Käte van Tricht (October 22, 1909 – July 13, 1996), was a German

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 ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

harpsichordist A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...

, and

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

Life

Käte van Tricht was born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. She was raised 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 ...

, where her mother encouraged her not only to take piano lessons, but also to join the Domchor at

Bremen Cathedral Bremen Cathedral (), named after St. Peter, is a church situated in the market square in the center of Bremen. The cathedral belongs to the Bremian Evangelical Church, a member of the umbrella organization Evangelical Church in Germany. It ...

at age eight. Van Tricht held her first position as organist at age 19 at the Alte Waller Kirche in Bremen-

Walle Walle is a surname of Norwegian and German origin, which is a variant of the surname Wall. Wall in turn is a topographic name, which meant a person who lived by a defensive or stone-built wall.''Dictionary of American Family Names''"Wall Family Hi ...

, and in 1930 obtained master's degrees in piano and organ performance at Bremen Conservatory (Staatliche Privatmusiklehrer-Prüfung). Through the support of Richard Liesche, Music Director at Bremen Cathedral, Käte van Tricht was appointed Associate Organist at the Cathedral in 1933. From 1934 until 1937, she studied sacred music, piano performance (with Carl Adolf Martienssen) and organ performance (with

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 ...

), as well as

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

(with Johann Nepomuk David) at the Conservatory of Music in

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 ...

. During this time, she also frequently performed as a soprano soloist at

St. Thomas Church, Leipzig The St. Thomas Church () is a Lutheran church in Leipzig, Germany, located at the western part of the inner city ring road in Leipzig's central district. Martin Luther preached in the church in 1539. It is associated with several well-known ...

, under the direction of Karl Straube. In addition to her activities as Cathedral Organist in Bremen over a period of 41 years, Käte van Tricht launched a highly successful international career as an organ recitalist in the 1950s and made numerous recordings, both on LP and CD, at Bremen Cathedral and other venues. Following her retirement as Cathedral Organist in 1974, van Tricht was appointed as lecturer of music at Bremen University. In 1996, Käte van Tricht was awarded the

Federal Cross of Merit 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 ...

, First class (Bundesverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse). In July that year, she died at age 86 in

. Among her former students is the German organist

Martin Welzel Martin Welzel (born November 11, 1972, in Vechta) is a German organist, musicologist, and pedagogue. Biography Martin Welzel received his first musical training in Bremen, where Käte van Tricht (a former student of Karl Straube) was one of h ...

Discography

* ''Das Orgelportrait: Das Silbermann-Positiv in der Krypta des Bremer Doms''. Works by Johann Pachelbel and Franz Xaver Murschhauser. 1 Single. Nienburg/Weser: Psallite, n.d. * ''Das Orgelportrait: Die Konrad-Euler-Orgel der Benediktinerinnenabtei Heilig Kreuz, Herstelle an der Weser''. Works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Vincent Lübeck and Georg Böhm. 1 LP. Nienburg/Weser: Psallite, 1967. * ''Das Orgelportrait: Die Sauer-Orgel des St. Petri Doms zu Bremen''. Works by Alexandre Guilmant and Louis Vierne. 1 LP. Nienburg/Weser: Psallite, 1968. * ''Das Orgelportrait. Die Breil-Orgel in der St. Urbanuskirche in Gelsenkirchen-Buer''. Works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Ludwig Krebs, Jenö Kapi-Kralik, Ludwig Lenel, Walter Piston and Leo Sowerby. 1 LP. Nienburg/Weser: Psallite, n.d. * ''Abendmusik in St. Severin zu Keitum/Sylt''. Organ works by Jean Baptiste Loeillet, Henry Purcell and Ernst Pepping. 1 LP. Buchholz: Musica Viva, 1979. * ''Music for Harpsichord and Organ''. Works by George Frideric Handel, Nicholas Carleton, Thomas Tomkins, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, François Couperin and Bernardo Pasquini. Performers: Käte van Tricht and Wolfgang Baumgratz. 1 LP. Köln: EMI-Electrola, 1980. * ''Käte van Tricht spielt an vier Orgeln im Bremer Dom''. Works by Johann Kaspar Kerll, Johann Pachelbel, Johann Sebastian Bach, Max Reger, Paul de Maleingreau, Louis J. A. Lefébure-Wély, Johann C. H. Rinck and Charles Ives. 2 LPs. Detmold: Musikproduktion Dabringhaus & Grimm, 1983. * ''Johann Sebastian Bach: Organ Works, played from the Karl Straube Edition'' (Sauer organ, Bremen Cathedral). 1 CD. Detmold : Musikproduktion Dabringhaus & Grimm, 1987. * ''Works by Franz Liszt and Max Reger'' (Sauer organ, Bremen Cathedral, Germany). 1 CD. Detmold: Musikproduktion Dabringhaus & Grimm, 1989. * ''Johann Sebastian Bach: Goldberg Variations BWV 988'' (Van Vulpen organ, Bremen Cathedral). 1 CD. Detmold: Musikproduktion Dabringhaus & Grimm, 1992. * ''Homage to Käte van Tricht'' (Organs at Bremen Cathedral, Germany). Works by Johann Pachelbel, Johann Kaspar Kerll, Johann Sebastian Bach, Max Reger, Paul de Maleingreau, Léon Boëllmann, Louis J. A. Lefébure-Wély, Johann C. H. Rinck, Charles Ives and Franz Liszt. 2 CDs. Detmold: Musikproduktion Dabringhaus & Grimm, 1999.

Bibliography

* Van Tricht, Käte. ''Ischa Freimaak. Bremer Foxtrott für den kommenden Winter''. Bremen, Germany: Aschoff, 1928. * Van Tricht, Käte. ''Ein Leben auf der Walze. Lebenserinnerungen'' (unpublished memoirs). Bremen, Germany, n.d. * Allers, Hans-Adolf. "Käte van Tricht", in: ''Lebensgeschichten: Schicksale Bremer Christen jüdischer Abstammung nach 1933'', edited by the Vereinigung für Bremische Kirchengeschichte. Hospitum Ecclesiae (Forschungen zur Bremischen Kirchengeschichte), Vol. 23, 2006. Second Edition, 2009. Bremen, Germany: Hauschild. * Winklhofer, Friedemann. "''Nur einmal richtig glücklich sein.'' Käte van Tricht (1909–1996): Erste deutsche Konzertorganistin und 40 Jahre Domorganistin in Bremen," in ''Organ: Journal für die Orgel'' no. 2 (1999): 22–28.

External links

Website dedicated to Käte van Tricht by her son, Dr. Wolf Siegert (Iris Media, Berlin, Germany)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tricht, Kate van 1909 births 1996 deaths German classical organists German women organists German cathedral organists Organ improvisers Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century German classical pianists 20th-century German women pianists 20th-century German musicians 20th-century German organists German women classical pianists 20th-century German women