Simon Georg Schmidt

Simon Georg Schmidt (born March 21, 1801 in Detmold ; † 1861 ) was a German choir director , violinist and composer .

Live and act

As the son of the court musician Georg Schmidt in Detmold, SG Schmidt took violin lessons from the famous Kassel master Louis Spohr in 1818 . After a brief stint as solo violinist with the Duke of Saxe-Coburg, Schmidt became Kapellmeister at Münster Cathedral . In 1826 he married the talented and highly respected singer (among others in the Schumann circle) Johanna Wolf, the daughter of the Krefeld concert master Johann Nicolaus Wolf. In 1829 both got a job with the Felix Meritis company in Amsterdam . From 1832 he and his wife made several concert tours through Germany. a. to Leipzig to the Gewandhaus .

In 1833 Schmidt followed a call to Halle , where he was appointed the new music director and took over the management of the newly founded Halle music association including the management of the singing academy . With Schmidt as a foreign musician of standing and reputation, a reorganization of Halle's musical life, in particular the rebuilding of the Singakademie after the resignation of Johann Friedrich Naues , was to be achieved, which came to a virtual standstill due to the cholera epidemic of the past two years. In fact, from 1834/35 onwards there was a resurgence in Halle's musical life, which was thanks to Schmidt's many events, among other things. a. the performance of the recently rediscovered St. Matthew Passion by Bach .

The increasing public criticism of the Singakademie, the secret rivalry between Schmidt and Naue, who still organized his academic concerts on the side, such as a piano recital by the young Clara Wieck (1835) or a concert with Johann Strauss (father) and his orchestra (1836 ), and the ever decreasing interest in his concerts ultimately urged Schmidt to leave Halle in 1841 and take up a call as music director ( concert master ) in Bremen .

Schmidt was generally regarded as an experienced violinist, who was awarded considerable technical skill as well as “pronounced elegance in performance” and “unshakable strength”. However, his tendency towards virtuosity led to a lack of delicacy and “artistic sensitivity”.

However, Schmidt was unable to establish himself with his own compositions, which is why they mostly only survived as manuscripts. Among them are cantatas (including consecration to St. Caecilie ), overtures (including a festival overture to the Russian folk hymn ), violin concertos, variations and the like. a.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Today The Felix Meritis Foundation
2. ^ Serauky: Music history of the city of Halle . P. 523.

literature

• Annette von Droste Society: Writings of the Droste Society . Verlag Aschendorff, Münster 1950. Vol. 9, p. 180.
• Dürre, Ronald: Louis Spohr and the "Kasseler Schule". The pedagogical work of the composer, violin virtuoso and conductor in the first half of the 19th century , dissertation for obtaining the academic degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Dr. phil.) Approved by the Faculty of Humanities, Social and Educational Sciences of the Otto von- Guericke University Magdeburg (2004), 179.
• Mendel, Hermann and August Reissmann: Simon Georg Schmidt , in Musikalisches Conversations-Lexikon. An encyclopedia of the entire musical sciences. For educated people of all classes , edit. and ed. by Hermann Mendel and fortges. by August Reissmann (from volume 7) with the assistance of the literary commission of the Berliner Tonkünstlerverein. Verlag Oppenheim, Berlin 1878. Vol. 9, p. 128.
• Serauky, Walter: Music History of the City of Halle , Second Volume, Second Half Volume: From Wilhelm Friedemann Bach to Robert Franz (Halle on the Saale: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1942), 522–533.