Günter Kehr (16 March 1920 – 22 September 1989) was a German

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists, notable violinists from the baroque era onwards * List of contemporary classical violinists, notable contemporary classical violinists * List of violinist/compose ...

, conductor and academic teacher of violin and chamber music. He founded the Kehr Trio, a string trio, and the Mainzer Kammerorchester, a chamber orchestra, and toured internationally with both ensembles. Kehr was director of the Peter Cornelius Conservatory in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

from 1953, and professor at the Musikhochschule Köln.

Life

Born in Darmstadt, Kehr studied the violin as well as musicology in Berlin and Cologne with

Alma Moodie Alma Mary Templeton Moodie (12 September 18987 March 1943) was an Australian violinist who established an excellent reputation in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. She was regarded as the foremost female violinist during the inter-war years, and s ...

and Hermann Zitzmann. He received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in 1941 with the thesis: ''Untersuchungen zur Violintechnik um die Wende des 18. Jahrhunderts'', exploring violin technique around 1800. Farah Diba with Kehr Trio 1965

In 1948, Kehr founded the Kehr Trio, a

string trio A string trio is a group of three string instruments or a piece written for such a group. From at least the 19th century on, the term "string trio" with otherwise unspecified instrumentation normally refers to the combination violin, viola and cell ...

which played for decades in changing formations. In 1950 and 1951, they took part in the

Darmstädter Ferienkurse Darmstädter Ferienkurse ("Darmstadt Summer Course") is a regular summer event of contemporary classical music in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany. It was founded in 1946, under the name "Ferienkurse für Internationale Neue Musik Darmstadt" (Vacation Co ...

of contempoary music, where Kehr was a violin instructor from the beginning in 1946. With violist Georg Schmidt and cellist Kurt Herzbruch, they played

Ernst Krenek Ernst Heinrich Krenek (, 23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer of Czech origin. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including ''Music Here and Now'' (1939), a study ...

's string trio, and

Felix Petyrek Felix Petyrek (14 May 1892 in Brno 1 December 1951 in Vienna) was an Austrian composer. He wrote stage works, songs, piano music (including duos and duets) in a Romantic style. Petyrek was a pupil of Franz Schreker and Guido Adler in Vienna. Du ...

's ''Gethsemane'' for female voice and string trio, with Ilona Steingruber. The trio toured in South America, North Africa and the Near East. They played concerts such as in Basel in 1959, with violist again Schmidt and cellist Hans Münch-Holland, performing string trios by Beethoven,

Ernst von Dohnányi Ernst von Dohnányi (Hungarian: ''Dohnányi Ernő'', ; 27 July 1877 – 9 February 1960) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and conductor. He used a German form of his name on most published compositions. Biography Dohnányi was born in Pozsony ...

, and Max Reger. In the 1960s, the trio was formed by Kehr and his former students, violist Volker David Kirchner and cellist Bernhard Braunholz, on tours including Tehran. In 1968, they recorded the piano quartets by Johannes Brahms with pianist

Jacqueline Eymar Jacqueline Eymar (23 June 1922 – 6 December 2008) was a French classical pianist. Biography Born in Nice, a pupil of the pianist and composer Yves Nat, Eymar had a rich post-war career as a pianist and chamber musician. Eymar has interprete ...

.Johannes Brahms – Kehr-Trio mit Jacqueline Eymar
/ref> Kehr directed the Peter Cornelius Conservatory in

from 1953. He increased the quality of the conservatory by hiring notable researchers. He also taught as professor of chamber music at the

Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln The Cologne University of Music ( is a music college in Cologne, Germany. Founded in 1850, it is Europe's largest academy of music. History The academy was founded by Ferdinand Hiller in 1850 as ''Conservatorium der Musik in Coeln''. In 1895 Ger ...

from 1967 to 1986. In 1955, Kehr founded the Mainzer Kammerorchester chamber orchestra, which he led until his death. With them, he was soloist and conductor, performing on numerous tours in Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia. They made around 130 recordings, especially for the broadcaster SWR, but also for WDR, NDR,

Hessischer Rundfunk Hessischer Rundfunk (HR; "Hesse Broadcasting") is the German state of Hesse's public broadcasting corporation. Headquartered in Frankfurt, it is a member of the national consortium of German public broadcasting corporations, ARD. Studios Do ...

and other stations, with a repertoire from early Baroque to contemporary. They produced the first recording of Rinaldo da Capua's 1753 opera ''La zingara'' in 1966. In 1985, they played at Carnegie Hall in New York City, with a program of a Boccherini symphony, Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9, with Nina Tichman as the soloist, Haydn's Symphony No. 49 "La Passione", and Bartók's ''

Romanian Folk Dances ''Romanian Folk Dances'' ( ro, Dansuri populare românești, ), ( hu, Román népi táncok, ), Sz. 56, BB 68 is a suite of six short piano pieces composed by Béla Bartók in 1915. He later orchestrated it for small ensemble in 1917 as Sz. 68, BB ...

''. A review in

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

noted the ensemble's "sweet, singing string sound". Kehr died in Mainz at age 69.

Life

References

External links