Helmut Koch (conductor)

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Helmut Koch
Koch in 1955
Born(1908-04-05)5 April 1908
Barmen, Germany
Died26 January 1975(1975-01-26) (aged 66)
East Berlin, East Germany
Education
Occupations
  • Conductor
  • Composer
  • Academic teacher
Organizations
Awards
  • National Prize of the GDR
  • Handel Prize
  • Vaterländischer Verdienstorden

Helmut Koch (5 April 1908 – 26 January 1975) was a German conductor, choir leader, composer, and academic teacher. He was recording manager for the

Generalmusikdirektor. He was the first conductor of the Berliner Singakademie
in East Berlin, and held the position until his death.

Life and career

Koch was born in

Realgymnasium.[2] He studied at the Rheinische Musikschule [de] in Cologne and stayed there until the founding of the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen.[2] Although he had plans for a career as a conductor, he fulfilled his parents' wish to focus on pedagogy, and took a private music teacher's examination in 1928.[1]

In 1928, Koch met Hermann Scherchen as a participant in a conducting course. The latter suggested that he participate in a four-week music festival in Winterthur (Switzerland) as a violinist and viola player in order to broaden his knowledge of orchestral playing. During this time, Scherchen decided to train Koch as a private student[3] and also helped him to find work as a sound engineer and assistant with conducting duties at the then Ostmarken Rundfunk AG [de] in Königsberg.[2] In 1931, he moved to Berlin where he took over the direction of workers' choirs,[4] including the Berliner Schubertchor.[3]

In 1938, Koch became recording manager (Aufnahmeleiter) for the record company Schallplatten AG Carl Lindström.

Nazi party.[5] He was drafted to the Volkssturm in February 1945.[2]

Immediately after the war, Koch became recording manager for the

Staatsoper Berlin from 1960 where he led Handel's Giulio Cesare and Ezio, among others.[2] He was instrumental in a revival of Handel's oratorios which he also conducted at the Halle Handel Festival.[4] Koch was appointed Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) in 1963.[1]

Koch, committed to the close cooperation of professional and amateur artists, became the first conductor of the Berliner Singakademie in 1963 after the Berlin Wall was built, founded then to continue the tradition of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin also in the East.[2][8] He held the position until his death.[9]

Koch died in Berlin aged 66.[2]

Recordings

Koch's recordings of Monteverdi's

Vivaldi, and Bach's Brandenburg Concertos.[3] His repertoire also included works by Mendelssohn and contemporary classical music. In particular, he promoted the works Hanns Eisler, Fritz Geißler, Ernst Hermann Meyer, and Ruth Zechlin.[2]

For VEB Deutsche Schallplatten: Eterna[1]

Awards

Koch was twice awarded the

Vaterländischer Verdienstorden in silver and 1973 in gold.[11][12]

View of music

For Koch, music old and new was a medium able to transform people; therefore composers and performers should handle it responsibly. He rejected a division of old and new music, saying: "Everything we do, we do for the people who live now, and who think and feel as today's. ("Alles, was wir machen, machen wir für die Menschen, die jetzt leben, als Heutige denken und empfinden.")[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Allihn, Ingeborg (2020). "Koch, Helmut". Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (in German). Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4
    .
  3. ^
    AllMusic
  4. ^ a b Scharfer, Hans Jürgen (25 January 1995). "Vor 20 Jahren starb der Dirigent Helmut Koch / Alter und neuer Musik verbunden". Neues Deutschland (in German). Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  5. ISBN 978-3-631-63542-1
    , pp. 172–173.
  6. ^ Helmut Koch 1908 – 1975 Berliner Singakademie
  7. Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler"
    . Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  8. ^ Gründung der Berliner Singakademie Berliner Singakademie
  9. ^ a b "Direktion". Berliner Singakademie. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  10. Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
    }. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  11. ^ Neues Deutschland, 19 April 1968, p. 2[full citation needed]
  12. ^ Neues Deutschland, 6 October 1973, p. 3[full citation needed]

Further reading

External links
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