Gustav Classens
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Gustav Classens (12 October 189418 June 1977) was a German conductor who shaped musical life in
Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
. He was municipal music director and conductor of the
Beethoven Orchester Bonn The Beethoven Orchester Bonn is a German symphony orchestra based in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia. It dates back to 1907, when a professional orchestra was established. Named for Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born in Bonn, the orchestra's princ ...
from 1933 to 1949, continuing concerts during World War II and reviving them after the war. He was then for decades conductor of the choir Chor der Bonner Bach-Gemeinschaft that he founded.


Career

Gustav Xavier Maria August Classens was born in
Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...
, the son of the photographer August Classens (1849–after 1902) and his wife Maria Classens, née Jessen. He studied music at the
Cologne Conservatory Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and over 3.1 million people in the Cologne Bonn urba ...
from 1913, piano with Otto Klauwell (1851–1917), music theory with Franz Bölsche (1867–1933) and Konrad Ramrath (1880–1972), and score playing with Ewald Strässer (1869–1935). His studies were interrupted by World War I. He served as ''Gefreiter'' and was severely injured in 1915. When he returned to his studies in 1919, he took conducting classes with
Hermann Abendroth Hermann Paul Maximilian Abendroth (19 January 1883 – 29 May 1956) was a German conductor. Early life Abendroth was born on 19 January 1883, at Frankfurt, the son of a bookseller. Several other members of the family were artists in diverse dis ...
. He graduated in 1923 in piano and conducting. Classens gave concerts as a pianist and assisted Abendroth with his concerts at the in Cologne. In 1923, he conducted the first concert of the Kölner Kammerorchester (Cologne Chamber Orchestra) which Abendroth had founded. His first leading position was music director of the Kurverwaltung-Konzertgesellschaft in
Bad Godesberg Bad Godesberg () is a borough () of Bonn, southern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. From 1949 to 1999, while Bonn was the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany, most foreign embassies were in Bad Godesberg. Some buildings are still used as br ...
from 1924, including conducting the Kurorchesters. In 1925, he also became municipal music director (''Städtischer Musikdirektor'') in
Witten Witten () is a city with almost 100,000 inhabitants in the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis (district) in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. Geography Witten is situated in the Ruhr valley, in the southern Ruhr area. Bordering municipalities * Bochum ...
. He had a first contact to
Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
in 1927, when he prepared choirs for the Beethovenfest for the centenary of the composer's death. During the following years, he often stepped in for
Generalmusikdirektor A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...
(GMD) Max Anton (1877–1939) who had to retire early due to ill health. After three more years, in 1933, Classens was appointed GMD in Bonn. From 1936, he was also responsible for the
Bonn Opera Theater Bonn (also known as the Stadttheater Bonn) is the municipal theatre company of Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is an organization that produces operas, Musical theatre, musicals, ballets, Play (theatre), plays, and concerts. It o ...
, after Heinrich Sauer (1870–1955) had retired in 1931. Classen's intention was to make Bonn a Beethoven city, as Salzburg was a Mozart city. He had to compromise with the Nazi regime, such as conducting in 1934 the premiere of ''Deutsches Heldenrequiem'', dedicated to Hitler by its composer Gottfried Müller (1914–1993). However, he held a high level of quality, performing in his first season in 1933/34 the oratorio ''Elisabeth'' by
Joseph Haas Joseph Haas (19 March 1879 – 30 March 1960) was a German late romantic composer and music teacher. Biography He was born in Maihingen, near Nördlingen to teacher Alban Haas from his second marriage, being half-brother to the theologian a ...
, followed by Bach's ''
St John Passion The ''Passio secundum Joannem'' or ''St John Passion'' (), BWV 245, is a Passion or oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, the earliest of the surviving Passions by Bach. It was written during his first year as director of church music in Leipzi ...
'', Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Choral Fantasy,
Hans Pfitzner Hans Erich Pfitzner (5 May 1869 – 22 May 1949) was a German composer, conductor and polemicist who was a self-described anti-modernist. His best known work is the post-Romantic opera ''Palestrina'' (1917), loosely based on the life of the ...
