Jean Kurt Forest (2 April 19093 March 1975) was a German violinist and violist,

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 ...

and composer. He began his career as concertmaster in film orchestras conducted by

Paul Dessau Paul Dessau (19 December 189428 June 1979) was a German composer and conductor. He collaborated with Bertolt Brecht and composed incidental music for his plays, and several operas based on them. Biography Dessau was born in Hamburg into a ...

, then played principal viola in Frankfurt and Hamburg. Drafted to the Wehrmacht in 1942, he defected to the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

in 1945 and remained a prisoner of war until 1948. Back in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

, he shaped musical life in the GDR in several positions, before he focused on composition from 1954, composing political songs and operas raising social awareness.

Life

Born Jean Kurt Forst in

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 ...

, the son of a paperhanger, he learned to play the violin at the age of four. From age six, he received a thorough and varied musical education at the Spangenberg Conservatory in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

, studying violin, voice, piano, trumpet, timpani and harmony until 1925. He mostly taught himself to play the viola and to compose. He worked as

concert master The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

in Wiesbaden for the

UFA Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya and Ufa rivers, in the centre-north of Bashkortostan, on hills forming the ...

film orchestra in 1926, and in the same position for the cinema in Berlin from 1927 to 1930, collaborating in both locations with conductor

. From 1930 to 1933, he played principal viola for the Rundfunksinfonieorchester Frankfurt, and in the same role for the

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg The Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg (Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra) is an internationally renowned symphony orchestra based in Hamburg. As of 2015, Kent Nagano has been General Music Director (''Generalmusikdirektor'') and chief c ...

and the

Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: Staatsoper Hamburg) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''General ...

from 1934 to 1936. In 1937 he was arrested by the Nazis because of his

anti-fascism Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

attitude. Dismissed from all positions, he emigrated to Paris, but was expelled back to Germany in 1938. He worked as Kapellmeister at the Stadttheater Neiße, and from 1939 at the Staatstheater Braunschweig. In 1942, Forest was drafted to the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

, but in 1945 defected to the

. As a prisoner of war until 1948, he attended an and led its group ''Music and Artistics''. When he returned to Germany, he settled in

and joined the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...

(SED). He participated in Berlin in various functions in the development of musical life in the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

(GDR), first as a consultant for choral music at the

Berliner Rundfunk The Berliner Rundfunk (BERU) was a radio station set in East Germany. It had a political focus and discussed events in East Berlin. Today it is a commercial radio station broadcast with the name "Berliner Rundfunk 91.4". History The Berliner ...

to 1951, and as Kapellmeister for

Deutscher Fernsehfunk Deutscher Fernsehfunk (DFF; German for "German Television Broadcasting") was the state television broadcaster in the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) from 1952 to 1991. DFF produced free-to-air terrestrial television programming ...

from 1952. He was a freelance composer from 1954. In 1951, Forest was one of the founding members of the (VDK) and was Chairman of the Berlin District Association from 1967 to 1971. In 1970 he was admitted to the

Akademie der Künste der DDR The Akademie der Künste der DDR was the central art academy of the German Democratic Republic (DDR). It existed under different names from 1950 to 1993. Then it merged with the "Akademie der Künste Berlin (West)" to become the Academy of Arts, ...

(DAK). From 1969 until his death, he directed the

chamber ensemble 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 ...

''Musica Nova''. He died in Berlin at age 65, and was buried at the .

Work

Forest composed around 250 songs, several of the genre '' Massenlied''. His opera ''Der arme Konrad'', written between 1955 and 1957 after a play by

Friedrich Wolf Friedrich Wolf may refer to: *Friedrich Wolf (writer) (1888–1953), German doctor and writer *Friedrich August Wolf Friedrich August Wolf (; 15 February 1759 – 8 August 1824) was a German classicist and is considered the founder of modern ...

, was followed in 1960 by the chamber opera ''Tai Yang erwacht'', also after Wolf. In his stage works, Forest focused on historic topics, pointing at social conscience, such as fascism, war and the atomic bomb. In the 1960s, Forest was also active as a

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

composer, for example in ' and '.

Filmography

Forest wrote film scores for several films, including: * 1958: '' Der Prozeß wird vertagt'' * 1961: ' * 1962: ' (television film) * 1962: ''

Schaut auf diese Stadt ''Schaut auf diese Stadt'' (''Look at This City'') It is an East German movie directed by Karl Gass in 1962. It's a subtle propaganda film in which peaceful East Germany depicts West Germany as the forefront to neo-fascism, terrorism, and neo-col ...

'' * 1964: ' * 1964: ' * 1967: '

Awards

Among Forest's awards were: * 1956: of

Bezirk Potsdam The Bezirk Potsdam was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Potsdam. History The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. After 3 October 1 ...

* 1959:

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 ...

* 1965:

National Prize of the German Democratic Republic The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) (german: Nationalpreis der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik) was an award of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, ...

third class for art and literature * 1965: in Gold * 1968: of the

Free German Trade Union Federation The Free German Trade Union Federation (german: Freier Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund or ''FDGB'') was the sole national trade union centre of the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) which existed from 1946 and 1990. As a mass organisat ...

* 1969:

Patriotic Order of Merit The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...

in Silver

References

External links

* * * Georg Plathe
Interview
(interview, in German) in: Siegfried Trzoß: ''Schlagergeschichte(n) des Ostens'', vol. 1. 1945–1965, Berlin 2007
Jean-Kurt-Forest-Archiv
Archives of the

Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts (german: Akademie der Künste) is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The Academy's predecessor organization was fo ...