Karl Thomann (5 June 1900 in

Ústí nad Labem Ústí nad Labem (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the Ústí nad Labem Region. It is a major industrial centre and, besides being an active river port, is an important railway junction. ...

19 July 1950) was a German violinist and music educator. Among other things, he was first

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

of 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 ...

Life

Thomann was born in 1900 as the son of a music teacher in northern Bohemia. He received his first violin lessons from his father. He studied at the

Prague Conservatory The Prague Conservatory () is a public music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, the school offers four- or six-year courses, which can be compared to the level of a high school diploma in other countries. Graduates c ...

and at the

University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university established in 1817 located in Vienna. With a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of t ...

. with

Otakar Ševčík Otakar Ševčík (22 March 185218 January 1934) was a Czechs, Czech violinist and influential teacher. He was known as a Solo (music), soloist and an Musical ensemble, ensemble player, including his occasional performances with Eugène Ysaÿe. ...

. He received further lessons from

Arnold Rosé Arnold Josef Rosé (born ''Rosenblum''; 24 October 1863 – 25 August 1946) was a Romanian-born Austrian Jewish violinist. He was leader of the Vienna Philharmonic for over half a century. He worked closely with Johannes Brahms and Gustav Mahler. ...

. Thomann unterrichtete in verschiedenen Adelshäusern: den Fürsten

Fürstenberg Fürstenberg (also Fuerstenberg and Furstenberg) may refer to: Historical states * Fürstenberg-Baar, county (1441–1559) * Fürstenberg-Blumberg, county (1559–1614) * Fürstenberg-Donaueschingen, county (1617–1698) * Fürstenberg-Fürst ...

und Schwarzenberg as well as the

Waldstein family The House of Waldstein (Valdstejn, Valdonio, or Wallenstein) is an old, wealthy and important noble family from Central Europe (Germany and the Czech Republic). They owned many castles across Europe. Origin The House of Waldstein or House of V ...

. He was first concertmaster of the orchestras in Chemnitz, Wiesbaden and Düsseldorf. From 1921 to 1925 he worked as a freelance artist in Munich. He declined calls to Aachen, Bremen and Stuttgart (successor to Karl Wendling). In 1925/26 he became the first

of the

as successor to Max Strub (of the

Semperoper The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the Th ...

) under

Fritz Busch Fritz Busch (13 March 1890 – 14 September 1951) was a German conductor. Busch was born in Siegen to a musical family and studied at the Cologne Conservatory. After army service in the First World War, he was appointed to senior posts in two G ...

Ortrun Landmann Ortrun Landmann (born 11 May 1937) is a German musicologist. Life Landmann was born as daughter of the aircraft designer and university teacher in Szczecin. After her studies and doctorate at the University of Rostock she was a research assis ...

: ''Namenverzeichnisse der Sächsischen Staatskapelle Dresden: eigene Benennungen, Namen der Administratoren, der musikalischen Leiter und der ehemaligen Mitglieder von 1548 bis 2013, in systematisch-chronologischer Folge''. Published in 2013, since then updated and corrected annually (status: August 2017),
PDF
. His successor was the Dutch violinist Francis Koene. Thomann then moved again to Munich, where he worked as a performer and teacher. In 1929 he moved to Berlin. In 1934 and 1939 he was appointed to the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra under

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

. In 1937, 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 ...

Karl Elmendorff Karl Eduard Maria Elmendorff (October 25, 1891 – October 21, 1962) was a German opera conductor. Born in Düsseldorf, Elmendorff studied music at the Cologne College of Music and Hochschule für Musik Köln from 1913 to 1916 under Fritz S ...

appointed him concertmaster at the

Mannheim National Theatre The Mannheim National Theatre () is a theatre and opera company in Mannheim, Germany, with a variety of performance spaces. It was founded in 1779 and is one of the oldest theatres in Germany. History In the 18th century Mannheim was the cap ...

. As a soloist he played under renowned conductors such as

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

and

Carl Schuricht Carl Adolph Schuricht (; 3 July 18807 January 1967) was a German conductor. Life and career Schuricht was born in Danzig (Gdańsk), German Empire; his father's family had been respected organ-builders. His mother, Amanda Wusinowska, a widow soo ...

. He performed among others at the Wiesbaden Festival and the Rheinische Musikfest. He has worked together with Wolfgang Ruoff and Georg Schumann in

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

. In June 1950 he was offered a professorship 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 ...

, which he could no longer accept due to a fatal illness. Thomann died in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

at the age of 50.

Literature

* Oskar Laurich: ''Prof. Karl Thomann †''. In ''Aussiger Bote'' 2 (1950) 10, p. 24f.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomann, Karl 1900 births 1950 deaths People from Ústí nad Labem German classical violinists German male classical violinists 20th-century German classical violinists German music educators 20th-century German male musicians Prague Conservatory alumni Concertmasters of the Staatskapelle Dresden German Bohemian people