Helga Riemann

Helga Riemann , also Helga Schiff or Helga Schiff-Riemann (born June 8, 1924 in Leipzig , † November 19, 2004 in Gmunden ) was an Austrian composer , music teacher , music therapist and journalist .

Life

Helga Riemann is the granddaughter of Hugo Riemann and mother of Hans Christian (* 1949) and Heinrich Schiff (1951–2016). Her older brother Hans Herbert Riemann , who was also born in Leipzig on December 20, 1915 , was considered missing from 1944 and was declared dead on September 12, 1957 at the request of his only sister Helga Riemann .

At Pentecost 1943 she got engaged to Helmut Schiff and married him on January 12th, 1944 in a civil registry office in Bratislava and on January 30th, 1944 in church in Walding near Linz. The two of them did not return to Leipzig due to the war, but settled in Gmunden .

When their children were born, they moved to the neighboring Altmünster , and in 1953 they moved to Hamburg . In 1959 the couple returned to Gmunden with their children and took up teaching at the Linz City Music School. On February 4, 1977, the two were divorced. Helga Riemann retired in 1984 and died in 2004.

Education and professional activity

Helga Riemann received her first piano lessons from Maria Charlotte Voigt at the age of eight and was taught singing by Amadeus Nestler from 1937 to 1940 .

At the age of 14 she was accepted as the youngest member of the GewandhausChor Leipzig in 1938 after an entrance exam by Hermann Abendroth . A year later, at the age of 15, she passed the entrance examination at the Leipzig Conservatory and studied with Reinhold Gerhardt (voice) and Hans Hermann (piano) at the same time as her high school until 1942. From the age of 18 she taught music theory, singing and piano at the Leipzig and Böhlen music schools.

From 1942 she studied initially as a minor, but soon as a major with Johann Nepomuk David , and learned to write string quartets, songs, fugues and piano music as well as works for recorder or recorder and piano.

Her educational work extended on the one hand to her work as a piano and singing teacher (between 1944 and 1960, among others at the music school in Gmunden, at the Bruckner Conservatory , at the music school in Linz and at the Rudolf Steiner School in Hamburg) and on the other hand to her profession as Music therapist at the state sanatorium and nursing home in Niedernhart , Linz (between 1960 and 1971), where she created compositions especially for her work as a teacher. Helga Riemann is considered a pioneer in the field of music therapy .

Between 1961 and 1984 she worked as a music critic for the ORF , from 1965 also for the Upper Austrian Culture Report in the field of music and until 1984 for the Upper Austrian Tagblatt .

From 1970, Helga Riemann composed as a freelance artist. Several of her works were premiered during the 1970s.

Works

Her musical catalog raisonné includes compositions written between 1949 and 1997. This includes vocal music for a cappella, solos, choir, orchestra, singspiele / school operas and songs with piano and other instruments. Furthermore instrumental music for orchestra and chamber music, further solo works for piano, organ and recorder. Works by Helga Riemann have been performed in public several times. Their discography contains several LPs and later CDs as well as recordings, concert recordings as well as radio interviews and radio broadcasts for the Helga-Riemann Archive.

Journalistic texts were written between 1965 and 1991 and these include writings in the form of personal texts, work introductions and commentaries.

Concerts as a singer

Helga Riemann first gave concerts together with her husband, later also alone (selection):

• Ballroom of the old town hall in Linz (1946): Helga Riemann played recorder sonatas and sang songs by Richard Billinger and Hugo Wolf
• Lecture hall of the Linz City Music School (1964): Helga Riemann interpreted the song cycle Die Winterreise based on poems by Wilhelm Müller
• Festival hall of the old town hall in Linz (1965): Recital with the world premiere of the song cycle Das Marienleben by Paul Hindemith

Awards

For years she felt left out when it came to awarding prizes. It was not until the 1980s that she was honored several times:

• Professional title Professor (1982)
• Culture Prize of the Province of Upper Austria in the Music Division (1987)
• Art Award of the City of Linz in the field of music (1988)
• Culture Medal of the Province of Upper Austria (1994)
• Gold Medal of Merit of the City of Gmunden (1995)

literature

• Tina Bayer: Helga Riemann (1924-2004). Life, work and creativity of an Upper Austrian composer. In: Upper Austrian Museum Association (Hrsg.): Yearbook of the Upper Austrian Museum Association. Linz 2010, pp. 305–363, PDF (4.6 MB) on ZOBODAT With extensive bibliography.
• Tina Bayer, Wolfram Ziegler: Helga Riemann (1924–2004): On the vita and work of an important Upper Austrian composer. In: Upper Austrian homeland sheets . Volume 64, Issue 1/2, Linz 2010, pp. 84–90, PDF on land-oberoesterreich.gv.at

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tina Bayer 2010, p. 327.
2. ^ Helga Riemann, in: database music austria, music information center austria