Emil Bohnke (11 October 1888 – 11 May 1928) was a German

violist The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the v ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

active in Berlin.

Life

Born in

Zduńska Wola Zduńska Wola is a city in central Poland with 40,730 inhabitants (2021). It is the seat of Zduńska Wola County in the Łódź Voivodeship. The city was once one of the largest cloth, linen and cotton weaving centres in Poland and is the birthpla ...

near

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

, Poland, Emil Bohnke was the son of textile manufacturer Ferdinand Bohnke. From 1901 to 1908, he studied

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

with

Hans Sitt Hans Sitt (born Jan Hanuš Sitt on 21 September 1850, Prague – 10 March 1922, Leipzig), was a Bohemian violinist, violist, teacher, and composer. During his lifetime, he was regarded as one of the foremost teachers of violin. Most of the orches ...

and composition with Stephan Krehl at the

Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig () is a public university in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatorium der Musik (Conservatory of Music), it is the oldest music ...

, continuing his studies in Berlin at the

Prussian Academy of Arts The Prussian Academy of Arts () was a state arts academy first established in 1694 by prince-elector Frederick III of Electorate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg in Berlin, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and later king in Kingdom of ...

from 1908 with

Friedrich Gernsheim Friedrich Gernsheim (17 July 1839 – 11 September 1916) was a German composer, conductor and pianist. Early life Gernsheim was born in Worms. He was given his first musical training at home under his mother's care, then starting from the age of ...

. Bohnke taught for two years at the

Stern Conservatory The Stern Conservatory (''Stern'sches Konservatorium'') was a private music school in Berlin with many distinguished tutors and alumni. The school is now part of Berlin University of the Arts. History It was founded in 1850 as the ''Berliner Mu ...

in Berlin.Robinson, Bradford (2005), ''Emil Bohnke''. In 1919, he married

ist Lilli von Mendelssohn (born 1897) of the

Mendelssohn family The Mendelssohn family are the descendants of Mendel of Dessau. The German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and his brother Saul were the first to adopt the surname Mendelssohn. The family includes his grandchildren, the composers Fanny Mende ...

and fathered three children, the youngest of which was pianist Robert-Alexander Bohnke (1927–2004). He was the violist of the Bandler Quartet and the Busch Quartet (1919–1921) led by

Adolf Busch Adolf Georg Wilhelm Busch (8 August 1891 – 9 June 1952) was a German-Swiss violinist, conductor, and composer. Life and career Busch was born in Siegen in Westphalia. He studied at the Cologne Conservatory with Willy Hess and Bram Eldering. ...

. Bohnke played a 1699 viola by

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

Giovanni Grancino Giovanni Grancino (1637–1709), son of Andrea Grancino, was one of the early Milanese luthiers, and may have worked with his brother, Francesco. Giovanni was the most prominent member of the family of luthiers . Other members included Andrea Gra ...

given to him by his father-in-law. As conductor, he headed the Leipzig Symphony Orchestra (1923–1926) and succeeded Oscar Fried as principal conductor of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra in 1926. Grab Emil Bohnke

In May 1928, Bohnke and his wife were in

Pasewalk Pasewalk () is a town in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany. Located on the Uecker river, it is the capital of the former Uecker-Randow district, and the seat of the Uecker-Randow-T ...

in search of a summer home when they had an automobile accident and, tragically, both were killed. The children had been left with their maternal grandparents, Marie (1867–1957) and Franz von Mendelssohn (1865–1935), who thereafter raised them in their mansion in Berlin.Fricke, Richard, ''History of the "Red Mendelssohn" Stradivarius''. Bohnke and his wife are buried at

Friedhof Dahlem The Dahlem Cemetery (, sometimes improperly referred to as Friedhof Dahlem-Dorf), is a cemetery in Berlin-Dahlem. The cemetery was built according to the plans of the architects Friedrich and Wilhelm Hennigs. Notable burials * Ernst Otto Beckmann ...

in Berlin.

Music

Bohnke composed a body of sixteen opuses, comprising mainly chamber music and piano pieces, but also orchestral works and concertos. His initial compositions are in the late-romantic vein, and gradually incorporate more expressionistic elements. The later works are characterized by dense thematic material and bold harmonies that often go beyond his still-existing framework of tonality. Bohnke's most important work, a Symphony composed in 1927, was premiered shortly after his death on 11 November 1928 by the

Staatskapelle Berlin The Staatskapelle Berlin () is a German orchestra and the resident orchestra of the Berlin State Opera, Unter den Linden. The orchestra is one of the oldest in the world. Until the fall of the German Empire in 1918 the orchestra's name was , i.e ...

conducted by

Erich Kleiber Erich Kleiber (5 August 1890 – 27 January 1956) was an Austrian, later Argentine, conductor, known for his interpretations of the classics and as an advocate of Neue Musik. Kleiber was born in Vienna, and after studying at the Prague Conser ...

