August Moritz Hermann Heinicke (21 July 1863 – 11 July 1949), only ever known as Hermann or Herr Heinicke, was a German-born violinist and music teacher in South Australia. He founded Heinicke's Grand Orchestra and was the first conductor of the Adelaide Conservatorium orchestra.

History

Hermann was born in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, a son of August Moritz Hermann Heinicke, a brush manufacturer,Joyce Gibberd, 'Heinicke, August Moritz Hermann (1863–1949)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/heinicke-august-moritz-hermann-6629/text11419, published first in hardcopy 1983. Retrieved 7 June 2016. in a family with a great musical tradition. At the age of 10 he entered the Conservatorium and studied violin for four years under Albert Wolfermann, the leading virtuoso of the Royal Opera House. He won the King of Saxony's scholarship and studied for three years under Eduard Rappoldi,

Franz Wüllner Franz Wüllner (28 January 1832 – 7 September 1902) was a German composer and conductor. He led the premieres of Wagner's ''Das Rheingold'' and ''Die Walküre'', but was much criticized by Wagner himself, who greatly preferred the more celebrate ...

and no doubt others; this was extended for another two or three years. His first commercial engagement was with the "Gewerbe Haus", a popular concert hall, after which he was leader then conductor of an orchestra at the thermal springs resort at

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...

, near

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, whose soloists had included violinist Lady Hallé (

Wilma Neruda Wilhelmine Maria Franziska Neruda, also known as Wilma Norman-Neruda and Wilma, Lady Hallé, was a Czech virtuoso violinist, chamber musician, and teacher. Life and career Born in Brno (Brünn), Moravia, then part of the Austrian Empire, Ne ...

) and the Dutch 'cellist Gerard Vollmar (1859–1907). He returned to Germany, and was engaged as leader and deputy conductor of the Berlin Concert House Orchestra, when he read an advertisement placed by Gotthold Reimann for a violin teacher with his College of Music in

Wakefield Street, Adelaide Wakefield Street is a main thoroughfare intersecting Adelaide city centre, the centre of the South Australian capital, Adelaide, from east to west at its midpoint. It crosses Victoria Square, Adelaide, Victoria Square in the centre of the city, ...

. Heinicke was chosen from 124 applicants. He arrived in Adelaide in June 1890, serving as teacher of violin, viola and orchestral playing, and saw the College develop into a popular and highly regarded institution with 240 students. He was instrumental in building up the

Adelaide Liedertafel The Adelaide Liedertafel (Die Adelaider Liedertafel) is a traditional German male choir, one of several ''Liedertafeln'', or song societies, in the history of Adelaide and South Australia. It is Australia's oldest male choir. History The first "A ...

, and in 1892 founded Heinicke's Grand Orchestra of 38 players which, with managerial assistance from

Charles Cawthorne Charles Witto-witto Cawthorne (1 July 1854 – 26 June 1925) was a businessman who, with his father founded Cawthorne and Co, music publishers and retailers in Adelaide, South Australia. He was a proficient musician and important in the history ...

, gave popular Saturday concerts in the

Adelaide Town Hall Adelaide Town Hall is a landmark building on King William Street in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The City of Adelaide Town Hall complex includes the Town Hall and the office building at 25 Pirie Street. Description and history Adelaid ...

. Eugene Alderman played

first violin The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the most significant ...

; his mother Valentina Alderman on viola was, as a woman member of an orchestra, a rarity at that time. A. C. Quin was

orchestra leader The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the most significant ...

. The standard was high, but remuneration low, and all members had other sources of income. In 1891 he was appointed conductor with the

, a post he held until 1914. In 1898 the Adelaide College of Music became the nucleus of the newly founded Conservatorium of Music, and with extra responsibilities, Heinicke was forced to curtail his involvement with the orchestra. In 1893 he took over Charles Cawthorne's Adelaide Grand Orchestra. Harry Winsloe Hall, Guli Hack's successor as teacher of singing at the Conservatorium, was later appointed conductor. With the advent of the Great War, Heinicke was the object of a great deal of abuse because of his German heritage. He resigned from the Conservatorium in April 1916. The South Australian Orchestra, headed by Professor E. Harold Davies, with bassoonist W. H. Foote, A.R.C.M. as conductor 1921–1931, took over the assets of the Conservatorium Orchestra. Heinicke continued teaching privately until 1933, and ran a piano retail business for a few years from 1925. In 1931 Heinicke was appointed Honorary conductor of the newly formed Adelaide Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra played three concerts at the Exhibition Hall in December that year, but despite positive critiques failed financially. He died at his North Adelaide home; there was only a very small obituary in one of Adelaide's two newspapers and no mention in the other, yet before World War II he was nominated one of the 15 notable SA musicians of the period: Frederick Bevan,

, E. Harold Davies,

J. M. Dunn John Millard Dunn (5 January 1865 – 3 March 1936) was an Australian church organist and choirmaster, notable for his long-standing tenure at St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide, where he served for 44 years. History John Dunn, born in North Adelaide ...

, Thomas Grigg, Hermann Heinicke, John Horner,

E. H. Wallace Packer E is the fifth letter of the Latin alphabet. E or e may also refer to: Computing and computation * E (1970s text editor), a text editor developed at the Stanford AI Lab in the 1970s * E (complexity), a set of decision problems solvable by a ...

, Harold S. Parsons, W. R. Pybus, I. G. Reimann, William Silver, C. J. Stevens, Oscar Taeuber, Arthur Williamson.

Notable students

William Cade William Richard Cade (30 June 1883 – 4 August 1957), also known as Bill Cade, was an Australian violinist and conductor, the founding conductor of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. History Cade was born in Adelaide and educated at the Pulteney ...

* Daisy Kennedy

Family

He married Minna Eugene Gebhardt on 26 May 1908; they lived at 37

Strangways Terrace Strangways Terrace is a street in North Adelaide, South Australia. It is the southwestern boundary between the built environment and the Adelaide parklands including the Adelaide Golf Links. Strangways Terrace is named after Thomas Bewes Str ...

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct (Australia), precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. Laid out in a grid plan in three section ...

. They had two sons: *Lancelot William "Bill" Heinicke OBE (1909–1985) of

Plympton, South Australia Plympton is an inner south-western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. The name is believed to have been given by Henry Mooringe Boswarva to a private subdivision in the area, naming after his home town in Devon, England. It was accepted as an ...

. He was decorated for services during volcanic eruption on

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...

in May 1937. *Kenneth Charles "Ken" Heinicke (1910–1998) married Nancy Muriel Steele on 22 March 1941, lived at

Tooperang, South Australia Tooperang is a small town and locality on Fleurieu Peninsula in the Alexandrina Council, South Australia. It includes the Cox Scrub Conservation Reserve. At the , the "suburb" of Tooperang (which also included both Mount Jagged and Mosquito ...

Other interests

Hermann was a longtime ''habitué'' of Kindermann's (later Bishop's) Café on

Rundle Street Rundle Street, often referred to as "Rundle Street East" as distinct from Rundle Mall, is a street in the East End of the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs from Pulteney Street to East Terrace, where it becomes Ru ...

, where he was known to enjoy a game of chess.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heinicke, Hermann German emigrants to Australia Australian music educators Australian classical violinists German male violinists Musicians from Dresden German male musicians German classical violinists Male classical violinists Musicians from the Colony of South Australia Australian conductors (music) Australian bandleaders 1863 births 1925 deaths