Hermann Schroeder (26 March 1904 – 7 October 1984) was a German composer and a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church musician.

Life

Schroeder was born in Bernkastel and spent the greatest part of his life’s work in the Rheinland. His mother's family had common ancestry with

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 classic ...

. He studied from 1926 to 1930 at the

Hochschule für Musik Köln ' (, 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 ...

, where his most important teachers were Heinrich Lemacher and

Walter Braunfels Walter Braunfels (; 19 December 1882 – 19 March 1954) was a German composer, pianist, and music educator. Life Walter Braunfels was born in Frankfurt. His first music teacher was his mother, the great-niece of the composer Louis Spohr. He c ...

(composition),

Hermann Abendroth Hermann Paul Maximilian Abendroth (19 January 1883 – 29 May 1956) was a German conductor. Early life Abendroth was born on 19 January 1883, at Frankfurt, the son of a bookseller. Several other members of the family were artists in diverse dis ...

(conducting), and Hans Bachem (organ). His main sphere of activity as composer, conductor and

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational h ...

were supplemental to his work as a professor of choral conducting, counterpoint, and

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

. Upon graduation from the conservatory, he obtained a post teaching music theory at the Rheinische Musikschule in Cologne. Eight years later he became organist at the cathedral in

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

. He remained in this post until the end of the war, adding the position of director of the Trier School of Music in 1940. After the war he taught music theory at the Cologne Musikhochschule beginning in 1946, becoming a professor there in 1948 and deputy director in 1958. He was also a reader at Bonn University from 1946 until 1973, and a lecturer at the University of Cologne from 1956 until 1961. He also conducted various semiprofessional ensembles such as the Bach-Verein Köln and the Rheinischer Kammerchor. His notable students include

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th and early 21st-century ...

. Schroeder died on 7 October 1984 in Bad Orb aged 80.

Compositions

Schroeder's main accomplishments as a composer were in of Catholic church music, where he attempted to break free of the lingering monopoly held by Romantic music. His works are characterized by the employment of medieval elements such as

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek (language), Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed ma ...

, modal scales, and

fauxbourdon Fauxbourdon (also fauxbordon, and also commonly two words: faux bourdon or faulx bourdon, and in Italian falso bordone) – French for ''false drone'' – is a technique of musical harmonisation used in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, ...

which he combined with quintal and quartal harmonies and 20th-century polyphonic linear, sometimes atonal writing similar to that of

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...

. His catalog includes much

organ music The organ repertoire is considered to be the largest and oldest repertory of all musical instruments. Because of the organ's (or pipe organ's) prominence in worship in Western Europe from the Middle Ages on, a significant portion of organ repert ...

as well as folk-song settings, German settings of the Ordinary and

Proper Proper may refer to: Mathematics * Proper map, in topology, a property of continuous function between topological spaces, if inverse images of compact subsets are compact * Proper morphism, in algebraic geometry, an analogue of a proper map for ...

of the

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

, and chamber music (especially with the organ).

Honours and awards

* Robert Schumann Prize of the City of Düsseldorf, 1952 * Arts Prize of the State of

Rheinland-Pfalz Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

, 1956.

Selected works

Stage

*''Hero und Leander'', opera in six scenes after ''Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen'' by

Franz Grillparzer Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer (15 January 1791 – 21 January 1872) was an Austrian writer who was considered to be the leading Austrian dramatist of the 19th century. His plays were and are frequently performed at the famous Burgtheater in Vien ...

(1944–50)

Choral

*''Missa dorica'', op. 15, for choir a capella (1932) *''Missa Gregoriana'', for mixed choir, schola, congregation, and organ (1957)

Orchestral

*Concerto for string orchestra, Op. 25 (1936–37) *Symphony in D minor, Op. 27 (1940–41) *''Festliche Musik'', for string orchestra and piano (1955) * Concerto for cello and orchestra, Op. 24 (1937) * Concerto for organ and orchestra, Op. 25 (1938) * Concerto for oboe and orchestra, Op. 34 (1955) * Concerto for piano and orchestra, Op. 35 (1955–56) * Concerto for violin and orchestra (1956) * Concerto for flute and orchestra, Op. 37 (1958) * ''Veni creator Spiritus'', hymn for large orchestra, Op. 39 (1961–62) * Concerto for 2 violins and orchestra, Op. 41 (1965) * Concertino for piano and winds, Op. 42 (1966) * Concerto for viola and orchestra, Op. 45 (1970) * ''Capriccio a due tempi'', for orchestra (1972) * Concerto for clarinet and orchestra, Op. 47 (1973) * Concerto for trumpet and orchestra, Op. 53 (1973) * Concertino for clarinet and string orchestra, Op. 54 (1978)

