The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is based, the

Gewandhaus Gewandhaus is a concert hall in Leipzig, the home of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Today's hall is the third to bear this name; like the second, it is noted for its fine acoustics. History The first Gewandhaus (''Altes Gewandhaus'') The f ...

("Garment House"). In addition to its concert duties, the orchestra also performs frequently in the

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and as the official opera orchestra of the

Leipzig Opera The Leipzig Opera (in German: ) is an opera house and opera company located at the Augustusplatz and the Inner City Ring Road at its east side in Leipzig's district Mitte, Germany. History Performances of opera in Leipzig trace back to Sing ...

History

The orchestra's origins can be traced to 1743, when a society called the ''Grosses Concert'' began performing in private homes. In 1744 the ''Grosses Concert'' moved its concerts to the "Three Swans" Tavern. Their concerts continued at this venue for 36 years, until 1781. In 1780, because of complaints about concert conditions and audience behavior in the tavern, the mayor and city council of Leipzig offered to renovate one story of the Gewandhaus (the building used by textile merchants) for the orchestra's use. The motto ''Res severa est verum gaudium'' ("only a serious thing is a true joy", or "true joy is a serious thing" – from the Roman author

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

) was painted in the hall, suggesting the priorities of the sponsors. The orchestra gave its first concert in the Gewandhaus in 1781. The orchestra thus has a good claim to being the oldest continuing orchestra in Germany founded by the bourgeoisie, while older orchestras were part of royal suites. In 1835, Felix Mendelssohn became the orchestra's music director, with the traditional title of ''Gewandhauskapellmeister'', and held the post until his death in 1847. Several other musicians shared the duties with Mendelssohn during his tenure, including Ferdinand David,

Ferdinand Hiller Ferdinand (von) Hiller (24 October 1811 – 11 May 1885) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, writer and music director. Biography Ferdinand Hiller was born to a wealthy Jewish family in Frankfurt am Main, where his father Justus (orig ...

, and

Niels Gade Niels Wilhelm Gade (22 February 1817 – 21 December 1890) was a Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher. Together with Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann, he was the leading Danish musician of his day. Biography Gade was bor ...

. In 1885, the orchestra moved into a new hall. This was destroyed by bombing in 1944. The present Gewandhaus is the third building with the name. It was opened in 1981. The large organ in the hall bears the original Gewandhaus hall's motto "''Res severa verum gaudium''" . Later principal conductors included

Arthur Nikisch Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungarian conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter of the music of B ...

Wilhelm Furtwängler Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler ( , , ; 25 January 188630 November 1954) was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a major ...

Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the U ...

, and

Václav Neumann Václav Neumann (29 October 1920 – 2 September 1995) was a Czech conductor, violinist, violist, and opera director. Life and career Neumann was born in Prague, where he studied at the Prague Conservatory with Josef Micka (violin), and ...

. From 1970 to 1996,

Kurt Masur Kurt Masur (18 July 1927 – 19 December 2015) was a German conductor. Called "one of the last old-style maestros", he directed many of the principal orchestras of his era. He had a long career as the Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus O ...

was ''Gewandhauskapellmeister'', and he and the orchestra made a number of recordings for the Philips label. From 1998 to 2005,

Herbert Blomstedt Herbert Thorson Blomstedt (; born 11 July 1927) is a Swedish conductor. Herbert Blomstedt was born in Massachusetts. Two years after his birth, his Swedish parents moved the family back to their country of origin. He studied at the Stockholm Roy ...

held the same position, and they in turn made several recordings for the Decca label. Blomstedt currently holds the title of conductor laureate with the orchestra, while Masur held the post jointly with Blomstedt until his death in 2015. In 2005, Riccardo Chailly took over as both ''Gewandhauskapellmeister'' and music director of the Leipzig Opera, with an initial contract through 2010. In 2008, Chailly's first contract extension occurred, through 2015. However, he concurrently resigned as GMD of the Oper Leipzig, reportedly after conflict over the hiring of personnel without his consultation. In June 2013, the Gewandhausorchester further extended Chailly's contract through 2020. However, in September 2015, the orchestra announced the newly scheduled conclusion of Chailly's tenure as ''Gewandhauskapellmeister'' in June 2016, four years ahead of the previously agreed-upon contract extension, at Chailly's request.

