Günter Wand (7 January 1912, in

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was in a docu ...

, Germany – 14 February 2002, in Ulmiz near

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

, Switzerland) was a German orchestra conductor and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. Wand studied in

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...

Allenstein Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini'' * Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. ...

and

Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of ...

. At the Cologne Conservatory, he was a composition student with

Philipp Jarnach Philipp Jarnach (26 July 1892 17 December 1982 in Börnsen) was a German composer of modern music ("Neue Musik"), pianist, teacher, and conductor. Jarnach was born in Noisy-le-Sec, France, the son of a Spanish sculptor and a Flemish mother. Besi ...

and a piano student with

Paul Baumgartner Paul Baumgartner (21 July 1903 – 19 October 1976) was a Swiss pianist. Born in Altstätten, Switzerland, he studied piano and composition with Walter Braunfels in the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and with Eduard Erdmann in Köln ...

. He was a conducting pupil of Franz von Hoesslin in Munich, but was otherwise largely self-taught as a conductor. During his 65-year-long career as a conductor, he was particularly revered for his

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

and

Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...

, and was honoured with many significant awards, including the German Record Award and the internationally important

Diapason d'Or The Diapason d'Or (French for "Golden Tuning Fork") is a recommendation of outstanding (mostly) classical music recordings given by reviewers of '' Diapason'' magazine in France, broadly equivalent to "Editor's Choice", "Disc of the Month" in the ...

Career

In February 1924, aged 12, Wand attended a performance of

Der Zigeunerbaron ''The Gypsy Baron'' () is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II which premiered at the Theater an der Wien on 24 October 1885. Its German libretto by Ignaz Schnitzer is based on the unpublished 1883 story ''Saffi'' by Mór Jókai. Jok ...

at the Thalia Theatre in Wuppertal-Elberfeld, and was so entranced he decided to become a conductor. The role of Sandor Barinkay that evening was sung by

Richard Tauber Richard Tauber (16 May 1891 – 8 January 1948) was an Austrian tenor and film actor. Early life Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria, to Elisabeth Seifferth (née Denemy), a widow and an actress who played soubrette roles at the local theat ...

Cologne

Wand started his career in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, where he was to stay for several decades, as a conductor of the Cologne Opera in 1939. After World War II his position in Cologne was consolidated as he became ''Generalmusikdirektor'' in charge of both the opera and the Gürzenich Orchestra, which he conducted until 1974. In 1948, he also started teaching conducting at a music school in Cologne. From the early 1950s he guest-conducted a number of orchestras, making his London debut in 1951 with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

. Other orchestras who invited him included the

WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne The WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne (German: WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln) is a German radio orchestra based in Cologne, where the orchestra mainly performs at two concert halls: the WDR Funkhaus Wallrafplatz and the Kölner Philharmonie. Histor ...

and

Munich Philharmonic Orchestra The Munich Philharmonic (german: Münchner Philharmoniker, links=no) is a German symphony orchestra located in the city of Munich. It is one of Munich's four principal orchestras, along with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Rad ...

. After several recordings of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

and

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

with the Gürzenich for a French subscription collection in the mid-1950s, he made no studio recordings for nearly two decades with the exception of an appearance with the

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its ...

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

, accompanying

Wilhelm Backhaus Wilhelm Backhaus ('Bachaus' on some record labels) (26 March 1884 – 5 July 1969) was a German pianist and pedagogue. He was particularly well known for his interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin and Brahms. He was also much ...

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

Piano Concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpiec ...

(his only recording with that orchestra). In the 1970s and early 1980s, he recorded the complete symphonies of

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

and

Anton Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...

with the

Hamburg and late years

In 1982, Wand became chief conductor of the

NDR Symphony Orchestra The NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra (german: NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester) is a German radio orchestra. Affiliated with the '' Norddeutscher Rundfunk'' (NDR; North German Broadcasting), the orchestra is based at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, G ...

. With the latter ensemble, he was able to record the complete symphonies of Beethoven and

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

as well as works by Mozart,

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

, Schubert and Schumann. He also remade Bruckner's symphonies 3 to 9. In January 1982, Wand conducted the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

for the first time, and was appointed principal guest conductor of the orchestra that same year. Wand was noted for demanding considerable rehearsal time, a minimum of 5 to 8 rehearsals, for his London concerts. On 9 September 1990 his UK Promenade Concert of Bruckner's 5th Symphony with the BBC Symphony was recorded and subsequently released in 2011 on DVD by the BBC/ICA (ICAD 5049). For his first appearance with a US orchestra, the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...

in 1989, he asked for and received 11 hours of rehearsal time. Wand subsequently recorded the Brahms Symphony No. 1, part of that first U.S. program, with the

. The highlights of Wand's late career were his annual guest appearances with the

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...

