Franz Thürauer (born 25 September 1953) is an Austrian composer, music educator and

church musician Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

Life

Born in Nr. 9, Bergern im Dunkelsteinerwald community, Thürauer grew up in a family where folk music was cultivated. He received early lessons in clarinet and piano. From 1969 to 1972, he was educated in organ and violin at the Tyrolean State Conservatory in Innsbruck. After passing the

Matura or its translated terms (''mature'', ''matur'', , , , , ', ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

at the grammar school in St. Karls/Volders in 1972, he went to the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, where he studied

church music Church music is a genre of Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. History Early Christian musi ...

with

Anton Heiller Anton Heiller (15 September 1923 – 25 March 1979) was an Austrian organist, harpsichordist, composer and conductor. Biography Born in Vienna, he was first trained in church music by Wilhelm Mück, organist of Vienna's Stephansdom (St. Stephen ...

and Hans Gillesberger, as well as composition with Francis Burt and

Kurt Schwertsik Kurt Schwertsik (born 25 June 1935) is an Austrian contemporary composer. He is known for creating the "Third Viennese School" and spreading contemporary classical music. Life Schwertsik was born in Vienna. A pupil of Joseph Marx and Karl Schis ...

.Uwe Harten
''Thürauer, Franz''.
In ''

Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon The ''Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon'Oesterreichisch'' with ''Oe'' is the spelling of the print and online output. (, ) is a five-volume music encyclopedia founded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences' Commission for Music Research. It was offic ...

online''; retrieved 6 August 2021. With the 1978/79 school year, Thürauer began his career as a music teacher at the St. Pölten Music School, where he was employed as a piano teacher. From 1 September 1979, he was also appointed as a music teacher at the

Stiftsgymnasium Melk Stiftsgymnasium Melk () is a Roman Catholic Benedictine-run gymnasium located in Melk, Austria. The gymnasium is located within and run by the well-known monastery Melk Abbey. Founded in the 12th century as a monastic school, it is also the oldes ...

, where he was the teacher of Otto Lechner, Thomas Foramitti and Manfred Regall, among others. As a composer, this gave him the opportunity to compose or create appropriate musical works for his students and their choice of musical instruments. In 1984, he was appointed "Regens Chori" of Melk Abbey and dedicated himself to church music as organist and choirmaster. Thürauer received commissions to compose for the "Melker Pfingstkonzerte", where, among others, the ''Concertino Kolomani'' was performed on 21 March 1983 in the Kolomani Hall of the monastery with Elisabeth Ullmann (organ), Bijan Khadem-Missagh (conductor and violin) and the "Tonkünstler Kammerorchester Wien". In 1991/92, he also received a teaching assignment for ear training and solfeggio at the Musikhochschule in Vienna. His works have been performed in Vienna (Musikverein, Konzerthaus, ORF-Sendesaal, Wiener Musiksommer), as well as at the

Bregenz Festival Bregenzer Festspiele (; Bregenz Festival) is a performing arts festival which is held every July and August in Bregenz in Vorarlberg (Austria). It features a large floating stage which is situated on Lake Constance. History The Festival becam ...

, Lower Austria Donaufestival, Brucknerhaus Linz, in Japan and in America. Performers have included the

Vienna Chamber Orchestra The Vienna Chamber Orchestra (Wiener Kammer Orchester, or WKO) is an Austrian chamber orchestra based at the Vienna Konzerthaus. History The WKO was founded in 1946, and its first artistic directors were Franz Litschauer, Heinrich Hollreiser, P ...

, the Vienna Saxophone Quartet, Ensemble Kontrapunkte, the Lower Austrian Tonkünstler Orchestra, the Vienna Virtuosi, the Vienna Youth Orchestra, the Stadttheater St. Pölten, the

Vienna Symphony Orchestra The Vienna Symphony (Vienna Symphony Orchestra, ) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna. Its primary concert venue is the Vienna Konzerthaus. In Vienna, the orchestra also performs at the Musikverein and at the Theater an der Wien. History ...

and many others. Thürauer lives in Kochholz/Lower Austria, is married and father of four children. On 31 August 2012, he ended his teaching activities at the Stiftsgymnasium Melk, but he continues to be active as a music school teacher at the Musikschule St. Pölten.

Prizes and awards

* 1982:

Theodor Körner Prize The Theodor Körner Prize (German: ''Theodor-Körner-Preis'') is a set of annual Austrian awards bestowed by the Theodor Körner Fund in recognition of cultural and/or scientific advances. The prize is awarded at the University of Vienna. The priz ...

* 1990: Österreichischer Förderungspreis für Musik. * 2015: – Würdigungspreis.Kulturpreisträgerinnen & Kulturpreisträger des Landes Niederösterreich 2015, S. 7, Nr. 34
noe.gv.at
(PDF; 1,3 MB) retrieved 6 August 2021

References

External links

Eintrag zu Franz Thürauer
auf ''INOK – Interessensgemeinschaft Niederösterreichische KomponistInnen'' * Christian Heindl
Franz Thürauer im MICA-Porträt.
musicaustria.at
Eintrag im Online_Lexikon dem Österreichischen Musiklexikon

Bestände von Franz Thürauer
''in der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Thurauer, Franz 20th-century Austrian classical composers 21st-century Austrian classical composers 20th-century hymnwriters 20th-century Austrian male musicians Austrian music educators Theodor Körner Prize recipients 1953 births Living people People from Krems-Land District