Richard Oschanitzky

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Richard Waldemar Oschanitzky (born February 25, 1939 in Timișoara , Kingdom of Romania , † April 5, 1979 in Bucharest , Socialist Republic of Romania ) was a Romanian composer , arranger , pianist and conductor and one of the most famous jazz musicians in Romania.

Live and act

Oschanitzky's father, the composer Richard Karl Oschanitzky (born December 17, 1901 in Sibiu ; † June 26, 1971 in Biled ), had been appointed conductor of the newly founded German Symphony Orchestra in Timișoara in 1939. In the same year Richard Oschanitzky was born there as a member of the German-speaking ethnic group of the Banat Swabians . From 1955 he studied composition and conducting at the Bucharest Conservatory of Music under Mihail Jora . For political reasons he had to leave the conservatory in 1959 and initially worked as a band leader and pianist in hotels in Bucharest , Mamaia and Brașov (Kronstadt). He later directed the Romanian Radio Orchestra, the orchestra of the state record publisher "Electrecord", orchestras in the GDR and at Radio London.

In 1969, his now legendary jazz formation "Freetet" made great acclaim, with Dan Mândrilă on tenor saxophone , Ștefan Berindei on alto saxophone , Johnny Răducanu and Wolfgang Güttler on bass and Eugen Gondi or Adrian Ciceu, brother of the well-known jazz pianist Eugen Cicero , on drums . With this formation he also appeared on June 2, 1969 in the Kammerspiele of the Deutsches Theater Berlin in the legendary series of events Jazz in der Kammer (No. 22). The music of this group can now be seen as the birth of modern jazz in Romania. Richard Oschanitzky was married to the German dentist Brigitte Laesicke, with whom he has a daughter Sabine (born June 9, 1969). A son was born from a later relationship (* 1976). Oschanitzky took part in all important Romanian jazz festivals, for example in Ploieşti , Costineşti and Sibiu. As a conductor, arranger, composer and pianist he appeared in 1973 with the singer Aura Urziceanu .

It was around this time that his main symphonic works were composed, which he composed for classical orchestras , big bands and jazz soloists:

  • Double Concert for Piano, Tenor Saxophone, Symphonic Orchestra and Big Band
  • Variations '71
  • Toccata for Piano and Jazz Septet
  • Neurasia

In the 1970s he was banned from traveling as a member of the German minority under the regime of the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu . He worked tirelessly on numerous compositions and wrote the score for 25 Romanian films .

Oschanitzky died in 1979 at the age of 40 from complications from liver cirrhosis .

Most of his extensive work has remained unpublished to this day. The Double Concert for Piano, Tenor Saxophone, Symphonic Orchestra and Big Band , premiered in Leipzig in 1969 , was first performed on November 26, 2004 by the Romanian saxophonist Nicolas Simion and the Filarmonica de Stat Iași - "Moldova" under the direction of Oschanitzky's brother, the conductor Peter Oschanitzky (born October 5, 1941 in Timișoara), for the first performance in Iași , Romania .

A jazz club named after Oschanitzy was set up in Iași by the Romanian pianist Romeo Cosma and there has also been the annual Richard Oschanitzky International Jazz Festival since 1999 , organized by Alex Vasiliu , editor of the Romanian radio in Iași. In 2005 a jazz department "Richard Oschanitzky" was set up at the University of Tibiscus in Timișoara at the instigation of the Romanian bassist Johnny Bota and the American trombonist Tom Smith .

Discography

  • ROMANIAN pop music, folk music rearranged by R.Oschanitzky, Electrecord ST EDE 0474 (LP)
  • Seria Jazz 3: Orchestra Richard Oschanitzky "Bossanova", Electrecord, Romania 1969 (?) (EP)
  • Jam Session (w6874) Friedrich Gulda & Richard Oschanitzky, Electrecord, Romania, late 1960s
  • AURA - Aura Urziceanu & Richard Oschanitzky, Electrecord STM-EDE 0834, Romania 1973/74 (LP)
  • Seria "Jazz Restitutio 2" - Richard Oschanitzky , Electrecord, Romania 1992 (LP)
  • Memorial Richard Oschanitzky vol. 1 , 7dreamsrecords, Romania 2006 (double CD)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ His last place of work: Timisoara , accessed on December 31, 2015
  2. ^ TVR - Festivalul de Jazz - Richard Oschanitzky ( Memento of October 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on December 31, 2015

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Oschanitzky, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Oschanitzky, Richard Waldemar (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Romanian composer, conductor, pianist, jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Timișoara , Kingdom of Romania
DATE OF DEATH April 5th 1979
Place of death Bucharest , Socialist Republic of Romania