Josef Kugler (musician)

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Josef Kugler (born August 31, 1896 in Tachau , Austria-Hungary , † March 16, 1958 in Munich ) was a German Kapellmeister and choir conductor of the Bavarian Radio .

Origin and education

Josef Kugler came from a family of musicians from Tachau . His father, a church musician, had given up his job as a turner for the sake of music. The son Josef attended the elementary school and the community school in Tachau, today's Tachov , in the Czech Republic and then received training at the music school in Beschau , became a choir conductor and played the organ of the parish church in Tachau at the age of twelve. From 1919 he completed further studies at the Prague Conservatory and the German Music Academy in Prague .

Life path

Josef Kugler received the basis of his musical work as a child with lessons in violin , piano and organ from his father. In addition, at an early age he took over the substitution of his father as organist and took part in the church choir, so it is not surprising when he received the grade “Excellent “Received. During the First World War (1914-1918) he worked as a temporary choir director together with his brother Karl Kugler (1894-1958).

After the end of the war in 1918 and the establishment of Czechoslovakia , Josef Kugler began studying music at the Prague Conservatory in Prague and continued at the German Music Academy in Prague in 1920. In 1922 he left the academy after successfully completing his training in composition and music director .

His first job in 1922 was that of a second conductor at the city theater in Aussig an der Elbe, after three years he left Bohemia and went abroad. He worked as a theater conductor at the Theater Dortmund (1925-1933), Grillo Theater in Essen (1933-1934), the State Theater Braunschweig (1934-1935) and then went as a choir director at the Bavarian State Opera of Munich , where by the end of it Second World War 1945 remained.

The collaboration with established musical greats of the time falls into the Munich years. In 1935 he conducted a performance of the opera Der arme Heinrich by Hans Pfitzner under the direction of the composer, worked as choir director at the world premiere of the opera Peace Day by Richard Strauss and in 1939 at the world premiere of Carl Orff's opera Der Mond . During these years the collaboration with General Music Director Clemens Krauss , who mentioned it with praise, falls . In addition, from 1939 to 1949, Kugler was artistic director of the traditional Munich teachers' choir under Oswald Kabasta (since 1995 Münchner Oratorienchor eV ). After the end of the Second World War in 1945, which resulted in the destruction of the city and the Munich National Theater , Kugler withdrew to the family refuge during the war in Götzens in Tyrol and worked at the Innsbruck State Theater with resentment and hatred.

Josef Kugler found a new area of ​​activity in 1948 when he was appointed choir director of the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation . Now he could devote himself exclusively to his main field of work, choral conducting. This activity was characterized by the fruitful collaboration with Eugen Jochum , the chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, which he founded in 1949 , and he was also a lecturer in choral exercises at the Munich Academy of Music. In addition to the common great works of musical literature and early music, Kugler also studied the works of the modern era, e.g. B. Orff's Carmina Burana and Catulli Carmina as well as Igor Fjodorowitsch Stravinski's opera Oedipus Rex .

For his services, Josef Kugler received the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class.

Aftermath

Much of what was heard by Josef Kugler in the recordings and transmissions of the Bavarian Radio during the years of his activity has been preserved and impressed in the station's sound archive and also on records, even if after more than half a century a lot is being understood and the way of making music has changed.

Relatives

Josef Kugler was married to the soprano Gertrud Riedinger , had the son Michael Kurgler and was the brother of the Tachau and Geretsried choirmaster Karl Kugler (born December 30, 1894 in Tachau; † March 24, 1958 in Wolfratshausen )

literature

  • Heribert Sturm : Biographical lexicon on the history of the Bohemian countries. Published on behalf of the Collegium Carolinum (Institute) . Volume II, R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 1984, ISBN 3-486-52551-4 , p. 340.
  • Josef Weinmann: Egerländer Biographical Lexicon with selected people from the former administrative district of Eger. Volume 1, Männedorf / ZH 1985, ISBN 3-922808-12-3 , p. 293.
  • Josef Schmutzer : Tachau. A German city in Bohemia. 1970, pp. 311-321, 377.
  • Franz Schuster: Tachau-Pfraumberger home. Association for the preservation of old cultural assets of the Tachau region, Weiden in the Upper Palatinate 1962.
  • Home messenger for Tachau. March 29 and April 5, 1958, December 8, 1956.
  • Sudeten German cultural almanac, art, literature, science, folk art. Volume III, 1959/1960, pp. 101-104.
  • Sudeten German newspaper . March 29, 1958.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Up to 2015, the only detailed source for both life and work of Josef Kugler was a biographical outline of his son: Michael Kugler: Josef Kugler. Portrait of a musician from Tachau. In: Josef Schmutzer (ed.): Tachau. A German city in Bohemia . Publishing house for the preservation of old cultural assets of the Tachau region e. V., Weiden 1970, DNB 730485579 , pp. 311-318. A number of important information also brings: Karl Kugler: The musical life in Tachau. In: Josef Schmutzer (Ed.): Tachau. A German city in Bohemia . Publishing house for the preservation of old cultural assets of the Tachau region e. V., Weiden 1970, DNB 730485579 , p. 364 ff.
personal data
SURNAME Kugler, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Kapellmeister and choir director
DATE OF BIRTH August 31, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Tachau
DATE OF DEATH March 16, 1958
Place of death Munich