Herbert Baumann (31 July 1925 – 21 January 2020) was a German composer and conductor. His compositions were mainly for theatre and film, at theatres in Berlin and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, such as ballet music for ''Alice im Wunderland'' and ''Rumpelstilzchen''.

Life

Baumann was born in Berlin and began to study architecture, as his father wished. He studied conducting at the same time with

Sergiu Celibidache Sergiu Celibidache (; 14 August 1996) was a Romanian conductor, composer, musical theorist, and teacher. Educated in his native Romania, and later in Paris and Berlin, Celibidache's career in music spanned over five decades, including tenures as ...

, who was serving his first season with the Berlin Philharmonic. Baumann turned completely to music. He composed a piece as a conducting exercise that impressed Celibidache, who showed it to

Paul Höffer Paul Höffer (21 December 1895 – 31 August 1949) was a German composer. He was born in Barmen and died in Berlin. In 1936 he won a gold medal in the art competitions of the Olympic Games for his ''Olympischer Schwur'' (''Olympic Vow'' ...

, a composition professor. Baumann then studied composition with Höffer at the Internationales Musikinstitut in Berlin, and after Höffer's death with Boris Blacher. He worked as leader of the stage music for the Waldsee open air stage. At age 22, he was recommended by Höffer as director of stage music at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin, a position that he held for six years, composing for the performances. In 1953, he moved on to the Staatliche Schauspielbühnen in West Berlin, and then to

in 1970, where he worked for the

Residenz Theatre The Residence Theatre (in German: Residenztheater) or New Residence Theatre (Neues Residenztheater) of the Residence in Munich was built from 1950 to 1951 by Karl Hocheder. The renovation of 1981 by Alexander von Branca removed the decoration whic ...

. He worked freelance from 1979. His ballet ''Alice im Wunderland'', based on

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

's novel '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'', was premiered on 23 December 1984 at the

Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden The Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden ('Hessian State Theatre Wiesbaden') is a German theatre located in Wiesbaden, in the German state Hesse. The company produces operas, plays, ballets, musicals and concerts on four stages. Known also as the ...

. The success prompted a commission from the

Städtische Bühnen Augsburg The Staatstheater Augsburg is a theatre of Augsburg, Germany. Until 1999 it was called Städtische Bühnen Augsburg, from then until the end of August 2018 it was called ''Theater Augsburg''. It offers on four stages musical theatre, plays and bal ...

for a ballet ''Rumpelstilzchen'', premiered in 1986. Carroll himself was a character in the ballet, named ''Der Dichter'' (The Author). A CD review of the ''Alice'' music, played by the

NDR Radiophilharmonie The NDR Radiophilharmonie is a German radio orchestra, affiliated with the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony. The orchestra principally gives concerts in the ''Großer Sendesaal'' of the ''Landesfunkhaus Niedersa ...

conducted by the composer, described it as a neo-Romantic score with delicate instrumentation and clever story-telling ideas for his main characters Alice and ''Der Dichter''. Baumann received the

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 ...

in 1998. The same year, he founded the Herbert-Baumann-Stiftung, a foundation for the support of plucked instruments by concerts, festivals and competitions. He became an honorary member of the Tonkünstlerverband München in 2015. Baumann died in Munich in January 2020 at the age of 94.

References

External links

*
Profile
at komponisten.net (German) *

Bach Cantatas Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Baumann, Herbert 1925 births 2020 deaths German composers German male composers Musicians from Berlin Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany