Ludwig Paul Koch
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
(13 November 1881,
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
– 4 May 1974,
Harrow, London
Harrow () is a large town in Greater London, England, and serves as the principal settlement of the London Borough of Harrow. Lying about north-west of Charing Cross and south of Watford, the entire town including its localities had a popul ...
) was a
broadcaster and
sound recordist
Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording te ...
. An expert on recording animal sounds, he played a significant part in increasing the British public's appreciation of wildlife.
Biographical details
Koch was born into a music-loving Jewish family as Paul Ludwig
Standesamt I (mit Bornheim): Geburtsregister (Einträge 3601-4200) 02.11.1881-27.12.1881
Hessisches Landesarchiv (German)
, and as a boy violinist, he was admitted to Clara Schumann
Clara Josephine Schumann (; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she exerted her influence over the course of a ...
's music circle. Later, he studied singing, and had a short but successful career as a concert singer. This was ended by the outbreak of World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. As a child, he had been given an early phonograph
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
and had recorded several animals, including the first-known recording of bird song
Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs (relatively complex vocalizations) are distinguished by func ...
, made in 1889.
Because he spoke fluent French, he joined military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
. After the Armistice
An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...
in 1918, he became chief delegate for repatriation for the French-occupied zone of Germany. He worked for the German
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 ...
government until 1925. In 1928, he was commissioned by the German subsidiary of Electric and Musical Industries (EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
) to start a cultural branch of the gramophone industry; this coincided with a revival of his childhood interest in animals. Thus from 1929, he began recording of animal sounds again using up-to-date equipment. He invented the sound-book: attaching gramophone records to an illustrated book. Nowadays we call this multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...
.
In January 1936, Koch went on a lecture tour in Switzerland. His return flight ticket was given to him by Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...
, who, as a bird and animal lover, was a fan of Koch's work. After Koch's last lecture, he was approached by a man who told him he was the Third Reich
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
's representative in Switzerland and that he had followed Koch's lectures and written a very good report about them. It turned out the man was Wilhelm Gustloff
Wilhelm Gustloff (30 January 1895 – 4 February 1936) was the founder of the Swiss NSDAP/AO (the Nazi Party organisation for German citizens living outside Germany) at Davos. He remained its leader from 1932 until he was assassinated in 193 ...
and he was assassinated the following day. Since Koch had been seen speaking to Gustloff just hours beforehand, he became concerned about his return to Germany, that he would be accused of being involved in the assassination. He called the director of his recording company, a Nazi, who told him, "Just stay where you are. The air in Switzerland is much better than in Germany." Koch then fled to Great Britain. Sir Julian Huxley
Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist, and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century modern synthesis. ...
helped him to interest the ornithologist
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
and publisher Harry Witherby
Harry Forbes Witherby, MBE, FZS, MBOU (7 October 1873 – 11 December 1943) was a noted British ornithologist, author, publisher and founding editor (in 1907) of the magazine ''British Birds''.
Personal life
Harry was the second surviving so ...
in a sound-book of British wild birds. In 1936, ''Songs of Wild Birds'' was published, followed by two other sound-books by 1938 (''More Songs of Wild Birds'' in 1937 & ''Animal Language'' in 1938). In 1937 he made recordings of the birds in the park of the royal castle in La(e)ken (Belgium) with the aid of queen Elisabeth of Belgium. These recordings were published only in 1952, due to the circumstances of war and the Belgian Royal Question.
Early in 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 ...
, Huxley introduced Koch to the British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
, and his distinctive, yet attractive and rather musical, voice accompanying his sound recordings soon became familiar to listeners. His sound recordings were acquired by the BBC and established the BBC's library of natural history sound. He never lost his strong German accent. His work was parodied by Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...
. Koch retired in 1951, but continued to make expeditions to record wildlife sounds, visiting Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
when he was seventy-one. He was the subject of a 2009 BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
documentary presented by Sean Street, "Ludwig Koch and the Music of Nature". His recordings and manuscript papers are preserved in the British Library Sound Archive
The British Library Sound Archive, formerly the British Institute of Recorded Sound; also known as the National Sound Archive (NSA), in London, England is among the largest collections of recorded sound in the world, including music, spoken word a ...
.
In literature
Koch's visit to Epping Forest
Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London ...
to record badgers is described in ''A Forest by Night'', by Fred Speakman.
Discography
* ''Der Wald Erschallt'' (Verlag Knorr & Hirth, 1934)
* ''Im gleichen Schritt und Tritt'' (Verlag Knorr & Hirth, 1934)
* ''Stolz weht die Flagge'' (Verlag Knorr & Hirth, 1934)
* ''Gefiederte Meistersänger'' - 1st edition (Brühlscher Verlag Giessen, 1935)
* ''Songs of Wild Birds'' (H.F. & G. Witherby, 1936)
* ''More Songs of Wild Birds'' (H.F. & G. Witherby, 1937)
* ''Hunting by Ear'' - 1st edition (H.F. & G. Witherby, 1937)
* ''Animal Language'' (Country Life / Parlophone, 1938)
* ''Les Oiseaux Chanteurs de Laeken'' (Parlophone, 1952)
* ''Songs of British Birds'' (HMV, 1953)
* ''Ludwig Koch Remembers: 1'' (BBC, 1957)
* ''Ludwig Koch Remembers: 2'' (BBC, 1957)
* ''Hunting by Ear'' - 2nd edition (H.F. & G. Witherby, 1960)
References
*Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
* L. Koch, Memoirs of a Birdman (1955)
* J. Burton, ‘Master of nature's music: Ludwig Koch, 1881–1974’, Country Life, 157 (1975), 390–91
* J. F. Burton, ‘Our debt to Ludwig Koch: master of nature's music’, Recorded Sound, 74–5 (1979), 36–7
* C. Tipp, 'With an Ear to the Earth', Slightly Foxed, No. 43, Autumn 2014
* ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' obituary, 7 May 1974
* F. J. Speakman, A Forest by Night (1965), 45-51
External links
Wildlife recordings of Ludwig Koch
- streamed audio from The British Library
- biography and photographs
Ludwig Koch and the Music of Nature
- BBC radio documentary
Gefiederte Meistersänger (Feathered Mastersingers) 1935
- review of soundbook, published on The Field Reporter
- British Library Sound and Vision blog
- British Library Sound And Vision blog
- British Library Sound and Vision blog
* https://www.academia.edu/21184874/La_e_ken_Revisited (Dutch, on the re-publishing of the songbirds of Laeken)
*https://laca.stackstorage.com/s/NJBzfLGfsiaITer : Laeken re-revisited (Dutch), 12 years after the former article
Ludwig Koch
at the National Portrait Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koch, Ludwig Karl
1881 births
1974 deaths
German ornithologists
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom
Wildlife sound recordists
20th-century German zoologists