Karl Grenacher

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Karl Grenacher, music director at the Wettingen teacher training college

Karl Grenacher (born November 3, 1907 in Brugg ; † February 5, 1989 in Baden , Canton Aargau ) was a Swiss music teacher , choir director and pianist .

Life 1907 to 1930

Grenacher grew up in a music-loving family. From Marie Amsler and Emil Heuberger he received his first instructions in piano playing and from Mimi Scheiblauer in rhythmic gymnastics (that was the name at the time). His first appearances as an assistant organist in the town church of Brugg and as a pianist in Beethoven's 1st movement of the C major piano concerto already fell during his district school years until 1924 . From 1924 to 1927 he graduated from high school in Zurich . During this time he was already active as a musician: in 1925 he was a soloist with the Brugg Orchestra Association in Mozart's piano concerto in A major, in 1926 he played works by Mozart , Dvořák and Beethoven at a chamber music evening , and in 1927 he took over the choir direction of the Windisch church choir .

It was also during this time that Grenacher came into contact with music by Othmar Schoeck , Heinrich Kaminski and Ferruccio Busoni and thus had experiences that, in his words, marked his direction. From 1927 to 1930 he graduated from the Zurich Conservatory, where he graduated with teaching degrees in piano, organ and school singing. His teachers were Emil Frey in piano, Paul Müller-Zürich in counterpoint, Hermann Dubs in solo singing and choral conducting and Volkmar Andreae in conducting.

Music pedagogue

In 1930 Grenacher won the Friedrich Hegar Prize competition. The associated scholarship enabled him to spend a year studying in Leipzig with further training in piano, organ, harpsichord and choir conducting, etc. a. with Günther Ramin . In 1931 he was chosen by the Wettingen teacher training college in Aargau as a teacher for singing and piano. Until 1973 the musical training of the elementary school teachers was in his hands. At the beginning he gave lessons in singing, piano and organ playing as well as choir conducting. With the increasing number of pupils, the focus of his work was on singing lessons in the classes and in leading the large seminar organizer.

Grenacher himself always saw his activity as a music teacher as the focus of his life. In one of his essays you can read: "Education for music is education through music." It was important to him to arouse understanding and love for music in his students. This also included teaching music theory, breathing technique, voice training, listening to music and one's own musical activities. Grenacher first led his seminarians to simple one- and two-part folk songs. In the great seminary choir, sacred and secular works from the sixteenth century to the present followed, here and there also Bach cantatas and oratorios .

Grenacher's influence was also noticeable in songs at elementary school . He was instrumental in the creation and creation of the two hymnbooks Es Tönen die Lieder und Let's sing . He remained consistently true to his calling to lead young people to music. So he turned down offers to other positions, also because he didn't want to see himself in the spotlight.

Musician

After he had familiarized himself with his teaching activities, Grenacher began to build up an intensive and varied concert career. He appeared first in house concerts, then in internal seminars, serenades and evening music, in the church, in the cloister or in the courtyard of the Wettingen monastery . In 1935 he introduced the Wettinger Summer Concerts . With up to ten performances per year, they became a tradition until 1983, when, after 47 cycles, he passed the organization and direction of these concerts into younger hands.

On the Aargau Day of the Swiss National Exhibition on August 25, 1939 in Zurich , Grenacher took on the task of conducting the festival music at the Aargauer Festspiel 0 user-world Confederation with over 800 participants. The music based on the motif of a reminder song from the 16th century came from Werner Wehrli and was performed by the Basel Orchestra Association and grouped Aargau choirs. After the Second World War, the Wettinger Chamber Choir and the Wettinger Chamber Orchestra, consisting mainly of former seminarians, emerged under his direction. A large number of mostly sacred works were performed in the Wettinger Summer Concerts, such as B. Sonnengesang by Paul Müller-Zürich , dance of death by Hugo Distler , choral suite Neue Kraft Psalm 93 by Willy Burkhard , Magnificat 1610 by Claudio Monteverdi , B minor Mass by JS Bach, the Requiem by WA Mozart, the Mass in E by Anton Bruckner .

