Wilhelm Gericke (April 18, 1845 – October 27, 1925) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n-born conductor and composer who worked in

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and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. He was born in Schwanberg, Austria. Initially he trained in

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to be a schoolmaster. This didn't work out, though he did get a position playing violin in a theatre orchestra. In 1862 he entered the Vienna Conservatory, where he studied under Dessoff. Leaving the conservatory in 1865, he became

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 ...

of the theatre at

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, directing opera there and 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 ...

. In 1874, he became second kapellmeister and chorus master at the

Vienna Court Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August Si ...

, where his lifelong friend Hans Richter was first kapellmeister. There he gave the Viennese premiere of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's ''

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; gmh, Tanhûser), often stylized, "The Tannhäuser," was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and ...

''. He also made a name for himself producing French and Italian operas. On the retirement of

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

from the conductorship of the Vienna Society (german: Wiener Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde) concerts (german: Gesellschaftskonzerte) in 1880, Gericke succeeded him, and also became the conductor of its choral society (german: Singverein). His fame as a conductor, and particularly as a drillmaster, induced

Henry Lee Higginson Henry Lee Higginson (November 18, 1834 – November 14, 1919) was an American businessman best known as the founder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a patron of Harvard University. Biography Higginson was born in New York City on November 18 ...

of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) to secure him as its leader after attending one of Gericke's concerts in Vienna. He spent two periods in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

conducting the BSO, 1884–1889 and 1898–1906. During his first stay, he eliminated the lighter music that his predecessor had allowed in the programs, scheduled extra rehearsal time, and hired more foreign musicians. The orchestra improved noticeably in the quality of its playing. In 1884, he was made an honorary member of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien. In 1889, for health reasons, he returned to Vienna, and to the leadership of the ''Gesellschaftsconcerte'', but resigned again in 1895. He and the BSO parted company amicably in 1906 due to the BSO's failure to meet his expectations for a new contract. He died in Vienna.

Works

He published a number of works for

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

, also

pianoforte The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

works, and some

chamber music 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 ...

. Among his works are: * ''Maiglöckchen'' (May bells) * ''Muntrer Bach, was rauscht du so?'' (Merry brook, what stirs you so?) * ''Wach auf, du schöne Träumerin'' (Wake up, beautiful dreamer)

Notes

References

* ''This article contains translations from the corresponding article on

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...

, visited 6 July 2011''. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gericke, Wilhelm 1845 births 1925 deaths Austrian conductors (music) Male conductors (music) American conductors (music) American male conductors (music) Musicians from Vienna