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 KBE (born 5 January 1931) is an Austrian classical pianist, poet, author, composer, and lecturer who is known particularly for his performances of Mozart, Schubert, Schoenberg, and Beethoven.Stephen Plaistow"Brendel, Alfred" ''G ...
,
Gidon Kremer
Gidon Kremer ( lv, Gidons Krēmers; 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 Holo ...
and
Anne-Sophie Mutter
Anne-Sophie Mutter (born 29 June 1963) is a German violinist. She was supported early in her career by Herbert von Karajan. As an advocate of contemporary music, she has had several works composed especially for her, by Sebastian Currier, Hen ...
.
Life and career
Born in
Stuttgart on 18 June 1929,
Faerber graduated from a
Humanistisches Gymnasium there in 1949. He studied at the
Musikhochschule Stuttgart, graduating as
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 ...
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 contained
Francesco Geminiani
230px
Francesco Saverio 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, ...
'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 Pr ...
, Handel's
Oboe Concerto in G minor, and Bach's
Orchestral Suite No. 3.
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 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
.
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
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 KBE (born 5 January 1931) is an Austrian classical pianist, poet, author, composer, and lecturer who is known particularly for his performances of Mozart, Schubert, Schoenberg, and Beethoven.Stephen Plaistow"Brendel, Alfred" ''G ...
,
Gidon Kremer
Gidon Kremer ( lv, Gidons Krēmers; 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 Holo ...
, and
Anne-Sophie Mutter
Anne-Sophie Mutter (born 29 June 1963) is a German violinist. She was supported early in her career by Herbert von Karajan. As an advocate of contemporary music, she has had several works composed especially for her, by Sebastian Currier, Hen ...
, who was Faerber's friend.
Soloist also included
Martha Argerich
Martha Argerich (; Eastern Catalan: �ɾʒəˈɾik born 5 June 1941) is an Argentine classical concert pianist. She is widely considered to be one of the greatest pianists of all time.
Early life and education
Argerich was born in Buenos Ai ...
,
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. She has performed throughout the world as a soloist with leading orchestras and conductors and as a recitalist. She is an avid supporter of contemporary classical music, and several c ...
,
Sharon Kam,
Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian cellist and conductor. He is considered by many to be the greatest cellist of the 20th century. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well ...
, and
Frank Peter Zimmermann
Frank Peter Zimmermann (born 27 February 1965) is a German violinist.
Childhood
He was born in Duisburg, West Germany, and started playing the violin when he was five years old, giving his first concert with orchestra at the age of 10.
Since he ...
.
Faerber was invited as a guest conductor by orchestras of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
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. The orchestra regularly tours in the UK and internation ...
;
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. Since 2004, th ...
, 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 decisio ...
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, 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 the border with the Netherlands and 45 km ...
, 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 Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...
'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". He established an international career as a solo flute player. In 2005, he received the Brit Award for Outstan ...
.
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. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have le ...
's
Concerto for harpsichord and orchestra in
D major
D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor.
The D major scale is:
:
...
, Hob.XVIII:11, both performed by
Martha Argerich
Martha Argerich (; Eastern Catalan: �ɾʒəˈɾik born 5 June 1941) is an Argentine classical concert pianist. She is widely considered to be one of the greatest pianists of all time.
Early life and education
Argerich was born in Buenos Ai ...
, with trumpeter
Guy Touvron.
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 (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...
, 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