Wolfgang Gönnenwein (29 January 1933 – 26 July 2015) was a German conductor and an academic teacher.

Biography

Born in

Schwäbisch Hall Schwäbisch Hall (; "Swabian Hall"; from 1802 until 1934 and colloquially: ''Hall'' ) is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg located in the valley of the Kocher river, the longest tributary (together with its headwater Lein) of the ...

, Wolfgang Gönnenwein studied music and

German studies German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German hi ...

at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

and the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

. In 1959 he became the conductor of the choir (South German Madrigal Chorus). He also conducted the choir of the from 1969 until 1973.Wolfgang Gönnenwein
on the bach-cantatas website In 1968 he was appointed Professor for choral conducting at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart, in 1973 he was elected Rektor (president), serving until 1982. He also directed the

Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele The Ludwigsburg Festival (''Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele'', also ''Internationale Festspiele Baden-Württemberg'') is a culture festival with programs in music, dance, theatre and literature. The festival is held in Ludwigsburg annually betwee ...

until 2004. He was Generalintendant (General Manager) of the

Staatstheater Stuttgart The Staatstheater Stuttgart (Stuttgart State Theatre) is a theatre with three locations, Oper Stuttgart (Opera Stuttgart), Stuttgarter Ballett (Stuttgart Ballet), and Schauspiel Stuttgart (Stuttgart Drama Theatre), in Stuttgart, Germany. The s ...

from 1985 to 1992. For

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

, Gönnenwein recorded many of Bach's sacred works, including the ''

St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (german: Matthäus-Passion, links=-no), 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 ...

'', as well as Haydn's

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

s and Mozart's ''

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

''. Gönnenwein died on 26 July 2015 at the age of 82.

References

External links

Wolfgang Gönnenwein
website

on the website of the Kölner Bach-Verein (in German)
Entries for Wolfgang Gönnenwein
on

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonnenwein, Wolfgang 1933 births 2015 deaths Bach conductors People from Schwäbisch Hall German choral conductors German male conductors (music) Academic staff of the University of Stuttgart Academic staff of the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg