Werner Gößling
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Werner Gustav Rudolf Gößling (17 January 1898 – 8 September 1992) was a German conductor, Choir director, composer and university lecturer. He was chief conductor of the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Halle and the Robert Franz Singakademie in Halle. In 1951, he was appointed General Music Director. From 1956 to 1958, he built up the first Chinese symphony orchestra in the European style.


Life

Gößling was as the son of Eduard Gößling and his wife Elisabeth Schrader in
Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...
. In Bielefeld, he attended the humanistic grammar school. During the First World War, he served as a
naval cadet Officer cadet is a rank held by military personnel during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by personnel of University Service Units such as the University Officers' Training Corps. Th ...
in the Imperial Navy.Heinz Freiberger: ''Werner Gößling-Bielefeld''. In ''The Music'' 28 (1936) 2, pp. 904f. Gößling enrolled at the
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...
to study philosophy in 1919. Later, he probably studied art history, philosophy and German literature in Heidelberg. In 1920, he went to Berlin, where he started to study music. At the
Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...
, he attended lectures by the musicologists Johannes Wolf and Max Friedlaender. At the same time, he studied at the Stern Conservatory, where he was trained 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 ...
by Karl Schröder II, James Kwast and Wilhelm Klatte. Klatte introduced him to 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 ...
. Furthermore, Alexander von Fielitz, Friedrich Koch and Nikolaus Rothmühl were among his teachers.Erich H. Müller (ed.): ''Deutsches Musiker-Lexikon''. W. Limpert-Verlag, Dresden 1929. In addition, Siegfried Ochs trained him as a choir director. In 1922/23, Gößling became a solo répétiteur at the Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin. From 1923 to 1925, 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 ...
and choral conductor at the in the
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. In 1926, he moved to the Nationaltheater Mannheim, where he worked mainly as a choir conductorHerbert Meyer: ''The Nationaltheater Mannheim (1929-1979)'' (''Forschungen zur Geschichte Mannheims und der Pfalz''. Vol. 7), Bibliographisches Inst Mannheim among others. 1979, , . among others the ''Lehrergesangsverein Mannheim-Ludwigshafen'' was active. In Mannheim, he learned a lot from the guest conductors
Wilhelm Furtwängler Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler ( , ; ; 25 January 188630 November 1954) was a German conductor and composer. He is regarded as one of the greatest Symphony, symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a majo ...
,
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 ...
and
Hans Pfitzner Hans Erich Pfitzner (5 May 1869 – 22 May 1949) was a German composer, conductor and polemicist who was a self-described anti-modernist. His best known work is the post-Romantic opera ''Palestrina'' (1917), loosely based on the life of the ...
. In 1929, Hermann Abendroth brought him to Cologne. He was repertoire bandmaster and 1st choir director at the
Opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
there. At the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, he appeared in the seasons 1929/30 and 1930/31 under general music director Eugen Szenkar as theatre bandmaster. In addition, he became director of the opera school at the
Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln The Cologne University of Music () is a public university of music and dance located in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Established in 1850 as the Conservatorium der Musik in Coeln, it is one of the largest music academies in Europe, w ...
, which he was instrumental in designing. Already on 1 February 1932 and thus before the seizure of power in 1933, Gößling joined the
NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...
(membership number 894.495).Fred K. Prieberg: ''Handbuch Deutsche Musiker 1933-1945''. 2. ed, Kopf, Kiel 2009, , . At the instigation of the partyAndreas Bootz: ''Kultur in Bielefeld 1945-1960. [This book is published as an accompanying volume to the exhibition "Kultur in Bielefeld 1945-1960, War Da Was? ", an exhibition of the Faculty of History and Philosophy at Bielefeld University in cooperation with the Historisches Museum der Stadt Bielefeld]'' (''Bielefelder Beiträge zur Stadt- und Regionalgeschichte''. Vol. 12). AJZ-Verlag, Bielefeld 1993, , . he was appointed Music Director of the City of Bielefeld on 1 July 1933.Reinhard Vogelsang: ''Im Zeichen des Hakenkreuzes. Bielefeld 1933–1945. Eine Ausstellung des Stadtarchivs in der Studiengalerie der Kunsthalle, 28. Januar – 20. März 1983. Katalog'' (''Bielefelder Beiträge zur Stadt- und Regionalgeschichte''. Vol. 5) 3rd edition, Stadtarchiv und Landesgeschichtliche Bibliothek, Bielefeld 1986, . So after Gößling had taken up the position of the terminated Max Cahnbley, Heinrich Kaminski took up his position in September 1933 as a result of a dispute with Gößling as director of the symphony concerts and resigned in June 1934 as director of the Musikverein. Plays by Jewish and socialist artists were banned from the repertoire. Instead, the Theater Bielefeld now favoured works by
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
. In Detmold, he conducted the orchestra at the ''Richard-Wagner-Festwochen'', where partly Heinz Tietjen took over the direction. Besides Wagner, he conducted Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Bruckner in those years. In addition, he was active as a conductor for the
Deutschlandsender Deutschlandsender (, ''Radio Germany''), abbreviated DLS or DS, was one of the longest-established radio broadcasting stations in Germany. The name was used between 1926 and 1993 to denote a number of powerful stations designed to achieve a nat ...
and the Hamburg radio station. In the 1930s, Gößling competed in Bielefeld with Hans Hoffmann, who, as choirmaster of the "Bielefelder Musikverein", conducted half of the symphony concerts of the . Disputes about official authority and orchestra rehearsals are documented from 1938. On 3 June 1940, Gößling joined the
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
(
Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...
), whereupon Hoffmann took over his office, at first provisionally and from April 1943 completely. After his captivity as a prisoner of war, from 1945 to 1948 he was musical director at the . In the course of a rehearsal conducting, he was appointed in 1950 as successor to Walter Schartner Chief conductor of the Landes-Volksorchester Sachsen-Anhalt, which he led until 1956 as ''Landes-Sinfonieorchester'' (1952) and Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Halle (1954).Gisela Heine: ''Tradition und Moderne. 50 Jahre Staatsorchester Halle''. In '' das Orchester'' 1/1997, . At the end of 1953, the "Robert-Franz-Singakademie" was incorporated. Accordingly, Gößling also appeared with
oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...
performances, so he conducted the final concert of the Handel Festival, Halle in 1952. The interpretations of the Handel oratorios ''
Samson SAMSON (Software for Adaptive Modeling and Simulation Of Nanosystems) is a computer software platform for molecular design being developed bOneAngstromand previously by the NANO-D group at the French Institute for Research in Computer Science an ...
'' (1953) and ''
Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...
'' (1954), however, lagged behind the opera performances of Horst-Tanu Margraf despite a solid cast. In 1953/54, Gößling performed Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. Because of his achievements, he was appointed General Music Director by the State Commission for Art Affairs in 1951. He also became head of the Kapellmeister training at the , where he was appointed professor in 1952. Among the graduates of his conducting class were Johannes Schröder, Günther Lossau and Joachim Widlak. Relatively early, Gößling was active in the Halle-Magdeburg district association of the . However, only a few contemporary works by GDR composers were included in the critically reviewed programme planning of his orchestra.. In 1956, Gößling received an invitation to Beijing, where he was to build up a first Chinese Symphony orchestra based on the European model, the present China National Symphony Orchestra. For this purpose, he trained several Chinese conductors. On the one hand, his "fatherly friend" Abendroth had arranged for him to go to China, but on the other hand, he was probably simply being praised by the city council.Susanne Baselt: Chronik des Philharmonischen Staatsorchesters Halle''. Part I: ''1946 bis 1964''. Edited by the management of the Philharmonic State Orchestra Halle. (Saale) 1999, pp. 80f. Since Abendroth died in 1956, an originally intended call to Weimar was not possible. Instead, Gößling went to the Federal Republic of Germany, where he was principal conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra Northwest in Wilhelmshaven from 1958 until his retirement in 1962. From 1958 to 1969, he was also conductor of the "Orchester der Musikfreunde Bremen". With this amateur orchestra, he
premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...
d various works by Bremen composers. From 1970 to 1973, he was 1st chairman of the Bremen regional association of the Deutscher Tonkünstlerverband as successor to Gerd Reinfeldt. He also directed the state competition of the Jugend musiziert in Bremen until 1974. Gößling died in Bremen at the age of 94.


