Carl Seemann (8 May 1910 − 26 November 1983) was a German

church music Church music is a genre of Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. History Early Christian musi ...

ian, pianist, piano teacher and director of the Musikhochschule Freiburg.

Life

Born in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

, after the

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

Seemann initially vacillated between studying theology and music. He decided to study church music in Leipzig. His teachers were

Karl Straube Montgomery Rufus Karl Siegfried Straube (6 January 1873 – 27 April 1950) was a German church musician, organist, and choral conductor, famous above all for championing the abundant organ music of Max Reger. Career Born in Berlin, Straube stu ...

, Günther Ramin, Kurt Thomas and

Carl Adolf Martienssen Carl Adolf Martienssen (6 December 1881 – 1 March 1955) was a German pianist and music educator. Life Born in Güstrow, Martienssen came from a large farming family, which apparently only immigrated to Mecklenburg in the generation of his fath ...

. After his exams, Seemann worked as

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Danish and ; ; ) is an independent city, independent town in the far north of the Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg's ...

and Verden. From 1935 he devoted himself mainly to his career as a pianist and to teaching - Seemann subsequently held professorships and

master class ''Master Class'' is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giac ...

es in

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

and Freiburg im Breisgau. From 1964 to 1974 he was head of the local state music academy. Many recordings, but especially the duo performances with the violinist Wolfgang Schneiderhan, made Seemann one of the greats of post-war German musical life. Nevertheless, public attention turned to the increasingly dominant Russian master pianists such as

Emil Gilels Emil Grigoryevich Gilels (19 October 191614 October 1985, born Samuil) was a Soviet pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time. His sister Elizabeth, three years his junior, was a violinist. His daughter Elena ...

Vladimir Horowitz Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz (November 5, 1989) was a Russian and American pianist. Considered one of the greatest pianists of all time, he was known for his virtuoso technique, timbre, and the public excitement engendered by his playing. Life ...

and Svjatoslav Richter. This was possibly also a consequence of Seemann's rather matter-of-fact style of interpretation, which refrained from

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'', or ; Late Latin ''virtuosus''; Latin ''virtus''; 'virtue', 'excellence' or 'skill') is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as fine arts, ...

tricks. In 1999, the re-release of various Deutsche Grammophon recordings under the title ''The Legacy'' led to a kind of "Seemann's renaissance". In the supplement of the cassette the critic

Joachim Kaiser Joachim Kaiser (18 December 1928 – 11 May 2017) was a German musicologist, critic, and journalist. He worked as a senior editor and cultural critic for the ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' from 1959, contributing reviews and articles on music, literatur ...

, in whose book ''Great Pianists in our Time'' (Piper, Munich 1965; new edition 1996, ) Seemann did not appear, deals in an essay with Seemann's art. His assistant in Freiburg was . In his master class studied, among others, the conductor . Seemann's nephew heads the

Klassik Stiftung Weimar The Klassik Stiftung Weimar (roughly "Weimar Classicism Foundation") is one of the largest and most significant cultural institutions in Germany. It owns more than 20 museums, palaces, historic houses and parks, as well as literary and art colle ...

. Seemann died in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

at the age of 73.

Literature

* Helmuth Hopf and Rudolf Weber: ''Interview mit Carl Seemann''. In ZfMP (''Zeitschrift für Musikpädagogik'').

Gustav Bosse Gustav Bosse (6 February 1884 – 27 March 1943) was a German music publisher. Life Born in Vienenburg/Harz as son of the sugar factory director and music publisher Fritz Bosse, he founded the for music books in Regensburg in 1912. Already the ...

Verlag, Regensburg. 4. Jahrgang 1979, issue 9, . .

Discography

* Carl Seemann plays Stravinsky. * Carl Seemann plays Bach. recordings 1953/1958. DG * ''Carl Seemann : das Vermächtnis''. * J.S. Bach: Die Partiten BWV 825–830. Orfeo * Mozart: Sämtliche Sonaten für Klavier solo. DG Original Masters * Zehn Meisterklavierabende, Saison 1962 / 3. Konzert, 23 November 1962 : Carl Seemann. * Brahms: Violinsonaten und F-A-E-Sonate mit Wolfgang Schneiderhan. DG * Carl Seemann – Das Vermächtnis (Werke von Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Debussy und Prokofjew). DG * Konzert der

Schwetzinger Festspiele The Schwetzingen Festival (German: Schwetzinger Festspiele, now Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele) is an early summer festival of opera and other classical music presented each year from May to early June in Schwetzingen, Germany. In 1952, the broadca ...

1964 mit Wolfgang Schneiderhan (Sonaten von Bach, Mozart, Beethoven und Schubert). Orfeo * Ludwig van Beethoven: Sämtliche Violinsonaten mit Wolfgang Schneiderhan. DG * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sämtliche Violinsonaten mit Wolfgang Schneiderhan. DG * Discography on Universal. * List of 29 Recordings on the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; ) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to collect, permanently archive, comprehens ...

.List of 29 Recordings
on the

Awards

* 1978:

Reinhold-Schneider-Preis The Reinhold-Schneider-Preis (Reinhold Schneider Prize) is the cultural prize awarded by the German town of Freiburg im Breisgau. It has been awarded biennially since 1960, alternating between literature, music and art. In addition to the main prize ...

of the city of Freiburg for Music.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seemann, Carl 1910 births 1983 deaths Musicians from Bremen (city) Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg German classical pianists German male classical pianists 20th-century German male musicians