Herbert Collum (18 July 1914 − 29 April 1982) was a German

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

harpsichordist A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...

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 ...

and conductor.

Life

Born in Leipzig, Collum received high school education between 1921 and 1929. He continued from 1930 to 1934 at the Church Music Institute in Leipzig, where he studied

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

with

Karl Straube Montgomery Rufus Karl Siegfried Straube (6 January 1873 – 27 April 1950) was a German church musician, organist, and choral conducting, conductor, famous above all for championing the abundant organ music of Max Reger. Career Born in Berlin, ...

and Günther Ramin, piano with

Carl Adolf Martienssen Carl Adolf Martienssen (6 December 1881 – 1 March 1955) was a German pianist and music educator. Life Born in Güstrow, Martiensen came from a large farming family, which apparently only immigrated to Mecklenburg in the generation of his fathe ...

, choral conducting with Kurt Thomas, and

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...

with Johann Nepomuk David and

Fritz Reuter Fritz Reuter (7 November 1810 – 12 July 1874; born as ''Heinrich Ludwig Christian Friedrich Reuter'') was a novelist from Northern Germany who was a prominent contributor to Low German literature. Early life Fritz Reuter was born at Stavenha ...

. Already by 1927 he had become deputy organist at the St. Matthäikirche Leipzig. From 1932 to 1935 he served as assistant to Ramin,

Thomaskantor (Cantor at St. Thomas) is the common name for the musical director of the , now an internationally known boys' choir founded in Leipzig in 1212. The official historic title of the Thomaskantor in Latin, ', describes the two functions of cantor a ...

at the Thomaskirche. His appointment in 1935 as principal organist, "Kreuzorganist", at the Kreuzkirche in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

signalled the beginning of his creative period; he remained in that post until his death in April 1982 at the age of 67. His successor as Kreuzorganiste was Michael-Christfried Winkler. At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Collum founded his own choir in 1946, with a dedicated set of concerts. To mark the 200th anniversary of

J S Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

's death, he organised 24 concerts between September 1949 and August 1950, featuring the Collum Choir and members of the

Staatskapelle Dresden The Staatskapelle Dresden (known formally as the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden) is a German orchestra based in Dresden, the capital of Saxony. Founded in 1548 by Maurice, Elector of Saxony, it is one of the world's oldest and most highly re ...

. The performances took place at the Martin Luther Church in the Neustadt and the Reformed Church, because the Kreuzkirche had been damaged by fire after bombing in 1945. As ''Kreuzorganist'', Collum also took on various teaching roles. From 1942 to 1945 and again between 1954 and 1956, he was a lecturer at the

Dresden Conservatory Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the List ...

, teaching organ there from 1956 to 1958. He also taught organ at the Spandauer Kirchenmusikschule from 1949 to 1961, with a professorship in 1960. He began reaching harpsichord at the

Musikhochschule Dresden A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

in 1964, the same year as his appointment to the jury of the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition. In 1942 he married the singer and teacher Herta Maria Böhme-Collum. After one year was born: following in the footsteps of his parents, he became an organist and church musician. Collum was buried according to his last wishes in

Reinhardtsgrimma Reinhardtsgrimma is a former municipality in the district of Weißeritzkreis in Saxony in Germany located near Dresden. On 2 January 2008, it merged into the town Glashütte. Church of Reinhardtsgrimma, Its church features an organ by Gottfried Si ...

. He frequently gave concerts on the Silbermann organ in the village church and made a recording in the series "Bach on Silbermann Organs". The concert tradition founded by him has successfully been continued under the direction of the current ''Kreuzorganist'' Holger Gehring, resulting in the organ becoming one of the best known in Saxony.

Honours and legacy

In 1973 Collum received the

Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic The Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic (German: ''Kunstpreis der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik'') was an East German state award bestowed on individuals for contributions in various fields of art. History The Art Prize was annually a ...

. In Dresden, the ''Herbert-Collum-Straße'' was later named after him. The archives of Herbert Collum are kept in the

Saxon State and University Library Dresden The Saxon State and University Library Dresden (full name in german: Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden), abbreviated SLUB Dresden, is located in Dresden, Germany. It is both the regional library (german: ...

