After taking up his post as a composition teacher at the Bavarian State Conservatoire of Music in Würzburg, Bertold Hummel met his new colleague, the clarinettist Ernst Flackus, in 1963. The composer was immediately won over by Flackus’s humorous and philosophical outlook on life, and over the years a warm friendship developed between them. Flackus inspired him to compose the following works:

• Suite for Clarinet in B flat solo, Op. 26a (1963)
• Concertino for basset horn and string orchestra, Op. 27a (1964)
• 5 Miniatures for Clarinet in B flat and Piano, Op. 34 (1971)

Obituary for Ernst Flackus
Ernst Flackus, a clarinettist born in Darmstadt in 1915 and former professor at the Würzburg University of Music, passed away on 10 April 2002 at the age of 86. He trained as an orchestral musician at the Academy of Music in Darmstadt and at the University of Music in Frankfurt. He held positions as principal clarinettist in leading German radio and theatre orchestras, including those in Kaiserslautern, Heidelberg, Stuttgart and Frankfurt. From 1953 until his retirement in 1978, he was head of the clarinet training class at the former Bavarian State Conservatoire. Following its reorganisation into the present-day University of Music, he was awarded an honorary professorship in 1974.

He played a significant part in establishing the Würzburg University of Music’s reputation as a centre of excellence for wind instrument training. A whole generation of clarinettists passed through his tutelage, and he was able to place them in renowned German and international orchestras. He guided his students’ training with great psychological sensitivity. Many of them remained close friends with him even after completing their studies and visited him at his retirement home in Uettingen near Würzburg.

He used his retirement to further develop his work in music therapy. He led music meditations in churches in Würzburg and ran self-awareness groups at Schwanfeld Castle. He channelled his educational commitment into courses on ‘autogenic training’, which he ran at the Rudolf-Alexander-Schröder-Haus and for the ‘Frankenforum’. As a board member of “Jugendhilfe”, he worked with young offenders, and as a member of the “German Society for Music Therapy”, he assisted with hearing assessments at the Bethel Centre for People with Disabilities. On several occasions, he led therapeutic sessions at the Psychotherapy Weeks in Lindau and at events organised by the “International Society for Depth Psychology”. The source of his spiritual work was Buddhism, to which he converted. He had the privilege of meeting the Dalai Lama in person when the latter visited Germany. (University News 2001–2002, Würzburg University of Music)

Biography
Ernst Flackus Born in Darmstadt, he entered the local academy at the age of 8, where he began studying the clarinet under Fritz Heynek. He made his public debut on the instrument at the age of twelve. In 1931, he went to the Frankfurt University of Music, where he completed his studies with Eduard Liebhold in 1936. From 1938 to 1952, he played as principal clarinettist in the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. Since 1952, he has been teaching at the Bavarian State Conservatoire of Music in Würzburg. Ernst Flackus performs for all German radio broadcasters and is also well known for his extensive concert activities in Germany, as well as in Switzerland and France.
(from a concert programme)