Walther Beck (conductor)

Peter Walther August Beck , also Walter Beck , (born June 10, 1890 in Magdeburg , † June 29, 1966 in Kassel ) was a German general music director. He was a conductor and Kapellmeister.

Life

He was the son of the private citizen Walther Beck and his wife Johanna nee Weisshuhn and grew up in Magdeburg, the capital of the Prussian province of Saxony . In 1900 his parents sent him to the Francke Foundations in Halle (Saale) , where he stayed until 1909. In addition, he received from 1906 musical training at the Conservatory in Halle.

In 1910 Walther Beck got his first job as a repetitor at the National Theater in Munich, during this time he also attended lectures at the University of Munich . After the outbreak of World War I, he was drafted into the military in 1914. In 1918 he returned from the field and became Kapellmeister at the Regensburg City Theater . In 1920 he moved to Würzburg and in 1921 to the State Theater in Darmstadt .

In 1924 Walther Beck successfully applied for the post of general music director of the municipal theaters in Magdeburg , which was advertised for the first time , where he gave numerous premieres by contemporary musicians. After the " seizure of power " by the National Socialists in 1933, he was given leave of absence due to denunciations. At the end of July 1934 he was appointed First Kapellmeister at the State Theater in Bremen . In 1941 he resigned from this position in order to study philosophy at the University of Berlin until 1943 and to undertake study trips abroad. From 1943 to 1944 he worked as Kapellmeister in Kaiserslautern , then he went to Hanover. Walther Beck died in Kassel in 1966.

family

Walther Beck married the ballet master Alice née Zickler in Magdeburg in 1903.

Honors

Iron Cross 2nd class

estate

Part of the written estate, mostly letters, from Walther Beck is in the Center for Telemann Care and Research in Magdeburg.

literature

Herrmann AL Degener : Degeners Who is it? , Berlin 1935, page 78.

Web links

Individual evidence

^ Fritz Peters: Bremen between 1933 and 1945 - A Chronicle , European University Publishing House , Bremen 2010, ISBN 978-3-86741-373-2 , p. 60.
↑ Proceedings and bequests, donations, purchases etc. Center for Telemann Care and Research Magdeburg, accessed on March 9, 2020 (Beck's estate, see Beck, Walther).

personal data
SURNAME	Beck, Walther
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Beck, Walter; Beck, Peter Walther August (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German conductor
DATE OF BIRTH	June 10, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH	Magdeburg
DATE OF DEATH	June 29, 1966
Place of death	kassel

[1] Fritz Peters: Bremen between 1933 and 1945 - A Chronicle , European University Publishing House , Bremen 2010, ISBN 978-3-86741-373-2 , p. 60.

[2] Proceedings and bequests, donations, purchases etc. Center for Telemann Care and Research Magdeburg, accessed on March 9, 2020 (Beck's estate, see Beck, Walther).