Family and estate

Gößling was married to Eva von Carlowitz in his first marriage. After her death in 1925, he married Thekla Hoffmann, ''née'' Wille. He was a cousin of the violinist Georg Kulenkampff.Susanne Baselt: ''Chronik des Philharmonischen Staatsorchesters Halle''. Part I: ''1946 bis 1964''. Edited by the management of the Philharmonic State Orchestra Halle, Halle (Saale) 1999, pp. 46f. His estate is located in the .Verzeichnis der Nachlässe und Autographen
(as of 1 August 2013), ub.uni-muenchen.de, retrieved on 18 September 2020.
Further correspondence has been preserved, among others in the
Saxon State and University Library Dresden The Saxon State and University Library Dresden (full name in ), abbreviated SLUB Dresden, is located in Dresden, Germany. It is both the regional library () for the Federal Republic of Germany, German State of Saxony as well as the academic libr ...
, the Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig and the .


Compositions

* Schauspielmusik für kleines Orchester zur Komödie ''
Volpone ''Volpone'' (, Italian for "sly fox") is a comedy play by English playwright Ben Jonson first produced in 1605–1606, drawing on elements of city comedy and beast fable. A merciless satire of greed and lust, it remains Jonson's most-perfo ...
'' by
Ben Jonson Benjamin Jonson ( 11 June 1572 – ) was an English playwright, poet and actor. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satire, satirical ...
(
premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...
Mannheim 1927) * Musik für mittleres Orchester zur Komödie ''
Love's Labour's Lost ''Love's Labour's Lost'' is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s for a performance at the Inns of Court before Queen Elizabeth I. It follows the King of Navarre and his three companions as ...
'' by Shakespeare, (premiere Mannheim 1927) * Musik für mittleres Orchester zum Ideendrama '' Don Juan und Faust'' by Christian Dietrich Grabbe (premiere Mannheim 1928) * Operette ''Die Ministerin'' with a libretto by Otto Rudolf Frank (premiere Mannheim 1928)


Further reading

* Susanne Baselt: ''Chronik des Philharmonischen Staatsorchesters Halle''. Part I: ''1946 bis 1964''. Edited by the management of the Philharmonic State Orchestra Halle, 1999, pp. 46ff. * Erich H. Müller (ed.): ''Deutsches Musiker-Lexikon''. W. Limpert-Verlag, Dresden 1929.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gossling, Werner German conductors (music) German choral conductors Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln 20th-century German classical composers German operetta composers Nazi Party members 1898 births 1992 deaths Musicians from Bielefeld