Walter Eichenberg

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Walter Eichenberg (born December 20, 1922 in Großburschla ; † March 13, 2018 in Leipzig ) was a German composer , trumpeter , conductor and arranger .

Life

As a child, Walter Eichenberg was taught to play the violin by an uncle, a cantor in his hometown. He also convinced the parents, a farming couple, to send 14-year-old Walter to the boarding school of the municipal orchestral school in Zschopau in 1937 . Eichenberg began studying trumpet on the " Stadtpfeife ", which was well known far beyond the region . In Zschopau he also met Fips Fleischer , who was almost the same age , with whom he soon discovered a shared love for swing and jazz . After completing his training, Eichenberg was called up for military service in 1941. He was seriously wounded several times in the fighting during World War II, including losing an eye.

In 1945 Eichenberg began his first engagement in a small swing formation in Chemnitz . From 1946 on he played for the first time in a big band , in the Chemnitz Orchestra Karl Walter . From September 1947 on, Eichenberg played in the newly founded dance orchestra of the Leipzig station under the direction of Kurt Henkels . The large Leipzig formation quickly became one of the best-known and most popular in eastern Germany, but it was also popular in the west of the divided country and made a name for itself in specialist circles internationally.

Eichenberg distinguished himself in the orchestra not only as an instrumentalist, but also as a composer and arranger . Among other things, he wrote several titles for the first DEFA music film Musik, Musik, Musik . At the same time, Eichenberg's arrangements made a decisive contribution to the band's musical profile. As an arranger he worked for Erwin Lehn and his Südfunk-Tanzorchester Stuttgart for several years in the 1950s . From 1958 on, Eichenberg also directed the Radio GDR studio orchestra. In 1960 he married the pop singer Helga Brauer .

Very successful instrumental recordings by Walter Eichenberg are Kaskaden , Grand with Fours , 6 out of 49 , Bauern-Dixie , Am Schnürchen and others. a. From the 1950s onwards, dance songs were created in collaboration with Helmut Kießling ( beautiful, beautiful and flawless, flawless ), Helmut Kießling / Maggie Koch ( music, music, music , lonely, my ship is in the harbor and my heart, that's totally confused ) and Johannes Kretzschmar ( seaman's yarn ). An intensive collaboration with Willy Schüller ( Hear 'my heart ) began in the mid-1950s . With Günther Barthel he wrote Imagine, marriage is a drive ( Amiga recording by Werner Hass) and with Harro Korth the star of love shines brightly over us (a solo recording by Monika Hauff 1967 for Amiga).

Successful songs were also created in the joint work with Dieter Schneider (e.g. one is there for the other ).

In 1961 Walter Eichenberg took over the management of the Leipzig Radio Dance Orchestra and worked as its chief conductor until he handed this position over to Eberhard Weise in 1989 . Under Eichenberg's direction, the orchestra produced around 5,000 titles for radio, television and records. Together with the formation, he was a guest as a musician and conductor in twelve European countries on tour trips.

Eichenberg spent his retirement in Leipzig .

Walter Eichenberg's urn was buried in his wife's grave in the south cemetery in Leipzig.

Lexical entries

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Documented in WorldCat When the poppies bloom, Mitteldeutscher Verlag Halle (Saale) 1951
  2. ↑ Monika Hauff and the Walter Eichenberg Orchestra on YouTube with About Us, the star of love by Walter Eichenberg and Harro Korth shines brightly

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Eichenberg, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer and musician
DATE OF BIRTH December 20, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Big boy
DATE OF DEATH March 13, 2018
Place of death Leipzig