, which he conducted in Schubert's "Unfinished" and "Great" symphonies (1995) and Bruckner's Fifth (1996), Fourth (1998),

Ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...

(1998),

Seventh Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season e ...

(1999) and Eighth (2001) symphonies.

Artistic style

As a conductor, Wand was a deep believer in the originality of music, aiming to perform works exactly as annotated. His art was marked by straightforward adherence to the score. As still a young conductor, a journalist asked him how he’d consider interpreting

Beethoven's ninth symphony The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is a choral symphony, the final complete symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, composed between 1822 and 1824. It was first performed in Vienna on 7 May 1824. The symphony is regarded by many critics and musi ...

, more like

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...

or rather like

Wilhelm Furtwängler Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler ( , , ; 25 January 188630 November 1954) was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a major ...

. Wand answered laconically: "Like Beethoven".The German Wikipedia refers to this source: Eduard Prüssen (Linolschnitte), Werner Schäfke und Günter Henne (Texte): ''Kölner Köpfe.'' 1. Auflage. Univ.- und Stadtbibliothek, Köln 2010, , S. 86.

Repertoire

In his late years, Wand restricted his repertoire almost exclusively to the symphonies of Anton Bruckner (which he had never conducted until he was over 60), Schubert, Brahms, Beethoven and Mozart. Earlier in his career, however, he was a devoted interpreter of the

contemporary music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included serial ...

of such composers as Frank Martin,

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...

Edgard Varèse Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (; also spelled Edgar; December 22, 1883 – November 6, 1965) was a French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States. Varèse's music emphasizes timbre and rhythm; he coined ...

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...

, and initially

Bernd Alois Zimmermann Bernd Alois Zimmermann (20 March 1918 – 10 August 1970) was a German composer. He is perhaps best known for his opera ''Die Soldaten'', which is regarded as one of the most important German operas of the 20th century, after those of Berg. As a ...

as well. Wand regarded Bruckner as the "most important symphonist after Beethoven". Wand's biographer Wolfgang Seifert wrote that "it is no exaggeration to say that Günter Wand has made an indispensable contribution toward the understanding of Bruckner in our time."

Compositions

Wand also composed music, mostly songs with orchestral accompaniment and music for ballet. One composition was his concertino "Odi et amo", for soprano and chamber orchestra, which Wand wrote for his wife, the soprano Anita Westhoff. Anita Wand (Westhoff) died on 29 December 2009 at Ulmiz (CH), at the age of 89 years.

Awards

During his over 65-year-long career as conductor, Günter Wand received several important prizes, including German Record Award, the German Record Critic's Prize, the

Echo Award Echo Music Prize (stylised as ECHO, ) was an accolade by the , an association of recording companies of Germany to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The first ECHO Awards ceremony was held in 1992, and it was set up to hono ...

and twice the internationally significant

, which he received for his Schubert and Bruckner recordings with the

. In 1996 Wand received the rarely awarded Hans von Bülow Medal.

Discography (sel.)