Andris Nelsons Andris Nelsons (born 18 November 1978) is a Latvian conductor who is currently the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the ''Gewandhauskapellmeister'' of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He has previously served as music directo ...

first guest-conducted the orchestra in December 2011, and returned for subsequent guest engagements in June 2013, July 2014 and December 2014. In September 2015, the orchestra announced the appointment of Nelsons as its next ''Gewandhauskapellmeister'', effective with the 2017–2018 season, with an initial contract of 5 seasons. In parallel, the orchestra announced a new artistic collaboration with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, of which Nelsons is the current music director. In October 2020, the orchestra announced the most recent extension of Nelsons' contract as ''Gewandhauskapellmeister'' through 31 July 2027.

Music directors (Gewandhauskapellmeister)

Johann Adam Hiller Johann Adam Hiller (25 December 1728, in Wendisch-Ossig, Saxony – 16 June 1804, in Leipzig) was a German composer, conductor and writer on music, regarded as the creator of the Singspiel, an early form of German opera. In many of these operas ...

(1781–1785) *

Johann Gottfried Schicht Johann Gottfried Schicht (29 September 1753 – 16 February 1823) was a German composer and conductor. Schicht was born in Reichenau, in the Electorate of Saxony. He trained as a lawyer, studying from 1776 at Leipzig. He was the conduct ...

(1785–1810) *

Johann Philipp Christian Schulz Johann Philipp Christian Schulz (also ''Schulze''; 24 September 1773 – 30 January 1827) was a German composer and conductor. Schulz was born in Bad Langensalza and was Gewandhaus Kapellmeister from 1810 to 1827. In 1825 he and the Gewandhaus ...

(1810–1827) *

Christian August Pohlenz Christian August Pohlenz (3 July 1790 – 10 March 1843) was a German composer and conductor. Pohlenz was born in Sallgast. He was Gewandhaus Kapellmeister from 1827 to 1835. He died in Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the mos ...

(1827–1835) * Felix Mendelssohn (1835–1847) * Ferdinand David (1841–1842, 1852–1854) *

(1843–1844) *

(1844–1848) *

Julius Rietz August Wilhelm Julius Rietz (28 December 1812 – 12 September 1877) was a German composer, conductor, cellist, and teacher. His students included Woldemar Bargiel, Salomon Jadassohn, Arthur O'Leary, and (by far the most celebrated) Sir Arthu ...

(1848–1860) * Carl Reinecke (1860–1895) *

(1895–1922) *

(1922–1928) *

(1929–1933) *

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 ...

(1934–1945) *

Herbert Albert Herbert Albert (26 December 1903, Bad Lausick – 15 September 1973) was a German conductor. Albert was born in Lausick and died in Bad Reichenhall. After studying with Karl Muck as a pianist he later held a succession of music director ...

(1946–1948) *

Franz Konwitschny Franz Konwitschny (14 August 1901, Fulnek, Moravia – 28 July 1962, Belgrade) was a German conductor and violist of Moravian descent. He started his career on the viola,Schwinger playing in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Wilhelm Furtw ...

(1949–1962) *

(1964–1968) *

(1970–1996) *

(1998–2005) * Riccardo Chailly (2005–2016) *

(2018–present)

Conductors laureate

* Kurt Masur (1996–2015) * Herbert Blomstedt (2005–present)

Concertmasters (Konzertmeister)

*1797–1818:

Bartolomeo Campagnoli Bartolomeo Campagnoli (September 10, 1751 – November 6, 1827) was an Italian violinist and composer. Campagnoli was a virtuoso violinist who toured Europe propagating the 18th Century Italian violin style. He also has a number of compositions t ...

*1818–1835: Heinrich August Matthäi *1835–1873: Ferdinand David *1873–1897:

Engelbert Röntgen Engelbert Röntgen (30 September 1829 – 12 December 1897)Obituary
''

Gewandhaus Composer

Jörg Widmann Jörg Widmann (born 19 June 1973) is a German composer, conductor and clarinetist. In 2018, Widmann was the third most performed contemporary composer in the world. Formerly a clarinet and composition professor at the University of Music Freibu ...

(2017–2018) *

Heinz Karl Gruber Heinz Karl "Nali" Gruber (born 3 January 1943), who styles himself HK Gruber professionally, is an Austrian composer, conductor, double bass player and singer. He is a leading figure of the so-called Third Viennese School. Career Gruber is said to ...

(2019–2020) * Sofia Gubaidulina (2020–2022)

Notes

References

* *

External links

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig official website
* {{Authority control German symphony orchestras Music in Leipzig Musical groups established in the 18th century Organisations based in Leipzig Organizations established in the 1750s 1751 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire