In 1929, his successor, Wilhelm Furtwängler, conducted the Orchestral Variations on Vetter Michel which were an enormous success. The Philharmoniker's chief conductors also started to programme Schumann’s own compositions at an early stage: in 1906, Arthur Nikisch conducted the Ouvertüre zu einem Drama, in 1911 the Celebration Overture and in 1918, the Variations on a Theme by Bach. This was followed by works by other composers ranging from Edward Elgar to Franz Schmidt. He performed César Franck’s Les Beatitudes as early as 1901, and the Verdi Requiem with his own Totenklage in 1903. With the Philharmoniker, Schumann was able to start to update the repertoire of the Sing-Akademie, which had barely extended to include Brahms. None other than the great violinist and founder of the Berlin Musikhochschule Joseph Joachim gave his support. In 1901, they took part together in the first German Bach Festival in Berlin In 1906, Schumann and the orchestra gave benefit concerts for the acquisition of the Bach house in Eisenach which was transformed into a Bach Museum. In doing so, he upheld and, together with the Philharmoniker, considerably built on the Sing-Akademie's long Bach tradition. When Schumann took over the directorship of the venerable Sing-Akademie zu Berlin at the turn of the century, there had already been a long-standing association with the Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester, in particular under Schumann's predecessor, Martin Blumner, who had engaged the orchestra for performances since it was founded in 1882, thus giving the orchestra a welcome help from the time of its formation.įor his first concert with the Sing-Akademie, Schumann immediately called on the Philharmoniker for a performance of Mozart’s Requiem, plus a Bach cantata. (Photo: Georg Schumann Gesellschaft ) A successful partnership A distinguished pianist, he appeared throughout Europe both as a soloist and together with his trio partners Carl Halir and Hugo Dechert. In 1907, he became a member of the Königliche Akademie der Künste zu Berlin and later took over the composition class from Max Bruch plus the direction of the music division, for whose concerts he regularly engaged the Philharmoniker. Following positions as a conductor in Gdansk, and in Bremen under Felix Weingartner, he took up the post of director of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin in 1900. He received his training from his father in his home town’s wind band and at the conservatory in Leipzig where he graduated in 1887. Georg Schumann, born in Königstein in Saxony on 25 October 1866, came from a highly musical family. The Philharmoniker were a regular partner of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin whose director Schumann was from 1900 to 1952, and together, they gave up to a dozen concerts a year. From 1900, the Philharmoniker were Schumann’s preferred orchestra for world and German premieres of his works. In 1887, just five years after the Philharmoniker were founded, Schumann appeared in a concert with the orchestra as the soloist in the piano concerto of his namesake, Robert Schumann. The conductor, pianist and composer Georg Schumann (1866-1952) is one of the artists whose collaboration with the Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester was amongst the longest and most regular. Home About us Berliner Philharmoniker Orchestra History The era of Arthur Nikish Georg Schumann Georg Schumann and the Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester By Gottfried Eberle Georg Schumann
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