Johann Ludwig Böhner

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Memorial stone on the church of his birthplace Töttelstädt
Gravestone in the main cemetery in Gotha

Johann Ludwig Böhner (born January 8, 1787 in Töttelstädt , † March 28, 1860 in Gotha ) was a German composer, pianist and organist. He was a celebrated piano and organ virtuoso, was considered a highly talented composer and a master of musical improvisation during his lifetime, and was referred to by his contemporaries as "Thuringian Mozart".

life and work

Böhner was born in 1787 in Töttelstädt, Thuringia, which belonged to the Duchy of Gotha. As the son of the cantor and organist in his hometown, Johann Matthias Böhner, he came into contact with music as a child. During his high school in Erfurt, he received composition lessons from Michael Gotthard Fischer . In 1797, at the age of 10, he set Schiller's hymn To Joy to music . From 1805 he worked as a piano teacher in Gotha, where he met Ludwig Spohr , whose compositional style audibly influenced him. Böhner had a remarkable pianistic and compositional talent, which later earned him the nickname "Thuringian Mozart".

In the years between 1811 and 1814 he stayed mainly in Nuremberg. In this short time, most of his important compositions were written here, including three of the five highly acclaimed piano concertos, the Fantasia for Clarinet and Orchestra, Op. 21, and the Fantasia for Bassoon and Orchestra, Op. 1.

After 1815 he toured large parts of southern Germany and Switzerland. Character weaknesses, which also included cheating, did not allow him to gain a foothold anywhere, so that he suffered a mental breakdown in Hamburg in 1819. His not entirely unfounded accusations of plagiarism against other composers (for example, he accused Carl Maria von Weber of stealing the melody of the maiden wreath in the Freischütz from his D major concerto) led him to believe that his success had been cheated be.

Böhner spent the rest of his life alone and in poor conditions in Gotha. His skills only flashed occasionally, for example in 1844 in his only Symphony in D minor op. 130. The Gothaische Zeitung noted on March 29, 1860:

"Last night, the composer Ludwig Böhner, once highly celebrated in the broadest circles, passed away after an eventful life at an old but unfortunately joyless age."

Others

Böhner found his final resting place in Gotha Cemetery III . When it was cleared in 1969, Böhner's tombstone, which is now in the grove of honor in the main cemetery , was secured .

Ludwig-Böhner-Platz in Töttelstädt and Böhnerstraße in Gotha reminds of the composer.

Works on phonograms

The Landessinfonieorchester Thuringia (now Thuringia Philharmonic Gotha) has recorded the following works by Ludwig Böhner for the label in E flat major under the direction of Hermann Breuer:

  • Fantasia for bassoon and orchestra op.1 (soloist: Klaus Thunemann)
  • Serenade in F major for orchestra op.9
  • Great Overture for Orchestra, Op. 16
  • Introduction and Variations for Bassoon and Orchestra op.27 (Soloist: Klaus Thunemann)
  • Overture to the opera Der Dreiherrenstein
  • Fantasy and Variations on an Original Theme for Violin and Orchestra in E minor, Op. 94 (Soloist: Viktor Barschewitsch)
  • Great Symphony in D minor, Op. 130.

Autobiography

literature

Web links

Commons : Johann Ludwig Böhner  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ August Beck:  Böhner, Johann Louis . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 82 f.
  2. ↑ thueringen-philharmonie.de
  3. ↑ Audio samples: I and II
personal data
SURNAME Böhner, Johann Ludwig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer, pianist and organist
DATE OF BIRTH January 8, 1787
PLACE OF BIRTH Töttelstädt
DATE OF DEATH March 28, 1860
Place of death Gotha