Hans Drewanz (2 December 1929 – 22 June 2021) was a German conductor and academic teacher. He was the

Generalmusikdirektor 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 d ...

(GMD) of

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

for more than three decades, shaping musical life in the town especially at the

Staatstheater Darmstadt The Staatstheater Darmstadt (Darmstadt State Theatre) is a theatre company and building in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany, presenting opera, ballet, plays and concerts. It is funded by the state of Hesse and the city of Darmstadt. Its history began in ...

Life

Hans Drewanz was born 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 ...

on 2 December 1929. He grew up in Berlin with a brother named Hubertus. His father, Hanz Drewanz, was a Kapellmeister at a theatre; and his mother, Charlotte, was a kindergarten teacher. Drewanz was a pupil at the

Musisches Gymnasium Frankfurt The Musisches Gymnasium Frankfurt was an educational institution leading to a university entrance qualification within the framework of the National Socialist Education System. It was founded in 1939 as the first ''Musisches Gymnasium'' of the t ...

from 1940 until the end of World War II in 1945. Drewanz worked as an organist after 1945, and from 1947 as a

répétiteur A (from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. A feminine form, , also appears but is comparatively rare. Opera In opera, a is the person ...

at the

Oper Frankfurt The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Shrek's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, '' Fennimore und Gerda'' by Frede ...

. Simultaneously, he studied piano at the

Musikhochschule Frankfurt 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 ...

with August Leopolder, while all other subjects had been previously covered by the Musisches Gymnasium. Although he did not complete his studies formally, he became personal assistant to

Georg Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-servin ...

at the Oper Frankfurt in 1953, and also worked with

Hans Rosbaud Hans Rosbaud (22 July 1895 – 29 December 1962) was an Austrian conductor, particularly associated with the music of the twentieth century. Biography Rosbaud was born in Graz. As children, he and his brother Paul Rosbaud performed with thei ...

and

Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the Un ...

. He advanced to First ''

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

'' at the

Opernhaus Wuppertal Opernhaus Wuppertal (Wuppertal Opera House) is a German theatre in Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia. It houses mostly performances of operas, but also plays, run by the municipal Wuppertaler Bühnen. The house is also the venue for dance perfo ...

in 1959. In 1963, Drewanz was appointed

(GMD) at the

, then the youngest GMD in Germany He shaped the musical theatre and concerts for more than three decades until 1994, then became its honorary member. He continued the tradition of music in Darmstadt, based on the work of

Karl Böhm Karl August Leopold Böhm (28 August 1894 – 14 August 1981) was an Austrian conductor. He was best known for his performances of the music of Mozart, Wagner, and Richard Strauss. Life and career Education Karl Böhm was born in Graz. T ...

and

Gustav Rudolf Sellner Rudolf Sellner, born Gustav Rudolf Sellner (25 May 1905 – 8 May 1990) was a German actor, dramaturge, stage director, and intendant.Hugo Thielen: ''Sellner, Gustav Rudolf'', in: ''Hannoversches Biographisches Lexikon'', p. 332 He represented i ...

, and of the

Darmstädter Ferienkurse Darmstädter Ferienkurse ("Darmstadt Summer Course") is a regular summer event of contemporary classical music in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany. It was founded in 1946, under the name "Ferienkurse für Internationale Neue Musik Darmstadt" (Vacation Cou ...

. During his tenure, he conducted operas such as Henze's '' Der Prinz von Homburg'', Schoeck's ''

Penthesilea Penthesilea ( el, Πενθεσίλεια, Penthesíleia) was an Amazonian queen in Greek mythology, the daughter of Ares and Otrera and the sister of Hippolyta, Antiope and Melanippe. She assisted Troy in the Trojan War, during which she was ...

'', Rimsky-Korsakov's '' Der goldene Hahn'', Stravinsky's ''

The Rake's Progress ''The Rake's Progress'' is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings ''A Rake's Progres ...

'', Britten's '' Tod in Venedig'', and the operas by

Wolfgang Fortner Wolfgang Fortner (12 October 1907 – 5 September 1987) was a German composer, composition teacher and conductor. Life Fortner was born in Leipzig. From his parents, who were both singers, Fortner very early on had intense contact with music. ...

. In concerts, he performed the complete works by

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

when the composer was not yet popular, and covered 400 years of music history from Monteverdi's ''

Vespro della Beata Vergine ''Vespro della Beata Vergine'' (''Vespers for the Blessed Virgin''), SV 206, is a musical setting by Claudio Monteverdi of the evening vespers on Marian feasts, scored for soloists, choirs, and orchestra. It is an ambitious work in scope and ...

'' and Charpentier's Magnificat to Stravinsky's ''

Symphony of Psalms The ''Symphony of Psalms'' is a choral symphony in three movements composed by Igor Stravinsky in 1930 during his neoclassical period. The work was commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orch ...

'' and

Hans Ulrich Engelmann Hans Ulrich Engelmann (8 September 1921 in Darmstadt - 8 January 2011) was a German composer. Biography Engelmann studied composition with Hermann Heiss and Wolfgang Fortner. He was a regular attendee of the Darmstadt International Summer Cou ...

's ''Stele für Georg Büchner''. Drewanz was interim GMD at the Oper Frankfurt from 1981 to 1983. He taught as professor of conducting at the

Hochschule für Musik Saar The Hochschule für Musik Saar is a conservatory of music in Saarbrücken, Germany and dates back to 1947. From 1994 until 2002, it was named ''Hochschule des Saarlandes für Musik und Theater'' (University of Music and Drama Saarbrücken). Since ...

from 1984. From 1997 to 2009, he was the first guest conductor and musical advisor at the

Bern Theatre Bern Theatre, known in the city as Stadttheater Bern, is an opera house and theatre in Bern, Switzerland. The theatre opened in 1903 and was modernised between 2015–2016 with significant structural changes made to the backstage and auditorium. ...

. Drewanz died in Darmstadt at age 91.

Awards

* 1980: . * 1994: , Goethe-Plakette of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

. * 2014: . * 2016:

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 ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Drewanz, Hans 20th-century German conductors (music) German male conductors (music) Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1929 births 2021 deaths Musicians from Dresden 20th-century German male musicians 21st-century German conductors (music) 21st-century German male musicians

Life

Awards

References

Further reading

External links