The composer Dietrich von Bausznern died on 20 January 1980 after a short, insidious illness, in the middle of an extraordinarily glowing, hard-working and successful life. He was at the zenith of his rich compositional output - full of plans and ideas - an endearing, important and highly respected personality.

Dietrich von Bausznern was born on 19 March 1928 in Rastenburg, East Prussia, the son of a priest.

His ancestors had held high state positions in Transylvania. Dietrich von Bausznern must have inherited his special talent as a composer from his grandfather Waldemar von Bausznern - the important composer (1866-1931) and university director.

In 1943/44, as a result of the war, he came close to his later second home for the first time: as a grammar school pupil at the Birklehofschule in Hinterzarten in the Black Forest. After graduating from high school in Potsdam, he began studying music in Weimar, where his grandfather (1910-1916) had been director of the conservatory. In 1949, he moved to Freiburg i. Br. Here he studied at the Hochschule für Musik until 1953. His composition teacher was Harald Genzmer, who later praised him as a "distinguished composer" and as a "person with clear ideas, a sense of responsibility and commitment". His versatile abilities were already apparent during his studies. As early as 1950, he became a permanent freelancer for Südwestfunk in the school radio department. A large number of programmes, which he supervised at the Freiburg studio until the end of this institution, bear his unmistakable musical stamp.

His successful activities as a lecturer in music at the University of Education in Freiburg, as a cantor, organist and orchestra conductor are also worthy of mention. In 1969, he was appointed composer at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich.

In 1973, he was appointed as a lecturer in music theory at the Hochschule für Musik in Frankfurt, where he was appointed professor in 1979. Kirchzarten remained his home until his death. It was here that he founded the "Kirchzarten Concerts" in 1971, which have since become a household name and whose quality and programme have been defined from the outset by Dietrich von Bausznern's artistic personality.

The versatility of his work is also reflected in the large number of honorary posts he held: he was section chairman of the Hesse/Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate sections of the German Composers' Association. He was a member of the e-committee of the DKV, deputy supervisory member of GEMA, member of the music committee of the Breisgauer Sängerbund, parish councillor of the Protestant parish of Kirchzarten and member of the district synod (Freiburg). In the sixties, he was a co-founder of the "Arbeitswoche Moderne Musik Wuppertal". His selfless commitment in various committees was always guided by the endeavour to initiate and influence meaningful developments and to help others, but also demanded many sacrifices of time and energy, which he was unable to devote to his creative work as a composer.

The 300 or so compositions in this catalogue cover almost all genres of music. From simple organ preludes to sophisticated oratorios, from music pieces for children to full-length ballets, D, v. B. realised his compositional ideas with one and the same commitment. His works have been widely performed not only in Germany and on German radio stations but also in Denmark, France, Holland, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA. A large number of works have been recorded on disc.

In 1966, D. v. B. was honoured with the Freiburg Reinhold Schneider Prize. In 1973 he received the Johann Wenzel Stamitz Prize (East German music prize) in Stuttgart.

The renewal of Protestant church music was a particular concern of his. In twelve demanding sacred concertos and oratorios, including such impressive cantatas as "Der Ackermann und der Tod" (1962) and "Die Herrlichkeit des Herrn" (1960), D. v. B. manifested the high level of his compositional ability.

His mastery enabled him to achieve a maximum of expression and urgency even with simple means, so that some of his works spontaneously found their way into church music practice, with which he was closely associated throughout his life.

His personal style was characterised by his immense compositional experience, his musical vitality and his openness to all convincing innovations,

Clear themes, colourful instrumentation, differentiated rhythms and a pronounced sense of form characterise all his works, which are characterised by an original confrontation between tradition and modernity.

We have to thank D. v. B. for his extensive life's work, for the standards he set as a person and artist. The friends who now have to live without him have to thank him for countless hours of cheerfulness and joie de vivre as well as for hours of serious discussion and reflection, for his reliable, amiable friendship based on genuine humanism. We do not want to and will not forget him.

Bertold Hummel (published in "Der Kirchenmusiker" 31st year, 3rd issue May/June 1980, Verlag Merseburger, Kassel)

Biography

Dietrich von Bausznern was born on 19 March 1928 in Rastenburg (East Prussia), grew up in Stolzenberg (Pomerania) and fled to Potsdam at the end of the war. Here he took music lessons with Hans Chemin-Petit and graduated from high school. He studied temporarily (1947 to 1949) with Ottmar Gerster at the University of Music in Weimar, before moving to Freiburg im Breisgau, where he studied with Harald Genzmer from 1949 to 1953. While still a student, he was hired as a permanent member of staff at the school radio department of Südwestfunk. His professional career then took him to positions as a lecturer at the University of Education in Freiburg (1962 to 1969), at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich (1969 to 1973) and, from 1973, as a major subject teacher for music theory and composition at the State University of Music in Frankfurt am Main. He was appointed professor there in 1979. From 1952, he also worked as a cantor and organist in Kirchzarten (in the Black Forest), where he lived and where he was director of the Youth Music Education Centre and, since 1971, of the "Kirchzarten Concerts". He also held leading positions at the "Arbeitswoche Moderne Musik Wuppertal", the German Composers' Association, GEMA, the Breisgauer Sängerbund and on various church committees. Among the honours he has received are the Reinhold Schneider Prize, the Johann Wenzel Stamitz Prize, the Golden Badge of Honour of the town of Kirchzarten and the Federal Cross of Merit.

One of his main concerns as a performer and composer was the preservation of the spiritual traditions in Protestant church music and the renewal of this music based on tradition. His diverse, restless and exhausting activities were cut short by his untimely death on 20 January 1980. His compositional output includes twelve sacred concertos and four cantatas for soloists, choir and orchestra (or organ), eleven motets, song and choral movements, organ music, orchestral works, concertante works for piano and orchestra, chamber music for melodic instruments with piano or organ and for other instrumentations, as well as a "youth opera", a "radio opera" and a singspiel for children.

Work analysis: Wind quintet

Dietrich von Bausznern composed his Wind Quintet in 1974.

In this four-part work, we experience the composer at the height of his creative powers, characterised by lively imagination and mature technical and instrumental mastery.

Bausznern knows how to bring his musical rhetoric - often developed from the smallest cells and sound gestures - to spontaneous effect. He is concerned with the comprehensibility of music.

In the first movement of the quintet, for example, baroque phrases and ornaments are used (very calmly) to organise form. The constant, appealing variation of musical ideas forms a mosaic-like whole.

The three-part 2nd movement (lively), which is strongly characterised by rhythmic impulses, takes up methods from the 1st movement - but combines them in completely new ways. Staccati and accents are predominant and determine the character of the movement.

Calm sound surfaces in the 3rd movement (calm, firm) provide space for soloistic melodic design sequences - again metamorphoses of baroque ornamentation in skilful playing.

The concluding 4th movement (very fast) appears as a kind of development of the entire work. It is given a special character by its compelling motoric structure (dotted rhythms, ostinato figures etc.) and unexpected, surprising pause insertions. Rhythmically accentuated structures predominate in this extremely effective finale.

The entire work breathes musical vitality and the spirit of the contemporary minstrel, whose baroque spirit gives rise to completely new possibilities and who, thanks to his talent, achieves a typical and unmistakable statement.

Bertold Hummel
18 March 1990

"in memoriam ..." for organ and percussion op. 74 (1980)
Dedicated to the memory of his friend Dietrich von Bausznern
 

Catalogue of works by Dietrich von Bausznern