Helmut Winschermann (; 22 March 1920 – 4 March 2021) was a German classical oboist, conductor and academic teacher who founded the

Deutsche Bachsolisten Deutsche Bachsolisten (DBS; The German Bach Soloists) is a German Baroque chamber orchestra dedicated to the works of J.S. Bach. It was established by German conductor and oboist, Helmut Winschermann in 1960. ReferencesBachsolisten 1973 photo, on ...

ensemble for historically informed performances, and was their conductor from 1960 until his death. They made many recordings and toured internationally, especially to Japan.

Life and career

Winschermann was born in

Mülheim an der Ruhr Mülheim, officially Mülheim an der Ruhr (, ; ; ) and also described as ''"City on the River"'', is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen. It is home ...

in 1920. He first studied violin at the Folkwangschule where he was pointed at the oboe which he studied with . He studied also at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

. After only one year of oboe studies, he was engaged at the

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 ...

municipal orchestra, followed by

Bad Homburg Bad Homburg vor der Höhe (, ) is the district town of the Hochtaunuskreis, Hesse, Germany, on the southern slope of the Taunus mountains. Bad Homburg is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. The town's official name is ''Bad Homburg ...

and

Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...

. He served in the military in World War II. After the war, he was principal oboe with the Rundfunkorchester Frankfurt.Biography AllMusic
by Robert Cummings. Retrieved 27 August 2013 With the flautist Kurt Redel and harpsichordist Irmgard Lechner, he was a co-founder of the chamber music ensemble Collegium Pro Arte, later called the Collegium Instrumentale Detmold. In 1956 he was appointed principal chair of the oboe department at the

Hochschule für Musik Detmold The Hochschule für Musik Detmold is a university-level music school situated in Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Academics The Hochschule offers performance degrees in composition, all orchestral instruments, piano, voice, opera, ar ...

, having taught there since 1948 when the institution was founded. His students include Hansjörg Schellenberger, Fumiaki Miyamoto, Ingo Goritzki, Günther Passin and Gernot Schmalfuß. He held the professorship until his retirement in 1985. He recorded Mozart's Oboe Quartet in F major (K.370) with the Kehr Trio, issued in 1957 on

Telefunken Telefunken was a German radio and television producer, founded in Berlin in 1903 as a joint venture between Siemens & Halske and the ''AEG (German company), Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft'' (AEG) ("General electricity company"). Prior to ...

LGX 66065 in the UK. He maintained a touring schedule as a soloist, and frequently collaborated with the

Cappella Coloniensis Cappella Coloniensis is a German orchestra founded by the West German Radio in Cologne in 1954 for the purpose of introducing historically informed performance of Baroque music to the listening public. In 1998 the orchestra received the Georg Phi ...

, the conducted by

Karl Ristenpart Karl Ristenpart (26 January 1900 – 24 December 1967) was a German conductor. Career Born in Kiel, Germany, he studied at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin and in Vienna. He was heavily involved in creating three orchestras in his lifeti ...

, and Karl Münchinger's Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. Winschermann founded the instrumental ensemble

in 1960, in order to provide

historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...

s of the music of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

and his baroque contemporaries. He initially divided his time between playing the oboe and conducting the group, but later focussed on conducting solely. Under his direction they have made a multitude of recordings and toured widely internationally. They are particularly popular in Japan, having visited there at least 14 times. In 2010 the group celebrated its 50th anniversary in a concert at the

Beethovenhalle The Beethovenhalle () is a concert hall in Bonn. It is the third hall in the city to bear the name of the Bonn-born composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The initial building was constructed in 1845 to commemorate the unveilling of the Beethoven monumen ...

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 ...

, with the 90-year-old Winschermann conducting his own orchestration of Bach's ''

Goldberg Variations The ''Goldberg Variations'' (), BWV 988, is a musical composition for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of thirty variations. First published in 1741, it is named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may ...

''. He turned 100 in March 2020. He was found dead at his home in Bonn on 4 March 2021, eighteen days short of his 101st birthday.

Honours

* In 1970, Winschermann was awarded the Officer's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

. * In 1992, he was made an Honorary Member of the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

in London. * In 2013, he received the Telemann Prize of

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

References

External links

*
Helmut Winschermann (Conductor, Oboe)
bach-cantatas * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Winschermann, Helmut 1920 births 2021 deaths 21st-century German conductors (music) 21st-century German male musicians German classical oboists German men centenarians German male conductors (music) Historically informed performance Honorary members of the Royal Academy of Music Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Detmold German male oboists Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century German conductors (music) 20th-century German male musicians German military personnel of World War II People from Mülheim Players of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony