The Tonkunstler Orchestra (German: ''Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich'', ) is an Austrian orchestra based in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and Sankt Pölten,

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

Origin of the name

The orchestra's name has its origins in the ''Tonkünstler-Sozietät, Wien'', which was organizing concerts in the era of Haydn and Mozart. This name lived on in the Viennese "Tonkünstler Orchestra Association", which was founded at the beginning of the 20th century. The first concert was performed in 1907 at the

Musikverein The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. The acoustics of the building's 'Grea ...

presenting works of

Karl Goldmark Karl Goldmark (born Károly Goldmark, Keszthely, 18 May 1830 – Vienna, 2 January 1915) was a Hungarian-born Viennese composer. Peter Revers, Michael Cherlin, Halina Filipowicz, Richard L. Rudolph The Great Tradition and Its Legacy 2004; , p ...

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

and

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

. In 1913 the Viennese Tonkünstler Orchestra were the first to perform

Arnold Schönberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

's "Gurrelieder". The Sunday afternoon performances of the orchestra were very popular with the Viennese audience. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the orchestra had to merge with the so-called "Vienna Concertverein" due to financial hardships. The association continued to organise concerts until 1933.

History

In the mid-1930s, the National Socialist conductor Leopold Reichwein founded a new orchestra, which took the name ''N.S. Wiener Tonkünstlerorchester'' after Austria was annexed by Germany in 1938. The orchestra then became the ''Gausymphonieorchester Niederdonau'' in 1939. It was doing concerts throughout World War II, mostly with the movement and in supporting the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

. The orchestra renamed itself in 1945 to ''Landessymphonieorchester Niederösterreich''. In 1946 this ensemble tied to the Tonkünstler tradition and called itself ''Niederösterreichisches Tonkünstlerorchester'' (Lower Austrian Tonkünstler Orchestra). The tradition of Sunday afternoon concerts was also revived. In 2002, the orchestra underwent a re-structuring process and is now called ''Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich'' (Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria). The Tonkünstler was the first Austrian orchestra with a division focused solely on

music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as primary education, elementary or secondary education, secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a rese ...

. From 2004 to 2009, Kristjan Järvi was principal conductor of the orchestra, and his work with the orchestra included a commercial recording of

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

's ''

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

''. In the 2009–2010 season, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, who was the orchestra's assistant conductor for two years, took up the post of principal conductor. Orozco-Estrada stood down from the post at the close of the 2014–2015 season. In November 2013, the orchestra announced the appointment of Yutaka Sado as its next principal conductor, effective with the 2015–2016 season, with an initial contract of 3 years. To mark the opening of the 10th Grafenegg Festival in August 2016, his contract with the Tonkunstler was extended until summer 2022. Sado is scheduled to conclude his tenure at the close of the 2024-2025 season. In 2019, Fabien Gabel first guest-conducted the orchestra. In June 2023, the orchestra announced the appointment of Gabel as its next principal conductor, effective with the 2025-2026 season, with an initial contract of four years.

Residencies

Tonkünstler Orchestra has its residencies in Vienna and Lower Austria. In Vienna, they perform concerts in the Golden Hall of the

. The Musikverein "Glass Hall" serves as the orchestra's rehearsal room. As the state orchestra of Lower Austria, Tonkünstler have a second residency in Festspielhaus St. Pölten. From summer 2007, the orchestra is also "orchestra in residence" at the international Grafenegg Music Festival.

Principal conductors

* Leopold Reichwein (1933–1939) * Bert Costa (1939–1943) * Friedrich Jung (1944–1945) * Kurt Wöss (1946–1951) * Gustav Koslik (1951–1964) *

Heinz Wallberg Heinz Wallberg (16 March 192329 September 2004) was a German conductor. Wallberg was born in Herringen, Westphalia. He studied trumpet, violin and piano. He helped to support his family with his musical training after his father became unabl ...

(1964–1975) * Walter Weller (1975–1978) * Miltiades Caridis (1978–1988) * Isaac Karabtchevsky (1988–1994) * Fabio Luisi (1994–2000) * Carlos Kalmar (2000–2003) * Kristjan Järvi (2004–2009) * Andrés Orozco-Estrada (2009–2014) * Yutaka Sado (2015–present) * Fabien Gabel (designate, effective autumn 2025)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tonkunstler Orchestra Austrian orchestras Orchestras in Vienna Sankt Pölten 1907 establishments in Austria Musical groups established in 1933 Musical groups established in 1907 Culture of Lower Austria Organisations based in Lower Austria