Gerhard Winkler (composer)

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Gerhard Winkler (born September 12, 1906 in Rixdorf , Teltow district , Brandenburg province , † September 25, 1977 in Kempten (Allgäu) ) was a German composer of popular music. He became famous for his successful title by the Capri-Fischern , composed in 1943 , released after the end of the Second World War , which asserted itself as a German hit until the end of the 1940s and is still played today.

Berlin memorial plaque on the house at Nassauische Strasse 61, in Berlin-Wilmersdorf

Life

Winkler was born on September 12, 1906 in the town of Rixdorf on the outskirts of Berlin (today the district of Berlin-Neukölln ) as the son of the Silesian art locksmith Franz Winkler and his wife Emma. At the age of ten he sang as a soprano first in the choir of the Christ Church in Neukölln, then in the Royal Court and Cathedral Choir . His first composition, the song An Meine Buchfinken , was written as early as 1913. From October 1, 1920 to September 30, 1922, he was an apprentice at the music publisher Robert Rühle and, from 1922, studied piano and violin as well as composition and at the Englersche Conservatory Music theory trained. At a school concert in 1923, his suite Im Maien was the first work to be performed in public. After appearances as an ensemble pianist, Winkler became known as a salon, pop and film composer from 1936. He achieved fame through the song Caprifischer, composed in 1943 (known in the version by Rudi Schuricke ).

After the Second World War he worked as an operetta composer . The conductor Franz Marszalek at the WDR Cologne was particularly committed to his works in this area . Winkler's music to numerous (especially Black Forest) Heimatfilms shaped the economic boom , but most of all his hits, some of which were written before the end of the war, contributed to German enthusiasm for Italy . He can be regarded as one of the fathers of the German travel hit and is anyway the most influential composer in the era of the classic German post-war hit. With over 1000 dated works and over 300 works, at least in draft form, he was one of the most productive of his class. Winkler worked for GEMA for over 20 years (1954 in the arbitration committee; 1956 to 1975 in the evaluation committee, 1957 to 1975 in the supervisory board; 1967 to 1971 in the program committee).

Gerhard Winkler was married twice and from his second marriage has his son Hans Andreas Winkler (born July 22, 1952 in Neuhaus am Schliersee ), who today manages his father's artistic estate in the Gerhard Winkler Music Archive in Potsdam . His second wife, Maria (Traudl) Winkler (1922–2012), met Gerhard Winkler during the Second World War in Berlin. After his death in 1977, she campaigned for radio stations to keep Winkler's compositions played.

Winkler lived mainly in Berlin, but from 1961 to 1966 also owned a villa as a summer residence in Morcote in Ticino ( Switzerland ). In 1969 Gerhard Winkler sold his Berlin villa and moved to Zollikon near Zurich on the Gold Coast in Switzerland . In 1970 he also had a house built as a second home in Munich-Harlaching. In 1976 Gerhard Winkler bought a holiday home on the Bremberg near Kempten (Allgäu) , where he died in 1977 of complications from pneumonia and was buried in the central cemetery.

Selected Works

Songs and hits
  • 1936: O mia bella Napoli ; Neapolitan serenade (This hit was also a great success in Italy)
  • 1940: Chianti song (Text: Ralph Maria Siegel )
  • 1943: Caprifischer (Text: Ralph Maria Siegel)
  • 1952: Pour your worries into a glass of wine
  • 1952: little mother
  • 1954: Heideröslein (under the pseudonym Peter Jan Hansen ; Text: Walter Rothenburg )
  • Spring in Sorrento (text: Ralph Maria Siegel ); Schützenliesel (under the pseudonym Ben Bern ; text: Fred Rauch with Fini Busch ); When the roses bloom in Florence (text: RM Siegel), Espagnola (editing: Arno Oberländer),
  • The little postilion (piano arrangement: Arno Oberländer)
  • Georgine, Lied u. Foxtrot (arrangement: Helm. Gardens), little dairymaid, tango song (text by Ralph Maria Siegel, piano arrangement by Arno Oberländer)
  • My old harmonica, waltz song, text by Erich Meder, piano edit. Arno Oberländer, and much more
Operettas
  • 1946: King of Hearts
  • 1950: Premiere in Milan
  • 1957: The ideal lover
  • 1960: The Prince of Monterosso
Incidental music
  • 1959: Three girls in bikini
  • 1964: Blossom child in the snow
Film music
Instrumental works
  • 1961: Starfighter march (commissioned composition for the Air Force based on the suggestion of Franz Josef Strauss )
  • Orchestral Suites On the Blue Adriatic , Small Harz Suite
There is a memorial plaque on Capri for the composer of the "Capri-Fischer"

Awards

  • 1957: Paul-Lincke-Ring
  • 1966: Federal Cross of Merit
  • 1976: Silver medal from the Department of Culture of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • 1987: Inauguration of the Gerhard-Winkler-Hof in Cologne's Altstadt-Nord district
  • 1996 (posthumously) for his life's work Goldene Stimmgabel (award was accepted by the widow Traudl Winkler)
  • Because of the advertising effect for the island, Capri honored the composer with a memorial stone at the entrance of the Parco di Augusto.

literature

  • Stefanie sunny day: Capri's red sun . In: The Rheinpfalz on Sunday. November 11, 2007, p. 28.

Web links

Commons : Gerhard Winkler  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "She ran from station to station, says her daughter Barbara Walch, so that his music could continue to be played. [...] Traudl drove thousands of kilometers into old age to keep the compositions alive." (Patrick Schwarz: Tailwind for the Caprifischer. (Obituary to Traudl Winkler. In: Münchner Merkur , October 5, 2012.)
  2. ^ Rüdiger Schünemann-Steffen: Cologne Street Names Lexicon, 3rd exp. Ed., Jörg-Rüshü-Selbstverlag, Cologne 2016/17, p. 278.
personal data
SURNAME Winkler, Gerhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer of popular music
DATE OF BIRTH September 12, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Rixdorf
DATE OF DEATH September 25, 1977
Place of death Kempten (Allgäu)