Jörg Faerber (18 June 1929 – 13 September 2022) was a German conductor. He founded the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn (WKO) in 1960 and was its artistic and managing director for over 40 years. He was known internationally, touring to the U.S., Japan and South Africa. The WKO made many recordings with soloists including

Maurice André Maurice André (21 May 1933 – 25 February 2012) was a French trumpeter, active in the classical music field. He was professor of trumpet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris where he introduced the teaching of the pic ...

Alfred Brendel Alfred Brendel (born 5 January 1931) is a Czech-born Austrian classical pianist, poet, author, composer, and lecturer who is noted for his performances of Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven. Biography Brendel was born in Wizemberk, Czechoslovakia ...

Gidon Kremer Gidon Kremer (; born 27 February 1947) is a Latvian classical violinist, artistic director, and founder of Kremerata Baltica. Life and career Gidon Kremer was born in Riga. His father was Jewish and had survived the Holocaust. His mother had ...

and

Anne-Sophie Mutter Anne-Sophie Mutter (born 29 June 1963) is a German violinist. Born and raised in Rheinfelden, Baden-Württemberg, Mutter started playing the violin at age five and continued studies in Germany and Switzerland. She was supported early in her car ...

Life and career

Born in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

on 18 June 1929, Faerber graduated from a

Humanistisches Gymnasium ''Gymnasium'' (; German plural: ''Gymnasien''), in the German education system, is the most advanced and highest of the three types of German secondary schools, the others being ''Hauptschule'' (lowest) and ''Realschule'' (middle). ''Gymnas ...

there in 1949. He studied at the

Musikhochschule Stuttgart The State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart is a professional school for musicians and performing artists in Stuttgart, Germany. Founded in 1857, it is one of the oldest schools of its kind in Germany. It is one of the oldest and ...

, graduating as

kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (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 has evolved considerably in i ...

in 1953. From 1954 until 1962 he held the post of musical director of the Theater Heilbronn. His all-round job there included rehearsals, making arrangements, conducting a stage orchestra, and playing the piano for operetta performances, providing experience in many fields. Faerber founded a chamber orchestra, Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn (WKO, Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn), in 1960, becoming its artistic director and CEO. The first concert was played on 27 January 1961 at the Festhalle Harmonie in Heilbronn, with the orchestra named Kammerorchester Heilbronn (Heilbronn Chamber Orchestra). A programme of

Baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Classical music, Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance music, Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Class ...

contained

Francesco Geminiani Francesco Xaverio Geminiani (baptised 5 December 1687 – 17 September 1762) was an Italian violinist, composer, and music theorist. BBC Radio 3 once described him as "now largely forgotten, but in his time considered almost a musical god, deem ...

's Concerto grosso, Op. 3/3, Bach's Harpsichord Concerto No. 4, Handel's Concerto grosso Op. 6/7, Bach ''Ricercare'' from the

Musical Offering ''The Musical Offering'' (German: or ), BWV 1079, is a collection of keyboard canons and fugues and other pieces of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, all based on a single musical theme given to him by Frederick the Great (King Frederick II of Prus ...

, Handel's Oboe Concerto in G minor, and Bach's

Orchestral Suite No. 3 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed his Orchestral Suite No. 3 in G, Op. 55 in 1884, writing it concurrently with his Concert Fantasia in G, Op. 56, for piano and orchestra. The originally intended opening movement of the suite, ''Contrastes'', ins ...

. In the beginning, four violinists, two violists and a cellist, travelled to concert locations in two private cars. Initially they were focused on Baroque music, but soon widened the repertoire towards the classical period, especially music by

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

. The present name was chosen on 30 April 1962. Faerber led the orchestra until February 2002 as conductor and artistic manager, touring the United States, Canada, England, France, Austria, Japan and South Africa. Among the soloists who have regularly worked with the WKO were

, and

, who was Faerber's friend. Soloist also included

Martha Argerich Martha Argerich (; ; born 5 June 1941) is an Argentine classical concert pianist. Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argerich gave her debut concert at the age of eight before receiving further piano training in Europe. At an early age, she won sev ...

Rudolf Buchbinder Rudolf Buchbinder (born 1 December 1946, Litoměřice, Czechoslovakia) is an Austrian classical pianist. Biography Buchbinder studied with Bruno Seidlhofer at the Vienna Academy of Music. In 1965, he made a tour of North and South Americas. In ...

Hilary Hahn Hilary Hahn (born November 27, 1979) is an American violinist. A three-time Grammy Award winner, she has performed throughout the world as a soloist with leading orchestras and conductors, and as a recitalist. She is an avid supporter of contemp ...

, Sharon Kam,

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enl ...

, and Frank Peter Zimmermann. Faerber was invited as a guest conductor by orchestras of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and the

English Chamber Orchestra The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and their ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall. With a limited performance size, the orchestra spe ...

; he was principal guest conductor of the European Community Chamber Orchestra, and conducted the

Royal Northern Sinfonia Royal Northern Sinfonia is a British chamber orchestra, founded in Newcastle upon Tyne and currently based in Gateshead. For the first 46 years of its history the orchestra gave most of its concerts at the Newcastle City Hall. It also gave mont ...

, the

Bournemouth Sinfonietta The Bournemouth Sinfonietta was a chamber orchestra founded in 1968 as an offshoot of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. It was disbanded in November 1999 after increasing difficulties in obtaining funding from local councils led to the decision ...

and symphony orchestras in Austria, Italy, France, Romania and the Czech Republic. Faerber retired as director of the WKO in 2002, with as his successor. In 2009, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, he conducted the orchestra once more.

Private life

Faerber was married to the actress Ursula Münch, who was a member of the Theater Heilbronn, from 1959. The couple had a daughter. In retirement, he lived in

Willich Willich () is a town in the district of Viersen (district), Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is 20 km west of Düsseldorf, 14 km north of Mönchengladbach, 10 km south of Krefeld, about 30 kilometres east of Germany–Netherlands b ...

, near his daughter. Faerber died on 13 September 2022, at the age of 93.

Recordings

Faerber made more than 500 recordings with the WKO. In 1990 Faerber conducted the WKO in a recording of three of

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German composer and musician of the Baroque and Classical period. He was the fifth ch ...

's flute concertos with soloist

James Galway Sir James Galway (born 8 December 1939) is an Irish virtuoso flute player from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man with the Golden Flute". After several years working as an orchestral musician, he established an international career as a solo flute pl ...

. In 1994 he combined Shostakovich's Concerto for piano, trumpet and string orchestra, Op. 35, and

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

's Concerto for harpsichord and orchestra in

D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...

, Hob.XVIII:11, both performed by

, with trumpeter

Guy Touvron Guy Touvron (15 February 1950 – 9 March 2024) was a French classical trumpet player and music teacher. He was an accomplished soloist, having played with some of Europe's leading orchestras. He premiered several prominent trumpet concertos wr ...

Awards

In 1986, Faerber was honoured with the title "Professor". He was the recipient of the following awards: * Goldene Münze (Golden coin) of Heilbronn, 1976 *

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

, 1984 * Ehrenring (Ring of honour) of Heilbronn, 1999 From 2002 he was a Conductor Laureate of the WKO.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Faerber, Jorg 1929 births 2022 deaths 21st-century German conductors (music) 21st-century German male musicians German male conductors (music) Musicians from Stuttgart Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart alumni