Philipp Gretscher

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Philipp Gretscher (born December 5, 1859 in Koblenz , † January 17, 1937 in Stettin ) was a German singer and composer .

Life

Philipp Gretscher was supposed to have a "proper job", studied pharmacy and became a pharmacist . Since the summer of 1882 he was a member of the Leipzig University Choir of St. Pauli (today the German Choir ). In Leipzig he was active in the student association "Wettina" in the special houses association . However, his musical inclinations soon prevailed and after the state examination he went to Düsseldorf in 1884, where he received musical training as a student of the chamber singer Litzinger. Soon he was a sought-after concert singer and music teacher in the Rhineland. There were also piano studies with music director Tausch (successor to Robert Schumann). He also made a name for himself as a composer.

In 1888 he became music director of the town of Eupen and conductor of the town choir. He continued to work as a successful concert singer. In 1891 he moved to Aachen and was there as choir conductor and conductor of the Aachener Liedertafel 1832 e. V. active from 1893 to 1901, concert singer (baritone), music teacher and composer. In connection with Käthe Sebaldt (soprano), among others, he gave symphony concerts, recitals and church concerts in Aachen, Eupen, Mönchengladbach, Düsseldorf and Trier. In 1893 he married Käthe Sebaldt.

In 1901 he moved to Stettin . After the death of Hermann Kabisch, he took over the Academy for Artistic Singing and remained extremely active as a vocal trainer, choir director, singer and, above all, composer of songs and choral works. His oeuvre consists of almost 350 compositions, all of which are dedicated to singing; he has never composed purely instrumental music. In a competition of the famous Lahrer Kommersbuch , in which he is still represented with several songs, all three prizes were awarded to him. Ten of his own songs and eleven arrangements were also found in Herder's Kommersbuch and in the piano edition. Other successful competitions were those from August-Scherl-Verlag . In the first years of the First World War, his song "Heilig Vaterland" was particularly well received.

Gretscher was also active as a music critic in Szczecin. He wrote about Stettin's musical life for the Pommersche Tagespost and the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik .

Philipp Gretscher died on January 17, 1937 in Stettin. For his 70th birthday, an honorary evening was organized in the concert hall in Szczecin, and for his 75th birthday he was celebrated again. The grave in Stettin can no longer be found. His widow survived the end of the war and died in northern Germany in 1947.

Compositions

Several of his songs were sung by Richard Tauber , including "since I was a child" (opus 43). Philipp Gretscher also set the poetry of such well-known authors as Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Gerok, von Eichendorff, Theodor Storm, Delev v. Liliencron, Gellert, Klopstock, Hebbel and Plötz as well as Low German poems by Walter Schröder , including the motet Hew kein Angst nich un Furcht (1924) and three sacred chants based on poems by Schröder (1927).

literature

  • Ernst Karl Plachner: Two creative musicians from the old Ahr city - Philipp Gretscher - Johannes Müller . 1938 homeland yearbook of the Ahrweiler district.
  • Eckhard Wendt: Stettiner Lebensbilder (= publications of the Historical Commission for Pomerania . Series V, Volume 40). Böhlau, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-412-09404-8 , pp. 201–203.
  • Michael Wilfert, Eckhard Wendt: Philipp Gretscher (1859–1937): composer, choir conductor, singer, singing teacher and musician . In: Pomerania. Journal of Culture and History. Issue 1/2011, ISSN  0032-4167 , pp. 12-16.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Complete directory of the Paulines from summer 1822 to summer 1938, Leipzig 1938, page 79
  2. ↑ www.aachener-iederafel.de
  3. ^ Heinrich Kröger:  Schröder, Walter Georg Karl. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 9, Bautz, Herzberg 1995, ISBN 3-88309-058-1 , Sp. 992-995.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  4. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 3, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kreis-ahrweiler.de
personal data
SURNAME Gretscher, Philipp
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer
DATE OF BIRTH December 5, 1859
PLACE OF BIRTH Koblenz
DATE OF DEATH January 17, 1937
Place of death Szczecin