Georg Quander Georg Quander (born 29 November 1950) is a German opera and film director, music journalist, writer and culture manager. From 1991 to 2002, he was artistic director of the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin. From 2005 to 2013, he was councillor for art ...

: ''Klangbilder: Portrait der Staatskapelle Berlin'' (Berlin, 1998). Soon after Bohnke's death, his music was largely forgotten. In 1933, during the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

, the authorities prohibited his music largely due to his wife being of Jewish origin. Some efforts have been made to revive Bohnke's music through performances and recordings.

Works

;Orchestral * ''Symphonische Ouvertüre'' (Symphonic Overture), Op. 2 * ''Thema mit Variationen'' (Theme and Variations), Op. 9 * Symphony, Op. 16 (1927) ;Concertante * Concerto in D major for violin and orchestra, Op. 11 (1920) * Concerto in D minor for piano and orchestra, Op. 14 (1925) ;Chamber music * String Quartet in C minor, Op. 1 (1913) * Sonata for violin and piano, Op. 3 * Piano Trio in B minor, Op. 5 * Sonata in F minor for cello and piano, Op. 7 (1918) * 3 Sonatas, Op. 13 (1921) :# Sonata for violin solo :# Sonata for viola solo :# Sonata for cello solo * Sonata for violin solo, Op. 15 No. 1 * ''Ciacona'', for violin solo, Op. 15 No. 2 * ''Blätter für die Jugend'', for violin and piano or string quartet * ''Satz'' (Movement), for string quartet ;Piano * ''Drei Stücke'', Op. 4 * ''Sechs Stücke'', Op. 6 * ''Acht Stücke'', Op. 8 * Sonata in B minor, Op. 10 * ''Sechs Skizzen'', Op. 12 * ''Blätter für die Jugend'' * ''Nocturn''

Discography

* ''Emil Bohnke: Piano Concerto, Op. 14; Symphony, Op. 16'' – Robert-Alexander Bohnke (piano); Israel Yinon (conductor);

Bamberg Symphony The Bamberg Symphony (German: Bamberger Symphoniker – Bayerische Staatsphilharmonie) is a renowned German orchestra top-class orchestra that has been residing in Bamberg since its foundation in 1946 and travels the world as a touring orchestra. ...

; Koch Schwann 3-6420-2 (2001) * ''Emil Bohnke: Violin Concerto, Op. 11; Thema mit Variationen, Op. 9; Sinfonische Ouvertüre, Op. 2'' –

Kolja Lessing Kolja Lessing (born 15 October 1961) is a German violinist, pianist, composer and academic teacher. His focus as a soloist and chamber musician has been the neglected repertoire by composers who were ostracised under the Nazi regime. His recordin ...

(violin), Israel Yinon (conductor);

Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (SOČR) The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (''Symfonický orchestr Českého rozhlasu'', Czech acronym SOČR, English acronym PRSO) is a Czech broadcast orchestra based in Prague, the Czech Republic. The SOČR performs concerts at the Dvořák Hall of ...

; Real Sound RS 051-0035 (2004) * ''Emil Bohnke: Chamber Music'' - Kolja Lessing (violin and viola); Bernhard Schwarz (violoncello); Trio Alkan; Verdi-Quartett. Dabringhaus & Grimm MDG 325 05531-2 (1995) * ''Emil Bohnke: Piano Works'' – Robert-Alexander Bohnke (piano); Real Sound 0032 (2001) ::Sonata in B minor, Op. 10 ::''Nocturn'' ::''Sechs Stücke'', Op. 6 ::''Acht Stücke'', Op. 8 ::''Sechs Skizzen'', Op. 12

Sources

Friedhof Dahlem-Dorf: Bohnke, Emil
Retrieved 25 January 2011.

Retrieved 25 January 2011.
Fricke, Richard. ''History of the "Red Mendelssohn" Stradivarius''
Retrieved 25 January 2011.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bohnke, Emil 1888 births 1928 deaths 20th-century German classical composers 20th-century German classical violinists 20th-century German conductors (music) 20th-century German male musicians German classical violists German male classical composers German male conductors (music) German male classical violinists Mendelssohn family Prussian Academy of Arts alumni Road incident deaths in Germany