Walter Bergmann (24 September 1902 – 13 January 1988) was a German harpsichord and recorder player, editor and composer who settled in England in 1939. He became a key figure in the revival of interest in the recorder and the counter tenor voice in England after the war.J.M. Thomson. 'Bergmann, Walter (Georg), in ''Grove Music Online'' (2001) /ref>
Born in the Altona borough of Hamburg, Bergman attended the
Leipzig Conservatory
The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...
to study piano and flute, but seeking a more practical career path due to the turbulent times, shifted to study law. He set up his own law practise in 1933, helping many Jewish clients. After his arrest by the
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...
in June 1938 and three months of imprisonment, he emigrated to London in March 1939, with the assistance of Edward Dent. His wife Greta (Haase) and daughter Erica followed a few months later.'About Walter Bergmann', Schott Music /ref> Like many other émigré musicians at the time, Bergmann was interned as an enemy alien from July 1940 on the
Isle of Man
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in Europe ...
. The composer
Hans Gál
Hans Gál OBE (5 August 1890 – 3 October 1987) was an Austrian composer, pedagogue, musicologist, and author, who emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1938.
Life
Gál was born to a Jewish family in the small village of Brunn am Gebirge, Low ...
was there at the same time. Bergmann was eventually released in January 1941.
Bergmann began establishing himself in the music publishing world as a packer at Schott Music from 1942. He later became an editor there working on Baroque music, especially
Telemann
Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hilde ...
John Blow
John Blow (baptised 23 February 1649 – 1 October 1708) was an English composer and organist of the Baroque period. Appointed organist of Westminster Abbey in late 1668,Henry Purcell. He taught at
Morley College
Morley College is a specialist adult education and further education college in London, England. The college has three main campuses, one in Waterloo on the South Bank, and two in West London namely in North Kensington and in Chelsea, the la ...
from 1942 until 1954 as a colleague of
Michael Tippett
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten ...
Alfred Deller
Alfred George Deller, CBE (31 May 1912 – 16 July 1979), was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularising the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th century.
He is sometimes referr ...
, Ilse Wolf (1921 - 1999),
April Cantelo
April Rosemary Cantelo (born 2 April 1928) is an English soprano.
Life and career
Cantelo was born in Purbrook, Hampshire in 1928. She attended Chelmsford County High School for Girls. She studied in London under Vilém Tauský, Joan Cross, I ...
and others, appearing at Deller's Stour Festival and recording Purcell's music with him. He also translated Tippett's ''
King Priam
''King Priam'' is an opera by Michael Tippett, to his own libretto. The story is based on Homer's ''Iliad'', except the birth and childhood of Paris, which are taken from the ''Fabulae'' of Hyginus.
The premiere was on 29 May 1962, at Coventry. ...
'' into German in 1963.
Bergmann taught and composed for the recorder, encouraging younger players such as
Frans Brüggen
Franciscus ("Frans") Jozef Brüggen (30 October 1934 – 13 August 2014) was a Dutch conductor, recorder player and baroque flautist.
Biography
Born in Amsterdam, Brüggen was the last of the nine children of August Brüggen, a textile factory o ...
and
Michala Petri
Michala Petri (born July 7, 1958) is a Danish recorder player. Her debut as a soloist was in 1969. She is the step-granddaughter of Danish actress Ingeborg Brams.
Biography
Petri, who began playing the recorder at the age of three, is noted for ...
. He helped re-establish the Society of Recorder Players in 1946, promoted new interest amateur recorder playing while at Morley College, and contributed to the professional revival of Early Music in the UK. At Schott, where he stayed until 1967, Bergmann issued editions of many recorder works, including sonatas and suites by
Francesco Barsanti
Francesco Barsanti (1690–1775) was an Italian flautist, oboist and composer. He was born in 1690 in the Tuscan city of Lucca, but spent most of his life in London and Edinburgh.
Biography
Very little is known about Barsanti's background. His f ...
Johann Christian Schickhardt
Johann Christian Schickhardt (or Schikardt, c. 1682c. 25 March 1762) was a German composer and woodwind player.
Biography
Schickhardt was born in Braunschweig (Brunswick) and received his musical education at the Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel court ...
. He composed two sonatas for recorder, and (for Alfred Deller) a ''Pastorale'' for countertenor and recorder and the ''Three Songs'' for countertenor and guitar, which have been recorded.
He was also general editor of the Eulenburg edition of miniature scores. He continued to teach in London for many years and maintained his scholarly interests until the end of his life. He lived at 28 Belsize Square, London NW1. An 80th birthday concert was held for him at Morley College in November, 1982.''Walter Bergmann (1902-1988)'' by David Lasocki in ''Continuo'', 15/5 (1991), pp. 2–6 Bergmann died in London, aged 85.