*With NDR-Sinfonieorchester: **Beethoven: ***Sinfonie Nr. 3 & Leonoren Ouvertüre Nr. 3 CD RD60755 (03/1991) ***Sinfonien Nr. 5 & 6 CD 09026 61930 2 (10/1993) ***Sinfonien Nr. 1 & 2 CD 74321 66458 2 (04/2001) ***Sinfonie Nr.1 & Nr.6 Nr.74321891082(11/2001) ***Sinfonie Nr.2 & Nr.7 Nr.74321891072(11/2001) ***Sinfonie Nr.3 & Nr.8 Nr.74321891062(11/2001) ***Sinfonie Nr.4 & Nr.5 Nr.74321891052(11/2001) ***Sinfonie Nr.9 Nr.74321891042 (11/2001) ***Sinfonien Nr. 1-9 74321891092 (11/2001) ***Sinfonie Nr.4 Nr.74321897172 (01/2002) **Brahms: ***Sinfonie Nr. 1 CD 09026 68889 2 (02/1998) ***Sinfonien Nr. 2 & 3 CD 09026 68888 2 (02/1998) ***Sinfonien Nr. 1-4 3CD 09026 63348 2 (01/1999) ***Sinfonie Nr. 4 CD 09026 63244 2 (01/1999) ***Sinfonien Nr.1 & Nr.3 Nr.74321891022 (11/2001) ***Sinfonien Nr.2 & Nr.4 Nr.74321891012 (11/2001) ***Sinfonien Nr.1-4 Nr.74321891032 (11/2001) **Bruckner: ***Sinfonie Nr. 5 (Originalfassung) CD RD60361 (06/90) ***Sinfonie Nr. 4 „Romantische“ CD RD60784 (04/1991) ***Sinfonie Nr. 4 2CD 74321930412 ***Sinfonie Nr. 7 (Originalfassung) CD 09026 61398 2 (03/1993) ***Sinfonie Nr. 9 (Originalfassung) CD 09026 62650 2 (06/1994) ***Sinfonie Nr. 8 2CD 09026 68047 2 (04/1995) ***Sinfonie Nr. 6 (Originalfassung) CD 09026 68452 2 (06/1996) **Debussy: Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien; CD 74321 75583 (05/2000) **Fortner: Bluthochzeit – Zwischenspiele für Orchester; CD RD60827 (12/1991) **Martin: Petite Symphonie concertante; **Mozart: ***Sinfonie Nr.36 ***Sinfonien Nr. 39 & 41 „Jupiter“ CD RD60714 (12/1990) ***Sinfonie Nr. 40; ***Posthornserenade Nr.74321897172 **Mussorgsky: Bilder einer Ausstellung **Schubert ***Sinfonie Nr. 5 ***Sinfonie Nr. 8 „Unvollendete“; CD RD60826 (12/1991) ***Sinfonie Nr. 9 „Große C-Dur“ CD RD60978 (12/1991) **Schumann: Sinfonie Nr. 4 **Stravinsky ***Concerto in Es (Dumbarton Oaks); ***Pulcinella Suite; CD 09026 61190 2 (10/1992) **Tchaikovsky ***Sinfonie Nr. 5 CD 09026 68032 2 (11/1994) ***Sinfonie Nr. 6 „Pathétique“ **Webern: 5 Stücke für Orchester, op.10 *NDR Live-Recordings 1989-1995: **Beethoven, Bruckner, Mozart, Tschaikowsky, Schubert 17 CD Box 74321 34162 2 (09/1996) *With Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester: **Bruckner: ***The 9 Symphonies 10CD 09026639302 (08/1989) ***Symphony No. 1 (Wiener Fassung) CD 09026639312 (12/1989) ***Symphony No. 2 CD 09026639322 (12/1989) ***Symphony No. 3 CD 09026639332 (12/1989) ***Symphony No. 4 „Romantische“ CD 09026639342 (12/1989) ***Symphony No. 5 CD 09026639352 (12/1989) ***Symphony No. 6 CD 09026639362 (12/1989) ***Symphony No. 7 CD 09026639372 (12/1989) ***Symphony No. 8 & 9 CD 09026639382 (12/1989) **Schubert: ***The Complete Symphonies 5CD 09026639402 (08/1989) ***Symphony No. 1 & 2 CD 09026639412 ***Symphony No. 3 & 6 CD 09026639422 ***Symphony No 4 & 8 CD 09026639432 ***Symphony No 5 (Selections from Rosamunde) CD 09026639442 ***Symphony No. 9 CD 09026639452 *With Berliner Philharmoniker: **Bruckner: ***Sinfonie Nr. 5 (Originalfassung)CD 09026 68503 2 (12/1996) ***Sinfonie Nr. 4 „Romantische“ (Haas-Fassung) CD 09026 68839 2 (08/1998) ***Sinfonie Nr. 9 (Originalfassung) CD 74321 63244 2 (08/1999) ***Sinfonie Nr. 7 CD 74321 68716 2 (10/2000) ***Sinfonie Nr.8 CD Nr.743218 28662 (11/2001) **Schubert: ***Sinfonie Nr. 8 „Unvollendete“ & 9 „Große C-Dur“; 2CD 09026 68314 2 (08/1995)

Literature

*Wolfgang Seifert: ''Günter Wand: so und nicht anders. Gedanken und Erinnerungen.'' Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 1998,

References

External links

Günter Wand's website

* ttp://www.bruceduffie.com/wand.html Interview with Günter Wand 23 January 1989
Last interview with Günter Wand (in German)
2002. Günter Wand makes some essential notes to 5th and 9th symphony of Bruckner {{DEFAULTSORT:Wand, Gunter 1912 births 2002 deaths German male conductors (music) German composers BBC Symphony Orchestra People from the Rhine Province Musicians from Wuppertal Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century German conductors (music) 20th-century German male musicians