Stephan Jaeggi

Stephan Jaeggi ( pronunciation : [ ˈjæki ]; * May 28, 1903 in Fulenbach ; † July 9, 1957 in Bern ) was a Swiss composer and conductor .

Life

He grew up in a large family (10 siblings). At the age of 13 he played the clarinet in the Harmoniemusikgesellschaft, a wind orchestra founded in 1820, in Fulenbach . First, at the express request of his parents, he did an apprenticeship as a mechanic in his uncle's company. He then completed his music studies at the Basel Conservatory from 1922 to 1926. His teachers there were Georg Haeser (1865–1945), Gustav Güldenstein (1888–1972) and Felix Weingartner (1863–1942). In 1923 he also graduated from his military music school and the sergeant school the following year.

After completing his music studies, he was hired as a conductor by various wind orchestras. From 1924 to 1926 he was the conductor of the “Konkordia” brass orchestra in Wolfwil . Also in 1924 the music society in Hägendorf-Rickenbach made him a conductor; he stayed there until 1942. In 1924 he became the conductor of the Regimentspiel 50 . He then became conductor of the Konkordia wind orchestra of the Langendorf watch factory from 1925 to 1926, Kadettenmusik Olten from 1926 to 1928, Stadtmusik Solothurn from 1929 to 1946, Musikgesellschaft Kappel , Canton Solothurn 1932 for about half a year, at Helvetia in Grenchen from 1932 to 1933 , Burgdorf town music from 1947 to 1957 and the Burgdorf cadet music from 1947 to 1957. In 1927 he achieved first place in 3rd class at the Federal Music Festival in La Chaux-de-Fonds with the brass orchestra Musikgesellschaft, Hägendorf-Rickenbach . The orchestra played in the second class at the following Federal Music Festival in Bern in 1931 and achieved second place. With the Stadtmusik Sion, he took first place in 1st class at the same music festival in Bern. In 1933, at the age of thirty and as the successor to Carl Friedemann , he took over the Stadtmusik in Bern, which is the first time in its history that it is conducted by a Swiss conductor. With this orchestra he celebrated true triumphs in the years that followed.

His first compositions he wrote almost under the workbench in the operation of his uncle, namely songs Composition As of August 1 and the hard march of the 100th anniversary of the Brass Band Music Association Fulenbach . The programmatic fantasy Titanic followed as early as 1922 , which, like no other work, is linked to his name and enabled him to make his musical breakthrough. The first performance took place on November 26, 1922 by the Stadtmusik Olten .

He develops a pronounced sense of melody in his compositions. It is harmoniously connected to the style of German Romanticism, in which it never leaves the tonality. He is characterized by the harmonic chromatisms, unresolved dissonances, surprising cadence variants and the simultaneous high and low alteration of a chord tone. He prefers the forms used in Classical and Romantic periods, and in rhythmic terms he never abandons conventional meters, although he was familiar with contemporary trends in the succession of Igor Stravinsky .

Shaped by the absolute perfection of the French military wind orchestras and the composition Dyonisiaques by Florent Schmitt as well as the original compositions created by Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams and Percy Aldridge Grainger , he was an avid advocate of the creation of original wind orchestra music.

He has also worked continuously to enlarge the line-up of his Stadtmusik Bern and change it towards the French military orchestra. First he expanded the clarinet set considerably (introduced more Bb clarinets and also alto and bass clarinet) and refined the way of playing due to a softer tone. The brass players also had to change their style of play, less martial and powerful. The double basses for the sonorous background music have been expanded; a harp was used if necessary. Due to considerable resistance in the orchestra, he was unable to implement a full saxophone stop.

Works

Works for wind orchestra

• 1920 Festival march for the 100th anniversary of the Fulenbach Music Society
• 1921 Faithful Fatherland
• 1922 Titanic Programmatic Fantasy
• 1923 jubilation overture , opus 7
• 1923 Heimatzauber concert waltz
• 1923 Rheinwellen concert waltz
• 1924 Nidwalden's days of horror, dramatic fantasy
• 1929 Carnival Retreat Overture
• 1930 People of Today Overture
• 1930 The mysterious mask overture
• 1935 Festive overture
• 1939 Serenade in A flat major
• 1939 General Guisan March
• 1947 Youth Ahead! unofficial hymn of the solemnity Burgdorf
• 1947 Impromptu opus 39
• 1947 concert overture
• 1948 hymn
• 1948 In spring symphonic sketch
• 1948 Romantic overture in B
• 1948 Engiadina symphonic poem
• 1953 Hie Bern - Hie Eidgenossenschaft Musik zum Festspiel
• 1953 Intrada festiva
• 1953 Ode to music
• 1954 Overture in Eb
• 1956 overture in F
• 1956 The Fahnenburg Prelude
• Bärgsunntig in Bärnerland
• Mountain call foreplay
• Canzonetta
• Carinthia melody for solo trumpet and wind orchestra
• Small overture in a classic style
• Concert overture
• Preludio Ticino
• Mercenary dance
• Aargau fire brigade march
• Allewyl good shot
• Bern city rifle march
• Federal Councilor Obrecht March
• Federal Councilor Petitpierre
• Castle fanfares march
• Bärner Land, Grüss Gott
• Carinthia melody
• Solemn march
• Corpus Christi feast
• The mysterious mask
• Gemmi March
• Greetings to the Worblental

Choral music

• 1949 The herd rows melody

literature

• Hermann Berger: How the General Guisan March came about. In: Oltner Neujahrsblätter , Vol. 19, 1961, pp. 80–83.

Web links

• Community of Fulenbach: Stephan Jaeggi, composer and conductor (1903–1957) , biographical information, a. a. on the creation of the General Guisan March .