Julius Schäffer (music director)
Julius Schäffer (born September 28, 1823 in Krevese ; † February 10, 1902 in Breslau ) was a German musician, conductor and composer.
Life
Julius Schäffer was the son of a cantor. He attended high school in Stendal and studied Protestant theology and philosophy at the University of Halle from 1844 to 1847 . In Halle he closely followed Robert Franz , who at the time was university music director and at the same time head of the Singakademie and the academic choral society. After completing his studies, he worked as a tutor in Jassy for two years . Then he went to Berlin to devote himself entirely to music, and received lessons from Siegfried Dehn . He soon became known as a conductor and as a critic in specialist journals, for example through a brilliantly written review of Richard Wagner's Lohengrin ; Wagner himself dedicated a copy of the recently published score of the work to him as a token of his approval.
In 1855, Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin appointed him the first director of the castle choir , which was founded on the model of the Berlin Cathedral Choir , whose main task was to organize the services in the Schwerin Castle Church . One of the first appearances of the choir under Schäffer's direction was its participation in the (re-) inauguration of the castle church on October 14, 1855.
In October 1860, Schäffer moved to Breslau as the successor to Carl Reinecke as director of the Singing Academy and lecturer at the academic institute for church music at the University of Breslau . For more than 40 years he shaped the musical life of the university as the university music director. The Singakademie, which in the long years of his leadership grew into an association consisting of several hundred singers, he headed until his departure on January 1, 1901. As a university lecturer, he taught until the winter semester of 1901. An eye operation forced him in the winter semester of 1901 / 02 to give up teaching.
In addition to the publication of chorale books for Silesia and the ecclesiastical province of Saxony, Schäffer's journalistic focus was on his partisanship for his friend and teacher Robert Franz. In the 1870s, there was a bitter and at the time much noticed polemic between Schäffer on the one hand and Friedrich Chrysander and Philipp Spitta on the other hand about the correct publication of works by Bach and Handel.
Hugo Goldschmidt was one of his students .
Awards
- 1861 title of Royal Music Director
- 1868 Honorary doctorate from the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Breslau in recognition of his services to the maintenance and promotion of music at the university there and in the city
- 1879 title professor
- Gold medal for art and science (Mecklenburg-Schwerin)
- House Order of the Wendish Crown , Cross of Merit
- Red Eagle Order 4th class
- 1901 Order of the Crown, 3rd class
Works
Compositions
- Fantasy variations for the pianoforte. Op. 2 Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel 1852
- Six chants: for one voice with accompaniment of the pianoforte; op. 3. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel 1853
Fonts
- Two evaluators of Robert Franz's. A contribution to illuminating the ugliness of musical criticism in newspapers and brochures. Breslau: FEC Leuckart 1863
- The Wroclaw Singing Academy. Your foundation, further development and activities in the first 50 years of its existence.
- Robert Franz in his arrangements of older vocal works. Leipzig [1875]
- Friedrich Chrysander in his piano reductions for the German Handel edition. 1876
- Seb. Bach's Cantata: “They will all come from Saba” critically examined in the editions of Robert Franz and the Leipzig Bach Society. Leipzig 1877
- Four-part chorale book containing all melodies for the hymn book for Protestant communities in Silesia. 1880
- Choral book for the province of Saxony. 1886
literature
- Emil Bohn: Julius Schäffer. In: Chronicle of the Royal University of Wroclaw. 16 (1901/1902), pp 120 -131
- Schäffer, Julius , in: Deutsche biographische Enzyklopädie Volume 8: Plett – Schmidseder, Munich: Saur 1998, p. 551
- Grete Grewolls: Who was who in Mecklenburg and Western Pomerania. The dictionary of persons . Hinstorff Verlag, Rostock 2011, ISBN 978-3-356-01301-6 , p. 8567 .
Web links
- Works by and about Julius Schäffer in the German Digital Library
- Literature about Julius Schäffer (music director) in the state bibliography MV
Individual evidence
- ^ Otto Kade : The twenty-five-year effectiveness of the grand ducal castle choir in Schwerin. A commemorative publication. Schwerin: Sandmeyer 1880
- ^ New magazine for music. 64 (1868), p. 24
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Schäffer, Julius |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Schaeffer, Julius |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German musician, conductor and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 28, 1823 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Krevese |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 10, 1902 |
| Place of death | Wroclaw |