Hans Michael Beuerle (15 June 1941 – 15 January 2015) was a German choir- and

orchestra director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the di ...

Life

Born in Berlin, Beuerle was the son of the church musician and Lotte Beuerle, ''née'' Engelmann. In his parental home he received his musical imprint through vocal and instrumental ensemble music, especially from the time of the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

. While still a student at a high school in Frankfurt, he studied violin and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

at the

Hoch Conservatory Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium – Musikakademie was founded in Frankfurt am Main on 22 September 1878. Through the generosity of Frankfurter Joseph Hoch, who bequeathed the Conservatory one million German gold marks in his testament, a school for ...

followed by school music at the

Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts The Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (german: Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main, italic=no, link=no, HfMDK) is a state Hochschule for music, theatre and dance in Frankfurt and is the only one of its k ...

, then violin and postgraduate

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duti ...

studies (artistic maturity examination), as well as

musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

, German studies and philosophy at the

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

. In 1975 he was awarded a doctorate in musicology by

Ludwig Finscher Ludwig Finscher (14 March 193030 June 2020) was a German musicologist. He was a professor of music history at the University of Heidelberg from 1981 to 1995 and editor of the encyclopedia ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart''. He is respecte ...

with a thesis on the ''

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

'' compositions of

Johannes 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 wit ...

. While still a student, he took over a student choir at the Goethe University in Frankfurt in 1966, from which the Kammerchor Frankfurt emerged. In 1984 the ensemble was awarded a prize at the international choir competition ''

Let the Peoples Sing ''Let the Peoples Sing'' (known until 1964 as ''Let the People Sing'') is an international choral competition currently organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The final, encompassing three categories and around ten choirs, is offer ...

''. From 1971 to 1972 he was artistic director of the boys choir of the . In 1973 he accepted a teaching position in choral conducting at the . In 1977 he changed to a professorship at the

Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe Karlsruhe's University of Music (Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe in German) is a college of music in Karlsruhe, Germany. Originally the Baden Conservatory of Music, it was elevated to a Hochschule under the direction of Franz Philipp, who led ...

. From 1980 until his retirement in 2006 he was professor for choir and orchestra conducting at the

Hochschule für Musik Freiburg ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

. From 1983 until his death he was also

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

of the Freiburg Bach Choir and the Freiburg Bach Orchestra. In 1991 the Kammerchor Frankfurt changed seat and name and developed under Beuerle's direction as ''Anton-Webern-Chor Freiburg'' to a professional vocal ensemble. In addition, Beuerle initiated CHŒUR3 e. V. with colleagues from Alsace and Switzerland - International Choir Academy in the triangle of those three countries. Beuerle died in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...

in January 2015 at the age of 73 of a severe pneumonia, which he had contracted after his last public appearance.Der Dirigent Hans Michael Beuerle ist tot
''Badische Zeitung'', 16 January 2015.

Awards

* 2011:

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

Bibliography

* Walter Habel: ''Wer ist wer?'', volume 29. Schmidt-Römhild, 1990.

References

External links

*
Hans Michael Beuerle
Bach Cantatas Website)
Selected discography
(

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

)
''Trois chansons de Charles d’Orléans à 4 voix mixtes sans accompagnement''
(YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Beuerle, Hans Michael 1941 births 2015 deaths Musicians from Berlin German choral conductors German male conductors (music) Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany