The Tonkunstler Orchestra (German: ''Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich'', ) is an Austrian orchestra based in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

Sankt Pölten Sankt Pölten (; Central Bavarian: ''St. Pödn''), mostly abbreviated to the official name St. Pölten, is the capital and largest city of the State of Lower Austria in northeast Austria, with 55,538 inhabitants as of 1 January 2020. St. Pölten ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

Origin of the name

The orchestra's name has its origins in the ''Tonkünstler-Sozietät, Wien'', which was organizing concerts in the era of Haydn and Mozart. This name lived on in the Viennese "Tonkünstler Orchestra Association", which was founded at the beginning of the 20th century. The first concert was performed in 1907 at the

Musikverein The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. The acoustics of the building's 'Great ...

presenting works of

Karl Goldmark Karl Goldmark (born Károly Goldmark, Keszthely, 18 May 1830 – Vienna, 2 January 1915) was a Hungarian-born Viennese composer.Peter Revers, Michael Cherlin, Halina Filipowicz, Richard L. Rudolph The Great Tradition and Its Legacy 2004; , p. ...

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

and

Ludwig van 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 classical ...

. In 1913 the Viennese Tonkünstler Orchestra were the first to perform

Arnold Schönberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

's "Gurrelieder". The Sunday afternoon performances of the orchestra were very popular with the Viennese audience. During

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 ...

, the orchestra had to merge with the so-called "Vienna Concertverein" due to financial hardships. The association continued to organise concerts until 1933.

History

In the mid-1930s, the

National Socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

conductor

Leopold Reichwein Leopold Reichwein (16 May 1878 – 8 April 1945) was a German conductor and composer. Life Born in Breslau, Reichwein was court Kapellmeister of the Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe from 1909 to 1913. In 1913 he succeeded Bruno Walter as cond ...

founded a new orchestra, which took the name ''N.S. Wiener Tonkünstlerorchester'' after Austria was annexed by Germany in 1938. The orchestra then became the ''Gausymphonieorchester Niederdonau'' in 1939. It was doing concerts throughout World War II, mostly with the movement and in supporting 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 ...

. The orchestra renamed itself in 1945 to ''Landessymphonieorchester Niederösterreich''. In 1946 this ensemble tied to the Tonkünstler tradition and called itself ''Niederösterreichisches Tonkünstlerorchester'' (Lower Austrian Tonkünstler Orchestra). The tradition of Sunday afternoon concerts was also revived. In 2002, the orchestra underwent a re-structuring process and is now called ''Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich'' (Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria). The Tonkünstler was the first Austrian orchestra with a division focused solely on

music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

. From 2004 to 2009,

Kristjan Järvi Kristjan Järvi (, alternate (U.S.) spelling: Kristian Järvi) (born 13 June 1972, Tallinn) is an Estonian American conductor, composer and producer born in Estonia, younger son of the conductor Neeme Järvi and brother of conductor Paavo Järv ...

was principal conductor of the orchestra, and his work with the orchestra included a commercial recording of

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

's ''

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 elementar ...

''. In the 2009–2010 season,

Andrés Orozco-Estrada Andrés Orozco-Estrada (born 14 December 1977) is a Colombian violinist and conductor, with dual nationality in Colombia and Austria. Early life Born in Medellín, Orozco-Estrada studied music at the Instituto Musical Diego Echavarría and lea ...

, who was the orchestra's assistant conductor for two years, took up the post of principal conductor. His current contract with the orchestra is through the 2014–2015 season, after which he is scheduled to step down as principal conductor. In November 2013, the orchestra announced the appointment of

Yutaka Sado is a Japanese conductor. While still in school, Sado obtained a position in the Kansai Nikikai, a Japanese school of opera, where he had the opportunity to work with the New Japan Philharmonic and the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, learning operati ...

as its next principal conductor, effective with the 2015–2016 season, with an initial contract of 3 years. To mark the opening of the 10th Grafenegg Festival in August 2016, his contract with the Tonkunstler was extended until summer 2022.

Residencies

Tonkünstler Orchestra has its residencies in Vienna and Lower Austria. In Vienna, they perform concerts in the Golden Hall of the

. The Musikverein "Glass Hall" serves as the orchestra's rehearsal room. As the state orchestra of Lower Austria, Tonkünstler have a second residency in Festspielhaus St. Pölten. From summer 2007, the orchestra is also "orchestra in residence" at the international

Grafenegg Music Festival The Grafenegg Festival is a major international classical music festival in Grafenegg, close to Vienna, Austria. The annual festival takes place on the grounds of Grafenegg Castle. Two venues have been built particularly for the festival in the ...

Principal conductors

* Leopold Reichwein (1933–1939) * Bert Costa (1939–1943) * Friedrich Jung (1944–1945) *

Kurt Wöss Kurt Wöss also Kurt Woess (2 May 1914, in Linz, Austria – 4 December 1987, in Dresden, Germany) was an Austrian conductor and musicologist. Wöss was principal conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra from 1951 to 1954. From 1956 to 1959 ...

(1946–1951) * Gustav Koslik (1951–1964) *

Heinz Wallberg Heinz Wallberg (16 March 192329 September 2004) was a German conductor. Wallberg was born in Herringen, Westphalia. He studied trumpet, violin and piano. He helped to support his family with his musical training after his father became unabl ...

(1964–1975) *

Walter Weller Walter Weller (30 November 1939 – 14 June 2015) was an Austrian-born conductor and classical violinist. He made several recordings over the years, founded his own string quartet. and led/co-led several well known orchestras and operas. Weller ...

(1975–1978) *

Miltiades Caridis Miltiades Caridis ( el, Μιλτιάδης Καρύδης; 9 May 1923 – 1 March 1998) was a German-Greek conductor. Biography Caridis was born in the Free City of Danzig (Gdańsk). His mother was a Danziger of German ethnicity, his father w ...

(1978–1988) *

Isaac Karabtchevsky Isaac Karabtchevsky (born December 27, 1934 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian conductor of Russian-Jewish ancestry. He studied music and conducting in Germany, where his teachers included Wolfgang Fortner, Pierre Boulez and Carl Ueter. Karabtchevs ...

(1988–1994) *

Fabio Luisi Fabio Luisi (born 17 January 1959) is an Italian conductor. He is currently principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and chief conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. Biog ...

(1994–2000) *

Carlos Kalmar Carlos Kalmar (born February 26, 1958, in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan conductor.Macaluso, p. 194 Biography Kalmar began violin studies at age six. At age fifteen, he enrolled at the Vienna Academy of Music where his conducting teacher was Karl ...

(2000–2003) *

(2004–2009) *

(2009–2014) *

(2015–present)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tonkunstler Orchestra Austrian orchestras Musical groups from Vienna Sankt Pölten 1907 establishments in Austria Musical groups established in 1933 Organisations based in Vienna Musical groups established in 1907