Ernst Münch (31 December 1859 in

Niederbronn-les-Bains Niederbronn-les-Bains (; ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is positioned between Bitche and Wissembourg, close to the current frontier with Germany. Niederbronn-les-Bains is part of the Norther ...

– 1928) was an Alsatian

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

and

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

. Münch taught organ at the Strasbourg Conservatory where his pupils included

Joseph Müller-Blattau Joseph Maria Müller-Blattau (21 May 1895 – 21 October 1976) was a German musicologist and National Socialist cultural official. He is regarded as a "nestor of Saarbrücken musicology" but also as a "singer of a musical seizure of power"Wolfgan ...

, Heinrich Boell, and Adolf Hamm. For many years he was the organist/choirmaster at

Saint William's Church, Strasbourg Saint William's Church (also called ''Wilhelmskirche'' in German and ''église Saint-Guillaume'' in French) is a Gothic church presently of the Lutheran Protestant Church of Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine located in Strasbourg, ...

. There he founded the Wilhelmer Choir. which under his leadership became highly known for their performances of the works of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

. Münch was the brother of conductor Eugen Münch and uncle of conductor and composer

Hans Münch Hans Wilhelm Münch (14 May 1911 – 6 December 2001), also known as The Good Man of Auschwitz, was a German Nazi Party member who worked as an SS physician during World War II at the Auschwitz concentration camp from 1943 to 1945 in German oc ...

. His son Charles Munch was a famous symphonic conductor and violinist who had a long association with the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in ...

. His daughter Emma married Paul Schweitzer,

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was a German and French polymath from Alsace. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. As a Lutheran minister, ...

's brother. His son

Fritz Münch Fritz Münch (born in Strasbourg, then in the German Empire, 2 June 1890, died in Niederbronn-les-Bains 10 March 1970)Alain Pâris. ''Dictionnaire des interprètes et de l’interprétation musicale au XX siècle.'' Éditions Robert Laffont, Paris, ...

succeeded him as conductor of the Wilhelmer Choir and was director of the Strasbourg Conservatory for several years.

Sources

* Albert Schweitzer: ''Memories of Ernst Münch'' (1945). In: ''Essays on Music'', ed. Stefan Hanheide, Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel and Basel, 1988, , p. 185-194. {{DEFAULTSORT:Munch, Ernst 1859 births 1928 deaths Musicians from Bas-Rhin People from Alsace-Lorraine Alsatian-German people 19th-century French conductors (music) 20th-century French conductors (music) French male conductors (music) French choral conductors French male classical organists 19th-century German conductors (music) 20th-century German conductors (music) German male conductors (music) German choral conductors German male classical organists

Ernst Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst" * Anton Ernst (born ...