Josef Enzler

Josef Alexander Enzler (born December 20, 1884 in Walchwil , Zug ; † March 7, 1976 in Rheinfelden , Aargau ) was a Swiss composer who became known for marching music under the pseudonym X. Seffel or Xander Seffel .

Life

Josef Enzler was born as the son of the married couple Alexander Josef Enzler and Mathilde, née Bischoff, in Walchwil. The Enzler family belongs to one of the six old families of Walchwil, who are immortalized as red pine cones in the Walchwil city arms.

Gravestone Josef Enzler in the forest cemetery Rheinfelden

He received his first trumpet lessons at the age of eleven from the star landlord Anton Hüerlimann in Walchwil. At the age of 14 he was sent to his aunt in Kollnau near Waldkirch , where he took part in the Kollnau music. At the same time he learned the profession of a painter. After completing his apprenticeship in Stockach in 1902 , he went on a rolling tour through Germany and Switzerland before settling in Rheinfelden in the canton of Aargau in 1910 and working for master painter Kalenbach. A few years later he opened his own painting business. In 1915 he married Mathilde Geng. The marriage has three children.

For the next 17 years, Enzler studied music theory and brass music arrangements with the then conductor of the Basler Stadtmusik, Karl Schell . Even Albert Rossow , longtime conductor of the City Music Zurich , was one of his teachers. With Max Hempel , music director in Augsburg, he took part in a course on the practical psychology of the conductor. In the period that followed, Enzler took over the direction of various music associations, including leading the brass bands in Arisdorf , Grenzach-Wyhlen and Magden . Most of what he did for the Stadtmusik Rheinfelden, which he accompanied as a conductor for 30 years.

Under the pseudonym X. Seffel (“Xander Seffel” / “Xander's Seffel”, incorrectly also “Xaver Seffel”) he composed numerous marches, such as the “Flag throwing march”, “The Heralds”, “Durchs Feuer”, “In Sale” Salus ”,“ Le Grand Réveil ”,“ Ehr und Preis ”,“ Feldschlösschen March ”,“ Salmen March ”and“ Der Segelflieger ”. "Den Herolden" was a great success in Switzerland and overseas, is still played on Swiss radio today and has since been released on CD. These marches are still part of the repertoire of music associations at home and abroad and are also played by military bands.

In 1960, the city of Rheinfelden granted Josef Enzler and his wife honorary citizenship as a thank you for their commitment to the city music of Rheinfelden and its compositions. His house in what was then "Schifflände 1" is now a listed building.

The tombstone of Josef and Mathilde Enzler-Geng is placed in the tombstone museum of the Waldfriedhof Rheinfelden .

Works (selection)

• "The Heralds"
• "By fire"
• "Honor and Price"
• "One for all, all for one"
• "Up to harmony"
• "Flag throwing march"
• "Feldschlösschen March"
• "Happy March"
• "In Sale Salus"
• "Le Grand Réveil"
• "Salmen March"
• "The glider pilot"
• "We are united people"

literature

• Josef Enzler . In: Wolfgang Suppan (Hrsg.): The new lexicon of brass music. 3. Edition. Blasmusikverlag Schulz, Freiburg-Tiengen 1988, ISBN 3-923058-04-7 , p. 114.
• Herbert Frei: Swiss marches. Swiss march composers. A lexicon. Self-published, Mellingen 1988.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Questions and answers on Walchwil (PDF; 17 kB)
2. ↑ Musig-Post , April 2008.
3. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Example: Schweizer Radio DRS
4. ↑ For example: “Our Marches Vol. 2/3”, Amos 1995.