's Violin Concerto and ''
Ein Heldenleben ''Ein Heldenleben'' (''A Hero's Life''), Op. 40, is a tone poem by Richard Strauss. The work was completed in 1898. It was his eighth work in the genre, and exceeded any of its predecessors in its orchestral demands. Generally agreed to be aut ...
'' by Richard Strauss. The following season, he conducted Bach's ''
St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets the 26th and 27th chapters of th ...
'', Handel's ''
Samson SAMSON (Software for Adaptive Modeling and Simulation Of Nanosystems) is a computer software platform for molecular design being developed bOneAngstromand previously by the NANO-D group at the French Institute for Research in Computer Science an ...
'', Haydn's '' Die Jahreszeiten'', Beethoven's
Missa solemnis is Latin for Solemn Mass.Mass
, ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. N.p., Appleton, 1910. 797. and is a genre of < ...
and Ninth Symphony, Bruckner's Ninth Symphony, and an evening dedicated to
Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University Chu ...
with two Bonn premieres. He managed to continue concerts under difficult conditions during World War II and revived the orchestra after the war. He held the position of GMD until 1949. In 1949, Classens founded a choir which he named Chor der Bonner Bach-Gemeinschaft (Choir of the Bonn Bach Society). which became the Bach-Chor Bonn in 2012. He was director until 1971. In the almost forty years that he led the Bach-Chor, numerous concerts for choir and orchestra took place in Bonn, making it an integral part of Bonn's musical life. They toured in the wider Bonn area as well as to Belgium and Luxembourg. Founded to cultivate
Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...
's works, the choir's repertoire was soon expanded. In 1951, Haydn's ''
Die Schöpfung ''The Creation'' () is an oratorio written in 1797 and 1798 by Joseph Haydn ( Hob. XXI:2), and considered by many to be one of his masterpieces. The oratorio depicts and celebrates the creation of the world as narrated in the Book of Genesis. T ...
'' was performed. In 1952, Classens conducted the Bonn premiere of Bach's ''
Easter Oratorio The ''Easter Oratorio'' (; ), 249, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach. He wrote an autograph score in Leipzig in 1738 under this title, matching his ''Christmas Oratorio'' and '' Ascension Oratorio''. Bach had already composed the work in 1 ...
'', and three years later the first performance there of the
Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary or Canticle of Mary, and in the Byzantine Rite as the Ode of the Theotokos (). Its Western name derives from the incipit of its Latin text. This ...
by Bach's son Carl Philipp Emanuel. The performance of the Bach's ''St Matthew Passion'' unabridged in March 1959 became a special event for Bach lovers. Classens conducted Handel's
oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...
s '' Judas Maccabäus'' and ''
Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
'', Haydn's '' Die Jahreszeiten'', and ''
Ein deutsches Requiem ''A German Requiem, to Words of the Holy Scriptures'', Op. 45 () by Johannes Brahms, is a large-scale work for chorus, orchestra, and soprano and baritone soloists, composed between 1865 and 1868. It comprises seven movements, which together l ...
'' by Brahms. He also performed Dvořák's
Stabat mater The Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Christian hymn to the Virgin Mary that portrays her suffering as mother during the crucifixion of her son Jesus Christ. Its author may be either the Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi or Pope Innocent III.Saba ...
and
Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...
, Hermann Suter's ''
Le Laudi (''The Praises''), Op. 25, is an oratorio by the Swiss composer Hermann Suter. The full title is (''The Praises of St. Francis of Assisi (Canticle of the Creatures))''. The text is Francis of Assisi's Canticle of the Sun in the original Ital ...
'' which was almost forgotten, and Kodály's '' Psalmus Hungaricus''. From 1952 to 1966, he was also music teacher at the . Classens died in Bonn at the age of 82.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Classens, Gustav German conductors (music) Music directors Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1894 births 1977 deaths Musicians from Aachen