Theodor Diener (musician)

Theodor Diener (born September 29, 1908 in Ebnat-Kappel ; † August 21, 1983 ) was a Swiss church musician and composer .

Life

Reformed Church in Balsthal, where Theodor Diener worked for a long time as organist and choir director

Diener's family moved to Olten in 1913. His brother and father died early; his mother worked as a teacher and gave piano lessons. After finishing the district school, Theodor Diener attended the teachers' seminar in Solothurn from 1924 to 1928 . Early on he led various choirs, which enabled him to study music at the Zurich Conservatory. He graduated in theory from Paul Müller-Zürich in 1932 , and from Volkmar Andreae in composition and conducting.

After graduating, he would have liked to become Kapellmeister in Germany, but for family reasons he decided not to do so and became a teacher at the Balsthal School . In 1937 he married Martha Husy. The marriage produced four children.

Diener soon played a central role in the musical life of the district capital Balsthal. He led the music society Balsthal-Klus, the male choir, the female choir and the Reformed church choir Balsthal as well as the singing student association “Arion” Solothurn. He was the association director of the Thal-Gäu singers' association and president of the music committee of the cantonal choir. He also worked as a church musician: for decades he was organist at the Reformed Church in Balsthal. From 1937 to 1979 he was a member of the central board of the Swiss Church Choral Association and head of conducting courses.

Theodor Diener died in 1983. The Theodor Diener Family Foundation took on the task of making his work known. In 2004 she handed over the work bequest with manuscripts, printed music, sound carriers and other materials to the Solothurn Central Library . The catalog raisonné created there was published in 2014.

Compositional creation

Theodor Diener has made a name for himself not only as a choir director , but above all as a composer. He was able to fall back on his training in Zurich, but in 1975 he also trained in composition with Sándor Veress in Bern.

Festival music , choirs, solo songs, cantatas , orchestral and brass music, chamber music and organ works, but also works for the use of the Balsthal church choir , all come from Theodor Diener .

Noteworthy are the “Passacaglia for large orchestra” (1933), which was suggested by Volkmar Andreae and premiered by Diener with the Winterthur City Orchestra in Olten (1937), the “Concerto for piano, string orchestra and percussion”, 1942, the three solo chants “ Mirakel ”, 1954, and the“ Monologue der ‹Mut-em-enit› ”by Thomas Mann for soprano and large orchestra, 1960. Also important are the“ Hofstetter Christmas Cantata ”, 1969, and the“ Fantasia concertante ”for large wind orchestra, 1974. Finally, an opus magnum is «Lazarus», a spiritual play for choir, solos and string orchestra from 1980, premiered posthumously in November 1983 in Basel and Balsthal.

Sheet music edition

Hans-Rudolf Binz and Bruno Eberhard (eds.): Theodor Diener (1908-1983): Organ works . Bern, Musikverlag Müller & Schade 2017 (music from the collection of the Solothurn Central Library; 8).

Awards

• 1975: Culture Prize of the Canton of Solothurn
• 1977: Music Prize of the City of Grenchen

literature

• Hans-Rudolf Binz: Catalog raisonné Theodor Diener (1908–1983) . Edited by Verena Bider. Central Library, Solothurn 2014. (Publications of the Central Library Solothurn; 36). ISBN 978-3-9524247-0-4
• Rolf Grolimund: The composer and church musician Theodor Diener (1908-1983) . Lecture given on April 2, 2008 in the Solothurn Central Library. PDF at: www.theodor-diener.ch, accessed on October 13, 2014

Web links

• Website about Theodor Diener

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Music collection of the ZB Solothurn ( Memento of the original from July 1, 2013 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.