Jürg Baur
Encyclopedia
Jürg Baur was a German
composer
of classical music
.
, where he achieved early recognition as a composer at the age of 18, when his First String Quartet was premiered at the Düsseldorf Hindenburg Secondary School by the then-famous Prisca Quartet. He studied from 1937 to 1948 (interrupted by army service from 1939–45, including several months as a Russian prisoner of war) at the Hochschule für Musik Köln
: composition with Philipp Jarnach
, piano with Karl Hermann Pillney, and organ and sacred music with Michael Schneider (Goslich 1982, 19 & 42; Levi 2001; Wallerang 2010). Even before completing his conservatory studies, he was appointed lecturer in music theory at the Düsseldorf Conservatory in 1946 (Levi 2001). He did postgraduate studies in musicology with Karl Gustav Fellerer and Willi Kahl from 1948 to 1951 at the University of Cologne
(Goslich 1982, 19 & 42). In 1952 he was appointed choirmaster and organist at the St Paulus-Kirche in Düsseldorf, a post he left in 1960 when he was awarded a scholarship from the German Academy to study for six months at the Villa Massimo
in Rome
. He twice returned to Rome for extended visits, in 1968 and 1980 (Levi 2001).The vivid impression made by the Italian city is reflected in the Italian-titled works he composed there, including the Concerto romano for oboe and orchestra (Goslich 1982, 19 & 42).
(Wallerang 2010). Widespread recognition as a composer came comparatively late. Béla Bartók
was his strongest stylistic influence at first, but in the 1950s he began to use twelve-tone technique
. Anton Webern
’s music became his model in works such as the Third String Quartet (1952), the Quintetto sereno for wind quintet
(1958)—which also uses aleatory
techniques—the Sonata for two pianos (1957), and the Ballata romana (1960) (Levi 2001). Later, he developed a marked propensity for quotations from earlier music. Particularly striking examples include Heinrich Isaac
's "Innsbruck, ich muß dich lassen" in the Concerto da camera, a theme from Bach’s
Musical Offering in the Ricercari for organ, as well as in the Kontrapunkte 77 for three woodwinds, and Schumann
themes in Sentimento del tempo and, especially, in Musik mit Robert Schumann (Goslich 1982, 19 & 42). Other composers whose works Baur has quoted include Dvořák
, Strauss
, Gesualdo
, Mozart
and Schubert
(Levi 2001).
Primarily a composer of orchestral and instrumental music, Baur also produced a number of works for less mainstream instruments such as the recorder
and the accordion
(Jacobs 1993; Levi 2001). He was one of the first composers to introduce the recorder to the new musical trends of the post-war era, with Incontri (1960), for recorder and piano, Mutazioni (1962) and Pezzi uccelli (1964), both for unaccompanied alto recorder, and the virtuosic Concerto da camera "Auf der Suche nach der verlorenen Zeit", for recorder and chamber orchestra of 1975 (Wallerang 2010).
In his 87th year, Baur completed his only opera, Der Roman mit dem Kontrabass, to a libretto by Michael Leinert after the story by Anton Chekhov
. Commissioned on the occasion of the composer's 85th birthday in 2003 by the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, it was premiered at the Partika-Saal of the Robert Schumann Hochschule
, Düsseldorf, on 25 November 2005, with Marco Vassilli and Kerstin Pohle singing the two main roles (Smychkov and the Countess Anastasia), Szymon Marciniak as the solo contrabassist, and Thomas Gabrisch conducting (Wallerang 2005).
's death in 1971, Bauer succeeded him as teacher of composition at the Cologne Musikhochschule, where he remained until retiring in 1990 (Levi 2001).
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
.
Education
Baur was born in DüsseldorfDüsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, where he achieved early recognition as a composer at the age of 18, when his First String Quartet was premiered at the Düsseldorf Hindenburg Secondary School by the then-famous Prisca Quartet. He studied from 1937 to 1948 (interrupted by army service from 1939–45, including several months as a Russian prisoner of war) at the Hochschule für Musik Köln
Hochschule für Musik Köln
The Cologne University of Music is a music college in Cologne, and Germany's largest academy of music.-History:The academy was founded by Ferdinand Hiller in 1850 as Conservatorium der Musik in Coeln...
: composition with Philipp Jarnach
Philipp Jarnach
Philipp Jarnach was considered in the 1920s to be one of the most important composers of modern music....
, piano with Karl Hermann Pillney, and organ and sacred music with Michael Schneider (Goslich 1982, 19 & 42; Levi 2001; Wallerang 2010). Even before completing his conservatory studies, he was appointed lecturer in music theory at the Düsseldorf Conservatory in 1946 (Levi 2001). He did postgraduate studies in musicology with Karl Gustav Fellerer and Willi Kahl from 1948 to 1951 at the University of Cologne
University of Cologne
The University of Cologne is one of the oldest universities in Europe and, with over 44,000 students, one of the largest universities in Germany. The university is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, an association of Germany's leading research universities...
(Goslich 1982, 19 & 42). In 1952 he was appointed choirmaster and organist at the St Paulus-Kirche in Düsseldorf, a post he left in 1960 when he was awarded a scholarship from the German Academy to study for six months at the Villa Massimo
Villa Massimo
Villa Massimo, short for Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo , is a German art institute in Rome, established in 1910 and located in the Villa Massimo....
