Fritz Werner
| Fritz Werner | |
|---|---|
| Born |
15 December 1898 Berlin |
| Died | 22 December 1977 (aged 79) Heilbronn |
| Occupation |
|
| Organization | Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn |
| Awards | |
Fritz Werner (15 December 1898 – 22 December 1977) was a German choral conductor, church music director, conductor, organist and composer. He founded the Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn in 1947 and conducted it until 1973.
Born in Berlin, Fritz Werner studied at the Berliner Akademie für Kirchen- und Schulmusik, the University in Berlin and at the Preußische Akademie der Künste. His teachers were Wolfgang Reimann, Arthur Egidi, Fritz Heitmann, Richard Münnich, Carl Stumpf and Georg Schumann (composition, organ), Kurt Schubert (piano), Max Seiffert and Johannes Wolf (history of music), Richard Hagel (conducting). In 1935 he became organist at the Bethlehem Church in Potsdam-Babelsberg and a school teacher. In 1936 he became organist and cantor at St. Nicholas' Church in Potsdam, promoted to Kirchenmusikdirektor (director of church music) in 1938. In 1939 he became music director at Radio Paris. After World War II he was organist and cantor at St. Kilian's Church in Heilbronn from 1946 until 1964. In 1966 he left his collection of music to the town of Heilbronn.
Fritz Werner founded the Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn in 1947 and conducted it until 1973. First they concentrated on the music of Heinrich Schütz and made it known in Heilbronn and the region. Later they recorded numerous works of Johann Sebastian Bach, his passions, oratorios, motets and especially more than 50 of his cantatas. Vocal soloists have included Agnes Giebel, Edith Selig, Claudia Hellmann, Barbara Scherler, Hertha Töpper, Theo Altmeyer, Kurt Huber, Helmut Krebs, Jakob Stämpfli, Barry McDaniel, Bruce Abel and Franz Kelch, instrumental soloists Maurice André (trumpet), Hermann Baumann (horn), Marie-Claire Alain (organ) and György Terebesi (violin). Orchestras for the recordings have included the Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra, the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn and the Südwestfunk Orchester. Werner's Bach recordings were compared to those of his contemporary Karl Richter. A reviewer wrote about his cantata recordings: "... this wise, discerning and humane Bach conductor has much to teach us, even (perhaps especially) in an age when we are so used to performances of Bach in period style and by small or smallish forces. But the other thing that listening to all these performances has reinforced for me is how endlessly inventive, how eloquent and how moving is the music of Bach. I suspect that Fritz Werner would regard that as the best possible testament to his work." The same reviewer stated about a recording of the St Matthew Passion with Helmut Krebs as the Evangelist: "Werner's pacing of the whole work and his vision of it is compelling. The drama moves inexorably forward and the entire story is most movingly related."
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