In around 250 recitals at home and abroad, Grenacher appeared as a lied accompanist, for example by Maria Stader , Agnes Giebel , Ilona Durigo , Margrit Conrad , Hedi Graf, Elisabeth Zinniker, Ernst Haefliger , Julius Patzak , Felix Loeffel , Arthur Loosli and Kurt Widmer . He played a. a. together with Aida Stucki , Stefi Geyer and Hansheinz Schneeberger , (violin) and Clara Haskil and Dinorah Varsi , piano. For several years he directed the Aarau Orchestra Association and the Brugg women's choir. He organized liturgical evening celebrations in the Aarau city church and played organ evenings, often together with choirs and instrumentalists from the Wettingen seminar. He was also active in the Reformed church music seminar, in the Aarau Music Council and in the Inspectors' Conference of the Aarau Cantonal School. With the leadership of the Aargau Teacher Choir Association from 1965 to 1981 Grenacher was able to realize a series of performances of works in various Aargau cities that require a large choir: oratorios by Bach and Handel, the German Requiem by Brahms, masses by Schubert and Bruckner, Golgotha by Frank Martin.

In the review of the recital in the Tonhalle Zurich on May 7, 1947 with the song cycle Die Schöne Müllerin , Willi Schuh wrote in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung : “It has to be a mastersinger, a master of nuance and an artist who works with his heart Thing is. And a musician must stand by his side who knows how to breathe with the singer, empathize with him and draw the finest and richest pianistic colors from the experience of Schubert's music. Julius Patzak and Karl Grenacher formed such an ideal couple, who prepared a rendition of the song sequence that combined a delicious freshness and immediacy with the most delicate development of the musical emotional language ... »

In February 1979, in the Bernese Bund , the following could be read about a recital by Arthur Loosli with songs by Brahms and Schubert: “This time the singer had Karl Grenacher as a partner at the piano, with whom he shares a unique agreement. Once again, one experienced Karl Grenacher's intuitive immersion in the world of Schubert's last songs, which merge the piano part with the sung part to form a perfect unit. "

Grenacher also received invitations to concerts abroad. In 1958 he accompanied the tenor Ernst Häfliger on the piano in the Palacio de la música in Barcelona. Grenacher shaped the Aargau and Swiss musical life as a teacher and educator and in his concert activities. In 1978 he was made an honorary senator of the Pro Argovia cultural foundation in Aargau for his services .

In his Matura essay in 1927 Grenacher wrote: “And when I have just received an art as a gift, the art that only wants the high, the noble, it happened that I helped with the great work, the people for all of this To lead beautiful people. "

Sound carrier

  • Othmar Schoeck: The Postillon, Op. 18 - Various songs and choral works. Ernst Haefliger, tenor; Seminar Choir Wettingen, Wettinger Chamber Choir, Wettinger Chamber Orchestra; Karl Grenacher, direction and piano. Jecklin-Disco JD 504-2, recorded in 1967.
  • Othmar Schoeck: Reverberation Op. 70 - songs after Eichendorff and Hesse. Arthur Loosli, baritone; Chamber ensemble Radio Bern, Karl Grenacher, piano; Head of Theo Hug. Jecklin-Disco JD 535-2, recording years 1973 and 1988.
  • Othmar Schoeck: choral songs; Seminarchor Wettingen; Karl Grenacher, management; swisspan, 510 074 (CD)
  • Songs by Othmar Schoeck and Johannes Brahms. Margrit Conrad-Amberg, Alt; Karl Grenacher, piano; Record Jecklin 217
  • Franz Schubert: Winter Journey . Arthur Loosli, bass; Karl Grenacher, piano; Akzent Recordings - Jecklin c1989
  • Theodor Fröhlich : From a Distance (Five Songs). Ernst Haefliger, tenor; Karl Grenacher, piano. CT-64-5.
  • Franz Schubert: swan song . Arthur Loosli, bass-baritone; Karl Grenacher, piano; Akzent WA 3129-B record

Audio samples

literature

  • Badener Neujahrsblätter 1961 (Ernst Gerber), 1974 (Gotthilf Hunziker) PDF and 1990 ( August Süsstrunk ) PDF
  • Schulblatt des Kantons Aargau 1989, No. 7, pages 10–16