic possibilities of our time into a personal synthesis. "

Works

Stage works

  • Heinrich and Kleist , Music-Theater-Scenes, Chamber Opera, 2004
  • Prince of Salzburg - Wolf Dietrich , Scenic Chronicle for Music, Book: Gerhard Wimberger, 1985/1987
  • Paradou , opera in 14 pictures after La faute de l'abbé Mouret by Émile Zola, book: Gerhard Wimberger, 1981/1985
  • The golden shoes , ballet music, 1983
  • Rules of Life - Catechism with Music, 1970/1972
  • The Sacrifice Helena , chamber musical for actors, 1967
  • Dame Kobold , musical comedy based on the comedy of the Calderon in the free translation by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, 1963/1964
  • Hero and Leander , dance drama based on an old legend by Imre Keres, 1962/1963
  • La Battaglia - or The Red Plume . Opera comedy in 8 pictures by Eric Spiess, 1959/1960
  • The glove , chamber ballet, 1955
  • Show booth story, cheerful opera in 6 pictures by Eric Spiess based on a novella by Valentin Katajew, 1952/1953

Concert works (selection)

  • Passion Giordano Bruno - for bass-baritone, speaker, mixed choir and orchestra, oratorio, 2007
  • Musica cellissima - for solo violoncello and orchestra, 2003
  • QUAESTIO AETERNA - DEUS - Questions about God , texts and chants from 2000 years for baritone, speaker, mixed choir and orchestra, oratorio, 2001
  • Paradou , songs and interludes from the opera, 2000
  • Musica tranquilla - for orchestra, 2000
  • Klangwege - for large orchestra, 1999
  • Strange evening music - for chamber orchestra, 1999
  • Strömungen - for string sextet, 1997
  • Ahnungen - for orchestra, 1994
  • Scenery - for violin and piano, 1993
  • In the name of love - song cycle based on poems by Peter Turrini, 1992
  • Disegni - for piano, 1991
  • Diary 1942 - Jochen Klepper - for baritone voice, choir and orchestra, 1990/1991
  • Concerto for synthesizer and orchestra, 1989
  • We don't stop breathing - song cycle based on poems by Ulla Hahn for medium-high female voice and piano, 1988
  • Night music funeral music final music - for orchestra, 1987/1988
  • Fantasy for eight players, (octet), 1982
  • Concertino per orchestra, 1981
  • Second piano concerto, 1981
  • Sonetti in vita e in morte di Madonna Laura von Petrarca - for a cappella choir, 1979
  • String Quartet (1978)
  • Broadcasts of WAMozart themes - for orchestra, 1978
  • Program - for large orchestra, 1978
  • Contours - for piano, 1977
  • Motus - for large orchestra, 1976
  • Plays - for 12 cellos solos, wind instruments and percussion, 1975
  • Short Stories - for 11 wind instruments, 1974/1975
  • Memento vivere - songs of death based on texts by Kurt Marti, Abraham a Sancta Clara, Paul Fleming, Andreas Gryphius and others. a., Oratorio, 1973/1974
  • Multiplay - Canonical reflections for 23 players, 1972/1973
  • Chronique - for orchestra, 1968/1969
  • Ars amatoria - Cantata based on Ovid for soprano and baritone solo, choir, combo and chamber orchestra, 1967
  • Risonanze - for three orchestral groups, 1965/1966
  • Stories - for wind instruments and percussion, 1962
  • Kästner-Liederbuch - Seven Chansons for medium voice and piano, 1961
  • Three lyric chansons based on poems by Jacques Prévert - for voice and chamber orchestra, 1957
  • Marriage post cantata - for mixed choir, harpsichord and double bass, 1957
  • Figures and Fantasies - Three Movements for Orchestra, 1956
  • Allegro giocoso from the Divertimento for Mozart - for orchestra, 1956
  • Concerto for piano and chamber orchestra, 1955

Books

  • ... not just music. Musician life - festival years - encounters - thoughts. Müller, Salzburg / Vienna 1997. ISBN 3-7013-0964-7 .
  • Cross way. Sources of Christianity - facts - hypotheses - questions. Edition Va Bene, Vienna / Klosterneuburg 1999. ISBN 3-85167-085-X .
  • Faith without Christianity. A vision. Tectum Wissenschaftsverlag, Marburg 2013. ISBN 978-3-8288-3044-8 .

literature

Awards

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Michael Schmidt-Salomon : A musical free spirit: Obituary for Gerhard Wimberger . Giordano Bruno Foundation, October 17, 2016, accessed on October 18, 2016.
  2. ↑ source?
  3. ↑ a b Austrian Music Journal , 1983, pp. 163–165
  4. ↑ outstanding artist award - music: previous winners. Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Art and Culture, August 30, 2013, archived from the original on January 8, 2014 ; Retrieved October 18, 2016 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wimberger, Gerhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian composer and conductor
DATE OF BIRTH August 30, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH October 13, 2016
Place of death Salzburg