Volker Ochs

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Volker Ochs

Volker Ochs (born January 11, 1929 in Düsseldorf ; † October 16, 2018 in Frankfurt (Oder) ) was a German composer and church music director of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg . He last lived in Frankfurt (Oder) and was an honorary citizen of the city of Dahme / Mark .

Live and act

The parents - both of whom were music teachers - woke Volker Ochs' love for music early on. At the age of 9 he received cello lessons. After completing his school education with Abitur in 1947 at the Francke Foundations in Halle (Saale) , Volker Ochs studied church music at the Halle church music school with Kurt Fiebig (composition) and Gerhard Bremsteller (organ).

In 1949, Volker Ochs conducted his first singing week and in this context met Alfred Stier , the Landessingwart of Saxony-Anhalt . All three, Fritz Jöde , Alfred Stier and Volker Ochs can be seen as the "fathers" of the church singing weeks.

In the church music school in Halle he met his fellow student, church musician Martha geb. Kampfrath from Magdeburg know. They married on August 3, 1951. This marriage resulted in 3 children. On October 19, 2005, his companion "Martel" died.

In 1951 he became a lecturer in church music at the seminar for church services in Dahme / Mark. In 1956, Volker Ochs was appointed to the newly created office of Landessingwarts of the Ev. Church in Berlin-Brandenburg, which he held until his retirement in 1994. His task was to sing and make music with children, young people and adults in the parishes and to train choir directors and organists.

In 1964 he became honorary chairman of the Evangelical Church Choir in Brandenburg, in 1974 Chairman of the Conference of Evangelical Choir Organizations in the GDR and in 1991 Vice President of the Association of Evangelical Church Choirs in Germany. Since 1971 he has been a senior lecturer in the “Qualification for Music and Movement Therapy Support Work for Mentally Handicapped People” of the EKD's Diaconal Work .

In 1973, Volker Ochs took over the chairmanship of the hymn book committee of the Evangelical Church of the Union and thus became a member of the working group for ecumenical songs and the hymn book committee east, which was appointed in 1978 and developed the evangelical hymn book (EG) in cooperation with the hymnal committee west .

He is the composer of many hymn melodies. Of these, the singsphrase ( antiphon ) Look up and raise your heads (EG 21) and four other singspells and songs (EG 28, EG 278, EG 348, EG 417) have been recorded in the Evangelical Hymnal.

In the city of Dahme / Mark he worked as a board member of the Kulturverein Dahme eV from its foundation in 1991 to 2006, as a curator of art exhibitions, as an organizer of many concerts and local festivals and as a co-founder of the working group "The Children of Chernobyl", whose work he is Music therapist assisted.

Major works

Four scenic music for pantomime games

(for speakers, choir, speaking choir, wind instruments in various formations, flutes, Orff instruments, bass group, timpani):

  • Your Mercy Has No End (1964)
  • Growing Towards Christ (1966)
  • God Makes Peace (1967)
  • God's Ways Carry On (1976)
Two choir cycles (four-part a cappella )
  • A cheerful herbarium based on the eponymous cycle of poems by Karl Heinrich Waggerl . Strube-Verlag, VS 5034, Munich 1992.
  • The one rose overwhelms everything according to the poetry book of the same name by Eva Strittmatter . Strube-Verlag, VS 5034, Munich 1992.
Cantatas
  • As long as I live, I will praise my gentlemen , cantata for Advent and Christmas based on a text by Otto Bruder for solo soprano, four-part choir and instruments. Strube-Verlag, VS 1569, Munich 1997.
  • Singe, my voice , little morning music for solo soprano, three-part mixed choir and instruments, text: Gottfried Schille and Bible. Strube-Verlag, VS 1989, Munich 1998.
  • Keep us, Lord, at your word , choral music for two four-part choirs, baritone, organ (wind instruments)
Singing games
  • The Christmas light , Christmas game, text: Irmgard Walter. 2007.
  • Snow White , fairy tales to speak and make music for children, text: Christel Ulbrich.
motet
  • Introit motet to Trinity Holy is God the Lord (n.d.)
Songs
  • Four choir songs based on poems by Maria Lohuus (1989)
  • Five choir songs to texts by Jochen Klepper with new melodies. Merseburger Publishing House, Berlin / Kassel 2004.
  • To you, God, we call , 41 new songs for voice and piano accompaniment. Strube-Verlag, VS 6261, Munich 2004.
  • Three choir songs based on poems by Hermann Hesse , 2008
  • You creator of the earth , five new songs based on texts by Lothar Petzold for voice and piano accompaniment. Strube-Verlag, VS 6455, Munich 2008.
  • With heart and mouth , fifteen new songs to texts by Lothar Petzold. Strube-Verlag, VS 6656, Munich 2012.
  • Sing us into listening , seven choral songs for 4-part mixed choir a cappella based on texts by Maria Loos, Annegret Grimm, Hermann Hesse and Joseph v. Eichendorf. Strube-Verlag, VS 6851, Munich 2015.
Publication of choir collections
  • 15 choral movements by Bartholomäus Gesius . Evangelical Publishing House, Berlin 1964.
  • Singe, my voice , for three-part mixed choir, Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Berlin 1981.
  • Eighty choral movements for the Wochenlied, Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel 1981.
  • Now rejoice, dear Christians, yes. 1981.
  • Sing, my voice, sing , choir pieces for the supplement to the Evangelical Hymnbook for three mixed voices. Strube-Verlag, VS 1191, Munich 1990.
  • Now cheers everyone , choir pieces for the Evangelical Hymnbook for three-part mixed choir. Strube-Verlag, VS 1281, Munich 1992.
  • Sing the song of joy , children's choir book. Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel 1995.
  • Comes with gifts and hymns for women's choir. Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart 1997.
Church music textbooks
  • Everyone makes music , instructions for using Orff's instruments . Workbook 17, Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Berlin 1970,
  • Sing along cheerfully , Practical guides for singing with all groups in our congregations. Workbook 25, Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Berlin 1968.
Choral preludes for organ and for trombone choirs

The compositional work by V. Ochs is stored in the music archive of the Nikolai Church in 15926 Luckau, Lange Str. 50.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary for the death of Dahme's former cantor Volker Ochs. In: maz-online.de. October 18, 2018, accessed October 19, 2018 .
  2. ↑ http://www.singwochen.de/geschichte/25-geschichte.html History of the Singwochen
  3. ^ Brandenburg Association for New Music: "We about us"
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Herbst (ed.): Who is who in the hymnal. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-50323-7 . S..233.
  5. ↑ Carmen Berg: Dahmer Kulturverein gets a new boss . In: LR-online . December 19, 2006 ( lr-online.de ).
  6. ^ Uwe Klemens: First Landessingwart of Brandenburg died . In: Märkische Allgemeine . October 22, 2018 ( maz-online.de ).
personal data
SURNAME Ochs, Volker
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer
DATE OF BIRTH January 11, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Dusseldorf
DATE OF DEATH October 16, 2018
Place of death Frankfurt (Oder)