Compositions

Orchestral music

* Symphony No. 1, 1939 * Symphony No. 2, 1940 * Concerto for flute and chamber orchestra, 1944 * Concerto in C major for orchestra, first performance on July 1, 1953 by the

Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra The Dresdner Philharmonie (Dresden Philharmonic) is a German symphony orchestra based in Dresden. Its principal concert venue is the '' Kulturpalast''. The orchestra also performs at the Kreuzkirche, the Hochschule für Musik Dresden, and ...

, conducted by

Franz Jung Franz Josef Johannes Konrad Jung (26 November 1888, Neisse, Upper Silesia – 21 January 1963, Stuttgart) was a writer, economist and political activist in Germany. He also wrote under the names Franz Larsz and Frank Ryberg. He grew up in Neisse ...

* Concerto in E for String Orchestra, premiere on 28 May 1955 by the

, conducted by Franz Konwitschny * Concertante music no. 1, 1961 * Concertante music no. 2, 1964 * Moritzburg Concerto No. 1, 1965 * Moritzburg Concerto No. 2, 1968 * 5 concertos for harpsichord and chamber orchestra * Sinfonietta for chamber orchestra, 1974

Organ works

* Totentanz - Variations on an old folk song: "It is a reaper, is called death", 1944 * Organ book of the Dresden Kreuzkirche, 1950 * Suite, 1952 * Organ Suite, 1962 * Toccata, 1964 * Leksand Suite, 1966 * Fantasia, 1969 * Siljan Suite, 1970 * Metamorphosis, 1970 * Fantasy about Bells of the Cross Church (EGAHD), 1973 * Concerto for Organ and Orchestra, 1975 - premiere April 10–12, 1975 by the Dresden Philharmonic, conductor: Hartmut Haenchen * Fantasy - Triptych, 1975 * 2 concertos for organ and vibraphone, 1978 * "Media in vita" for vibraphone and organ - premiere on 11 June 1979 at the Kreuzkirche Dresden

Chamber music

* Suite for piano, 1945 * Sonata for flute and piano, 1954 * New piano pieces (223 movements), 1960–1962

Vocal music

* 3 Christmas carols, 1943 * St. John Passion, 1953 * How the city lies so desolate, 1956 * For we have no permanent town here, 1959 * Te Deum, 1959 * Great Psalter, 1961 * German Magnificat, 1962 * Fantasy about b-a-c-h, 1964 * Spiritual motets and chants

Theatre music

* '' The Prince of Homburg'' ( Heinrich von Kleist),

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

conducted by

Fritz Wendel Friedrich "Fritz" Wendel (February 21, 1915 – February 9, 1975) was a German test pilot during the 1930s and 1940s. Achievements On 26 April 1939 Fritz Wendel set the Flight airspeed record, world air speed record of , flying the Messerschmitt ...

Staatsschauspiel Dresden The Staatsschauspiel Dresden (State Playhouse Dresden) is a theatre in Dresden. It is maintained by the Free State of Saxony, hence its name. It consists of a main auditorium, the ' (play house), and a studio theatre, the '. It was created in 19 ...

, 1955

Recordings

* ''Metamorphose für Orgel''. (1970) * ''Kleine Messe für Positiv''. * ''Totentanz : Variationen über ein altes Volkslied für Orgel "Es ist ein Schnitter, heißt der Tod". (1979) * ''Christum wir sollen loben : Weihnachts-Motette; kleine Choral-Partita für gemischten Chor a cappella''. * Bach: ''Französische Suiten (1–6)'' * Bach: ''Das Orgelwerk auf Silbermann-Orgeln'' * List of 71 Compositions by Collum in the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

Notes

References

* Gojowy, Detlef: ''"Suche nach Identität" – Kreuzorganist Herbert Collum''.''"Suche nach Identität" - Kreuzorganist Herbert Collum''
on WorldCat in ''Die Dresdner Kirchenmusik im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert'', edited by Matthias Herrmann, Laaber 1998, (''Musik in Dresden'' 3), *

External links

* *
Archives of Herbert Collum

Dieter Härtwig Dieter Härtwig (born 18 July 1934 in Dresden) is a German dramaturge, musicologist and author of numerous writings on Dresden's music history and its personalities. After gaining his Abitur from Kreuzschule, Härtwig studied musicology and Germa ...

Collum, Herbert
In Institut für Sächsische Geschichte und Volkskunde (ed.): Sächsische Biografie. {{DEFAULTSORT:Collum, Herbert 1914 births 1982 deaths Musicians from Leipzig German classical organists German harpsichordists 20th-century classical composers 20th-century German composers Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany