Jochen Wehner (7 March 1936 – 9 June 2020) was a German conductor,

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

and Lektor.

Life

Born in

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, Wehner studied conducting in Halle and at the

Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

and obtained degrees in

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an Originality, original piece or work of music, either Human voice, vocal or Musical instrument, instrumental, the musical form, structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new pie ...

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

and

violoncello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C ...

. After graduating, he worked as ''

Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

'' at the

Theater Magdeburg Theater Magdeburg is the principal theatre organization in Magdeburg, Germany, the capital of the state Saxony-Anhalt. It was formed in 2004 with the merger of two theatres, the Theater der Landeshauptstadt (Theatre of the state capital) and the ' ...

, the and in

Stendal The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the Stendal District and the unofficial capital of the Altmark region. Geography Situated west of the Elbe valley, the Stendal town centre is located ...

. In 1970, he was engaged at the Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin as general

music director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

. His affinity for contemporary music and composition led him to join the

MDR Rundfunkchor MDR Rundfunkchor is the radio choir of the German broadcaster Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), based in Leipzig, Saxony. Dating back to 1924, the choir became the radio choir of a predecessor of the MDR in 1946, then called Kammerchor des Senders ...

in Leipzig in 1973. From 1973 to 1990, he worked as a producer, conductor and editor for

Neue Musik Neue Musik (English ''new music'', French ''nouvelle musique'') is the collective term for a wealth of different currents in composed Western art music from around 1910 to the present. Its focus is on compositions of 20th century music. It is char ...

at the Leipzig radio station. As conductor of the

, he was responsible for numerous recordings. These include the ''Madrigals'' by

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advo ...

, the choral cycle ''Japan Suite'' by Hugo Herrmann, the ''Bach Poem'' by Erhard Ragwitz and the cycle ''In der Natur'' op. 63 by

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...

. Together with Gerhard Richter and Gert Frischmuth, Wehner supervised the Rundfunkchor on an interim basis between 1978 and 1980. At the same time, he held a teaching position in score playing and conducting at the

University of Music and Theatre Leipzig 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 univ ...

. Guest conducting engagements took him to radio stations in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania, as well as to renowned orchestras such as the

Staatskapelle Dresden The Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden (), or Saxon State Orchestra Dresden, is one of the oldest orchestras in the world, created by order of Maurice, Elector of Saxony in 1548. Under communist East Germany and until 1992 it was called Staatskap ...

and the

Berliner Symphoniker The Berliner Symphoniker (''Berlin Symphony Orchestra'') is a German symphony orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. History The orchestra began its performing activity on 1 September 1967 as ''Symphonisches Orchester Berlin'', under the auspices of ...

. Even before

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

, Wehner was contracted as chief conductor at the Värmlandsoperan in

Karlstad Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 67,122 inhabitants in 2020 with 97,233 inhabitan ...

, Sweden. In addition, permanent guest conductorships took him to the

Göteborgsoperan The Gothenburg opera house () is an opera house at Lilla Bommen in Gothenburg, Sweden. The Artistic Director for opera is Henning Ruhe since 2019, while Katrín Hall leads the ballet and dance company. History The Gothenburg opera house is rel ...

and the

Oslo Opera House The Oslo Opera House () is the home of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the national opera house in Norway. The building is situated in the Bjørvika neighbourhood of central Oslo, at the head of the Oslofjord. It is operated by S ...

. In 1994, he returned to

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

and took over the position of principal conductor of the . During this time, he became a leading figure in the founding of the German Wind Academy, which set itself the task of promoting young wind players. The Academy's offerings are now taken up by numerous amateur and professional musicians from all over Europe. After his retirement in 2000, Wehner took on numerous projects. In 2004, he conducted a concert of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 as part of the celebrations for "10 years of cultural relations between Germany and Romania" in

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

. A year later he was on the conductor's podium of the

Hofer Symphoniker Hofer Symphoniker (''Hof Symphony Orchestra'') is a German symphony orchestra based in Hof, Bavaria, Germany. The orchestra began its performing activity in 1945, when Kapellmeister Karl F. Keller founded it as ''Hofer Konzertorchester''. As a ...

and the youth wind orchestra of the North Bavarian Music Association. Guest conductorships have taken him to the

Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz The Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz is a professional classical orchestra, based in Konstanz on Lake Constance. Origin The orchestra was founded in 1932 as the "Theatre and Concert Orchestra" by Hans Rüdinger. After the closure of all ...

, the Hohentwiel Festival in 2007, the municipal wind orchestra of Singen and the Balingen Music Days. Wehner lived in

Heiligenberg Heiligenberg is a municipality and a village in the Bodensee (district), Bodensee district in Baden-Württemberg, about seven kilometres north of Salem, Baden-Württemberg, Salem, in Germany. Location and climate Heiligenberg (literally: the H ...

, near

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

, from 2000 until his death aged 84. His final resting place is at the Leipzig Südfriedhof.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wehner, Jochen 20th-century German composers 20th-century German conductors (music) German music arrangers 1936 births 2020 deaths Musicians from Göttingen