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. He twice returned to Rome for extended visits, in 1968 and 1980 (Levi 2001).The vivid impression made by the Italian city is reflected in the Italian-titled works he composed there, including the Concerto romano for oboe and orchestra (Goslich 1982, 19 & 42).
Compositional career
Baur was one of the last composers of the old school. After the war, he remained faithful to his teacher Jarnach’s conservative stance, and never became an extreme avant-gardistAvant-garde music
Avant-garde music is a term used to characterize music which is thought to be ahead of its time, i.e. containing innovative elements or fusing different genres....
(Wallerang 2010). Widespread recognition as a composer came comparatively late. Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
was his strongest stylistic influence at first, but in the 1950s he began to use twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg...
. Anton Webern
Anton Webern
Anton Webern was an Austrian composer and conductor. He was a member of the Second Viennese School. As a student and significant follower of Arnold Schoenberg, he became one of the best-known exponents of the twelve-tone technique; in addition, his innovations regarding schematic organization of...
’s music became his model in works such as the Third String Quartet (1952), the Quintetto sereno for wind quintet
Wind quintet
A wind quintet, also sometimes known as a woodwind quintet, is a group of five wind players . The term also applies to a composition for such a group....
(1958)—which also uses aleatory
Aleatoric music
Aleatoric music is music in which some element of the composition is left to chance, and/or some primary element of a composed work's realization is left to the determination of its performer...
techniques—the Sonata for two pianos (1957), and the Ballata romana (1960) (Levi 2001). Later, he developed a marked propensity for quotations from earlier music. Particularly striking examples include Heinrich Isaac
Heinrich Isaac
Heinrich Isaac was a Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer of south Netherlandish origin. He wrote masses, motets, songs , and instrumental music. A significant contemporary of Josquin des Prez, Isaac influenced the development of music in Germany...
's "Innsbruck, ich muß dich lassen" in the Concerto da camera, a theme from Bach’s
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
Musical Offering in the Ricercari for organ, as well as in the Kontrapunkte 77 for three woodwinds, and Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
themes in Sentimento del tempo and, especially, in Musik mit Robert Schumann (Goslich 1982, 19 & 42). Other composers whose works Baur has quoted include Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
, Strauss
Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
, Gesualdo
Carlo Gesualdo
Carlo Gesualdo, known as Gesualdo di Venosa or Gesualdo da Venosa , Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, was an Italian nobleman, lutenist, composer, and murderer....
, Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
and Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
(Levi 2001).
Primarily a composer of orchestral and instrumental music, Baur also produced a number of works for less mainstream instruments such as the recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
and the accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
(Jacobs 1993; Levi 2001). He was one of the first composers to introduce the recorder to the new musical trends of the post-war era, with Incontri (1960), for recorder and piano, Mutazioni (1962) and Pezzi uccelli (1964), both for unaccompanied alto recorder, and the virtuosic Concerto da camera "Auf der Suche nach der verlorenen Zeit", for recorder and chamber orchestra of 1975 (Wallerang 2010).
In his 87th year, Baur completed his only opera, Der Roman mit dem Kontrabass, to a libretto by Michael Leinert after the story by Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
. Commissioned on the occasion of the composer's 85th birthday in 2003 by the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, it was premiered at the Partika-Saal of the Robert Schumann Hochschule
Robert Schumann Hochschule
The Robert-Schumann-Hochschule is a college for music studies on university level in Düsseldorf, Germany.-History:...
, Düsseldorf, on 25 November 2005, with Marco Vassilli and Kerstin Pohle singing the two main roles (Smychkov and the Countess Anastasia), Szymon Marciniak as the solo contrabassist, and Thomas Gabrisch conducting (Wallerang 2005).
Teaching career
In 1965 Bauer became director of the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf, where he was appointed professor in 1969. After Bernd Alois ZimmermannBernd Alois Zimmermann
Bernd Alois Zimmermann was a post-WWII West German composer. He is perhaps best known for his opera Die Soldaten which is regarded as one of the most important operas of the 20th century...
's death in 1971, Bauer succeeded him as teacher of composition at the Cologne Musikhochschule, where he remained until retiring in 1990 (Levi 2001).
Honours
Baur’s many distinctions include the Recklinghausen Young Generation Prize (1956), the Robert Schumann Prize of the city of Düsseldorf (1957), the Federal Cross of Merit (first class, 1970), and honorary membership of the German Music Council (1988), the North Rhine–Westphalia Service Award and the City of Duisburg Music Prize (1994) (Levi 2001).Last years
In the summer of 2009, Baur and his wife Brunhild celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. A few months later, however, Brunhild died and a change came over Baur, who until then had never appeared frail. He died in Düsseldorf on 31 January 2010 at the age of 91, just a few months after his wife, who was the same age (Wallerang 2010).External links
- Jürg Baur’s page at the Verlag Dohr
- Jürg Baur at the AUGEMUS Musikverlag Ralf Kaupenjohann
- Der Roman mit dem Kontrabass. Includes a review from Opera (London) 57 No. 3 (March 2006), and photos of the Düsseldorf production.