Organ solo

*Toccata, Op. 5a (1930) *Fantasie, Op. 5b (1930) *Prelude and Fugue on ''Christ lag in Todesbanden'' (1930) *''Kleine Präludien und Intermezzi'', Op. 9 (1931) *''Sechs Orgelchoräle über altdeutsche geistliche Volkslieder'', Op. 11 (1933) *''Die Marianischen Antiphonen'' (1953) *''Präambeln und Interludien'' (1953) *Choral Fantasy on ''O heiligste Dreifaltigkeit'' (1955) *Sonata No. 1 (1956) *Partita on ''Veni creator Spiritus'' (1958) *''Kleine Intraden'' (1959) *''Pezzi piccoli'' (1959) *''Orgel-Ordinarium "Cunctipotens genitor Deus"'' (1962) *''Orgel-Choräle im Kirchenjahr'' (1963) *Sonata No. 2 (1963–64) *''Gregorianische Miniaturen'' (1965) *Sonata No. 3 (1967) *''Orgel-Mosaiken'' (1969) *''Zwölf Orgelchoräle für die Weihnachtszeit'' (1970) *''Motiv-Varianten'' (1972) *''Septenarium'' (1973) *''Te Deum Trevirense'' (1973) *''Proprium pro organo'' (1974) *''Ordinarium pro organo'' (1976) *''Concerto piccolo per organo solo'' (1977) *''Trilogien zu Chorälen'' (1977) *''Fünf Skizzen'' (1978) *''Zyklus aus Inventionen'' (1978) *Sonatina (1979) *Choral Toccata ''Omnium sanctorum'' (1980) *''Variationen zu einem eigenen Psalmton'' (1980) *''Beethoven-Variationen, Meditationen Variationen zu einem eigenen zum Dankgesang in der lydischen Tonart aus L. van Beethovens Streichquartett Op. 132'' (1980–81) *Variations on ''Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht'' (1982) *''Mixtura à cinque'' (1983) *''Musik für Orgel'' (1983) *''Suite concertante'' (1983) *''Zehn Introduktionen zu Festtags-Introiten'' (1983) *''Concerto da chiesa'' (1984) *''Pezzi speciali'' (1984)

Chamber music

*String Trio no. 1, for violin, viola, and cello, in E minor, Op. 14, no. 1 (1933) *Quartet no. 1, for string quartet, in C minor, Op. 26 (1939) *String Trio no. 2, for 2 violins and viola, Op. 14, no. 2 (1942) *Duo for violin and piano, op. 28 (1942) *Quartet no. 2, for string quartet, Op. 32 (1952) *Piano Trio no. 1, for violin, cello, and piano, op. 33 (1954) *Sextet for piano and winds, Op. 36 (1957) *Quartet no. 3, for oboe, violin, viola, and cello, Op. 38 (1959) *Sonata for solo violin (1960) *Sonata for oboe and piano (1962) *Piano Trio no. 2, for violin, horn, and piano, op. 40 (1964) *Piano Trio no. 3, for clarinet, cello, and piano, op. 43 (1967) *Quartet no. 4, for string quartet, Op. 44 (1968) *Sonata for solo flute (1971) *Sonata for solo oboe (1970) *Sonata for solo clarinet (1970) *Sonata for solo bassoon (1970) *Sonata for solo trumpet (1970) *Sonata for solo horn (1971) *Sonata for violin and piano (1971) *Sonata for solo trombone (1972) *Sextet for 2 clarinets, 2 horns, and 2 bassoons, Op. 49 (1973) *Quintet for clarinet and strings, Op. 48 (1974) *Wind Quintet, Op. 50 (1974) *Sonata for solo cello (1974) *Sonata for solo viola (1974) *Sonata for cello and piano (1974) *Sonata for solo contrabass (1975) *String Trio no. 3, for violin, viola, and cello, Op. 52 (1976) *Duo for violin and viola (1979) *Quartet no. 5, for string quartet, Op. 55 (1978) *Sonata for clarinet and piano (1979)

Chamber music with organ

*Prelude, Canzona, and Rondo, for violin and organ (1938) *''Fünf Stücke'', for violin and organ (1953) *Concertino for violin, oboe, and organ (1966) *Sonata, for cello and organ (1966) *''Duplum'', for harpsichord and organ (1967) *''Duo da chiesa'', for violin and organ (1970) *''Drei Dialoge'', for oboe and organ, (1972) *Sonata for trumpet and organ (1974) *Sonata, for oboe and organ (1977) *Sonata, for flute and organ (1977) *''Cum organo et tubis'', concertino for organ, two trumpets, and three trombones (1975) *''Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme'', versets for trumpet and organ on the hymn by Philipp Nicolai (1980) *''Impromptu'', for trumpet and organ (1982) *''Intrada a due'', for 2 trumpets and organ (1982)

References

External links

* http://www.trierer-orgelpunkt.de/hschroeder.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Schroeder, Hermann 1904 births 1984 deaths People from Bernkastel-Wittlich German Roman Catholics 20th-century classical composers German opera composers Male opera composers German classical organists German male organists Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln alumni Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln People from the Rhine Province German male classical composers 20th-century German composers 20th-century organists 20th-century German male musicians Male classical organists