Henri Brunner (composer)

Henri Brunner, composer

Henri Brunner (born January 20, 1897 in Basel ; † September 27, 1956 there ) was a Swiss composer , organist and conductor . His main work was the Mariastein Mass, which premiered in 1937 .

biography

The Brunner family around 1915. Far left Heinrich Brunner, seventh and youngest child.

Henri Brunner at the organ built by the Späth brothers in the Heiliggeistkirche

Henri Brunner was born on January 20, 1897, the seventh child of his family in Basel, father Josef was a teacher at the École Française. After school in Basel and further training at the Schwyz College, he gave music lessons in combination with organ assignments at the Friborg College, Sarnen High School and Brig College. On May 1, 1935, Henri Brunner took up the church music position at the Heiliggeistkirche Basel . Insights into the annual reports of the Heiliggeist church choir testify to a rich musical life in its time. Under him, for example, the church choir sang forty polyphonic masses in 1938 and 68 services in 1940. On the gallery of the Heiliggeistkirche, Henri Brunner found a romantic pneumatic organ, built by the Späth brothers from Rapperswil. Henri Brunner was married to Rosa Brunner-Pauli, with whom he had six children Leo, Gregor, Anton, Niklaus, Rosmarie and Esther. After his wife died in 1944, Henri Brunner married Claire Brêchet that same year.

In 1951 there was an exchange of conductors between the Heiliggeist and Don Bosco Church choirs , from Henri Brunner to Bernard Homola . In the "Gundeli" quarter, Henri Brunner had successfully led the large choir and his own orchestra, but churchgoers in the Breite quarter soon noticed his excellent organ playing too. One of the last major appearances was the consecration of the organ in Don Bosco on December 7, 1952.

Soon after, his health deteriorated. Before he went to the Claraspital for biliary surgery, he told a priest friend that he was not coming back - and burned almost all of his works. Henri Brunner died on September 27, 1956. In the parish gazette of October 5, 1956, Josef Engeler, pastor of Don Bosco, wrote: “A creeping illness was at work. After a long vacation, Mr. Brunner believed that he would resume his previous work. But he had to force himself to do it. The joy of the music was weakened. "

Catalog raisonné

As a result of the extensive burning of the works, the overview of works remains extremely incomplete.

• 1931: Improperium, offertory for Palm Sunday, four-part male choir - longing for home, mixed choir
• 1935: Laudate Dominum, offertory, Good Friday motet, four-part male choir - Z'Basel an mym Rhy, choral setting for four-part mixed choir - Christmas carol, four-part mixed choir
• 1936: Peace send your dead, antiphonal to the feast of Christ the King
• 1937: Marienlied, four-part mixed choir - Mariastein Mass, orchestra, organ, SATB soloists, mixed choir
• 1940: Stetit Angelus, offertory, four-part mixed choir
• 1947: E Rägenacht, four-part mixed choir
• 1949: Patimur semper, four-part mixed choir

The «Mariastein Fair»

Cover picture of the autograph of the Mariastein Mass

Two and a half years after his return to Basel, his first orchestral mass was premiered on Sunday, November 21, 1937. The reason for this was the 25th anniversary of the Heiliggeistkirche Basel. He had composed the mass mainly in Mariastein (Canton Solothurn). The mass or parts of it were performed repeatedly in Mariastein, in the Heiliggeistkirche, in festive church services, at specially arranged concerts and at the annual caecilia celebrations.

Publications

The memorandum by Henri Brunner and the Mariastein Mass (author Urs Berger, 28 pages illustrated) was published for the re-performance of the Mariastein Mass on November 9, 2014, with a biography and source material from the time of the premiere.

grades

On the occasion of the re-performance of the Mariastein Mass on November 9, 2014, the study choir Leimental transcribed and edited the previously unpublished autograph under the direction of Sebastian Goll.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} BiBO No. 45 of November 6, 2014, p. 14: Re-performance of the Mariastein Mass (PDF file; 2.09 MB), accessed on February 18, 2016.
2. ↑ BiBo Regio: re-performance of the “Mariastein Mass” by the student choir Leimental No. 45, p. 14 (PDF file; 2.09 MB), accessed on January 5, 2015.
3. ↑ St. Franziskus, Riehen: The Riehener Organ Festival 2014 ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file; 1.12 MB), accessed January 5, 2015. 
4. ↑ Badische Zeitung of October 27, 2014: The supporting element are the pipes , accessed on January 5, 2015.
5. ↑ Studienchor.ch ( Memento of the original from January 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed January 5, 2015. 
6. ↑ Das Schweizer Buch , Volume 114, 2014, ISSN  1661-8211 , p. 30 (PDF file; 1.86 MB); Retrieved January 5, 2015.
7. ↑ Available are: conductor's score, orchestral score (violin 1 + 2, cello, bass, flute, oboe, clarinet 1 + 2, bassoon, horn 1 + 2, trumpet 1 + 2, trombone) and piano reduction for four-part choir.