Theophil Forchhammer

Theophil Forchhammer (born July 29, 1847 in Schiers / Graubünden , † August 1, 1923 in Magdeburg ) was a Swiss church musician , organist and composer .

Live and act

Theophil Forchhammer received his first piano lessons from his father and from the conductor Heinrich Szadrowsky . From 1866 he studied organ, piano and composition with Immanuel Faißt , Sigmund Lebert and Wilhelm Speidel at the Stuttgart Conservatory . On Faißt's recommendation, he became organist in Thalwil near Zurich in 1867 . In 1869 he became organist in Olten and in 1871 at St. Marien in Wismar. He also studied counterpoint with Friedrich Kiel in Berlin.

In 1878 Forchhammer came to Quedlinburg . Here he became organist at the St. Benedict and in 1879 music teacher at the daughter's school, and he was also the conductor of several concert associations and choirs. During the 18th Tonkünstlerversammlung of the Allgemeine Deutsche Musikverein in 1881 he gave a concert on the Schnitger organ of the Johanniskirche in Magdeburg. In 1886 he succeeded August Gottfried Ritter as organist at Magdeburg Cathedral .

From 1887 he taught music at the pedagogy of the monastery of Our Dear Women Magdeburg. In 1888 he became Royal Music Director, and in 1905 he received the title of Professor. He taught at Max Sannemann's Conservatory and from 1901 gave organ courses with Rudolph Palme . He arranged for Ernst Röver to build the new cathedral organ , which was inaugurated in 1906.

Forchhammer was considered an important concert organist and organ improviser. He composed around 1800 chorale preludes, only partially published, as well as chorale arrangements, fantasies and sonatas for the organ, piano works, a piano trio, the oratorio "Queen Luise" and the setting of the 130th Psalm for solos, choir and orchestra as well as piano arrangements of the symphonic Seals by Franz Liszt . With Bernhard Kothe (1821-1897) he published a guide to organ literature in 1890 .

Compositions (selection)

• opus 08: Sonata No. 1 for organ
• opus 10: Twelve chorale preludes for organ for church use
• opus 12: Fantasy and Choral: Out of deep need I cry to you for organ with male choir ad libitum
• opus 15: Zur Todtenfeier - Second sonata for organ
• opus 18: 100 easy and short preludes to 50 chorales for organ (1890, Magdeburg, with Albert Rathke), dedicated to Gustav Flügel
• opus 30: Ten epilogues on chorale motifs for organ

literature

• Hans Peter Schanzlin:  Forchhammer, Theophil Traugott. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1961, ISBN 3-428-00186-9 , p. 295 ( digitized version ).
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Forchhammer, Theophil. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8 , Sp. 69

Web links

• Works by and about Theophil Forchhammer in the catalog of the German National Library
• Sheet music and audio files by Theophil Forchhammer in the International Music Score Library Project
• Theophil Forchhammer in the Magdeburg Biographical Lexicon
• Antonio Baldassarre: Forchhammer, Theophil. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Theophil Forchhammer at Swabian Organ Romanticism
• Bach Cantatas - Theophil Forchhammer
• Klassika - Theophil Forchhammer