Bertold Hummel as interpreter
- as Cellist -
Bertold Hummel studied cello with the Latvian cellist Atis Teichmanis at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg from 1947 to 1954. He was also influenced as a cellist by his chamber music lessons with Emil Seiler, who encouraged him to seek his true talent as a cellist in chamber music rather than as a virtuoso.
Bertold Hummel founded the Maas Trio with Emil Maas (violin) and the composer Friedrich Zehm (piano) and the Hummel Quartet with Peter Liehr, Inken Steffen and Edith Klein. In these formations and as a duo with pianist Helmuth Barth, he interpreted a large repertoire of all styles, mainly in the Baden-Württemberg region.
He gave concerts with the pioneers of historical performance practice Fritz Neumeyer, August Wenzinger, Gustav Scheck and Josef Ulsamer and performed many works of baroque music or documented them on radio and disc recordings.
Concert tours took him to Italy (1952/54) and the South African Union (1954/55) at an early stage. He played in the orchestras of the municipal theatres in Freiburg and Würzburg as well as in the small entertainment orchestra of the SWF under Willi Stech on a temporary basis. He was involved as a cellist in countless regionally significant oratorio performances under conductors such as Thomas Egel, Günther Jena, Heribert Breuer and Siegfried Koesler, whereby his basso continuo accompaniments of the evangelist parts in Bach's great oratorios are particularly noteworthy.
Recordings
Georg Friedrich Händel: Sonata in C minor for oboe and basso continuo - Horst Schneider, oboe / Bertold Hummel, violoncello / Hugo Ruf, harpsichord - Christophorus C 72118
Georg Philipp Telemann: Sonata in B flat major for alto recorder, concertante harpsichord and basso continuo - Valerie Noack, alto recorder / Anneliese Ehret, harpsichord / Bertold Hummel, violoncello / Hubert Ehret, spinet - Christophorus CV 72120
Jean Babtiste Loeillet: Sonata in G major for flute and basso continuo - Valerie Noack, flute / Bertold Hummel, violoncello / Anneliese Ehret, harpsichord - Christophorus CV 72123
Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Sonata in D major for concertante harpsichord, flute and violoncello - Anneliese Ehret, harpsichord / Valerie Noack, flute / Bertold Hummel, violoncello - Christophorus CV 72124
Antonio Lotti: Trio in A major for flute, oboe and basso continuo - Beatrice Ruf, flute / Lothar Koch, oboe / Bertold Hummel, violoncello / Hugo Ruf, harpsichord
Dance music of the high baroque with the Ulsamer-Collegium (Elza van der Ven, Konrad Ragossnig, Eduard Melkus, Bertold Hummel, Sebastian Keller, Dieter Kirsch, Laurenzius Strehl, Josef Ulsamer) Archiv Produktion 2533 172 [LP] 1974
Musikalisches Tafelkonfekt I with the Ulsamer-Collegium (Elza van der Ven, Vimala Fries, Irmgard Otto, Bertold Hummel, Sebastian Keller, Dieter Kirsch, Laurenzius Strehl, Josef Ulsamer) Calig 30 407 / 409 [LP]
's Schpiel vum Hailige Chind - An Alemannic nativity play with music by Bertold Hummel - Edith Klein, Bertold Hummel, Matthias Scholz, Anton Stingl, Günther Theis, Willi Willmann - Calig CAL 30502
Christmas Music of the Baroque I with Erika Rüggeberg, soprano / Johannes Hoefflin, tenor / Conrad von der Goltz and Gert Hoelscher, violin / Karl Bender, viola / Franz Faßbender, violoncello / Bertold Hummel, violoncello / Kurt Hausmann, oboe / Günter Jena, harpsichord - Calig CAL 30503
Christmas music of the Baroque II with Erika Rüggeberg, soprano / Johannes Hoefflin, tenor / Bertold Hummel, violoncello / Kurt Hausmann, oboe / Günter Jena, harpsichord - Calig CAL 30504
Palestrina-Kreis - Advent- und Weihnachtsmusik 1. Folge mit St. Gregor-Kantorei Düsseldorf, Viersener Kinderchor / Georg Mayer, Contrabass / Beate Ruf-Waibel, Flöte / Instrumentalkreis Der Kölner Musikhochschule, Leitung - Franz Clausing, Karl Kox, Karlheinrich Hodes / Paul Kurth, Oboe, English Horn / Max Kempf, Organ / Hans Tschumme, Inken Hummel, Violin / Walter Heck, Viola / Hugo Ruf, Harpsichord Christophorus - CLP 71575
Heribert Breuer: Hymnen an die Nacht for 9 instrumentalists, tape and choir with Siegfried Fink / Günther Kaunzinger / Gudrun Haag / Heribert Breuer / Bachchor St. Johannis - Live recording 1.12.1974 - Label: Deutsche Akademie Villa Massimo Rom - 30-452
Radio recordings:
Music recording for the programme: "Der junge Mozart auf Reisen" - Südwestfunk 6.3.1953 /broadcast VHF 20.3.1953, MW 27. and 28.3.1953
Julius Klaas: Romantic songs - Südwestfunk 2.4.1953 / broadcast MW 8.4.1953, 11.30 a.m.
Music recording for the programme "Die Mühle auf dem Meeresgrund" - Südwestfunk 8.5.1953 / Broadcast 11 and 12.8.1953
Dietrich von Bausznern: Sonata for violoncello and piano - Südwestfunk 19.5.1953 / Programme "Nachwuchs stellt sich vor" 28.5.1953. 3.15 pm
Paul Hindemith and Johannes Driessler: Violoncello Sonatas - Südwestfunk 28.7.1953 / Programme "Nachwuchs stellt sich vor" 30.7.1953, 1st programme 3.15 p.m.
Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber: Partita for 2 violas d'amore and continuo - Emil Seiler, Edith Klein, viola d'amore / Bertold Hummel, violoncello - Schweizerische Rundspruch-Gesellschaft, Studio Basel 28 May 1954
Josef Haydn: Divertimento in B flat major - Hans-Georg Renner, oboe / Wolfgang Hock, violin / Emil Seiler, viola / Bertold Hummel, violoncello - SWF Freiburg
Attilio Ariosti: Sonata in F sharp minor for viola d'amore and continuo - Emil Seiler, viola d'amore / Bertold Hummel, violoncello - Schweizerische Rundspruch-Gesellschaft, Studio Basel 28 May 1954
- Südwestfunk 30 September 1955 Recording of an orchestral piece with 2 violoncellos with the Kleine Unterhaltungsorchester
- Südwestfunk 1st, 3rd-4th, 6th-8th, 10th-13th, 18th-22nd, 26th-29th October 1955 and 2nd-5th November 1955 Rehearsals and recordings with the Kleines Unterhaltungsorchester
Bernhard Köhler: Compositions - Südwestfunk 24 October 1955 Recordings with the Small Entertainment Orchestra
Armin Knab: Das Lebenslicht (fairy tale opera) - Südwestfunk 10-14 December 1955
Etienne-Nicolas Mehul: Joseph in Egypt (opera) - Südwestfunk 3-8 February 1956
Bertold Hummel: Sonata for violoncello and piano - Südwestfunk 27.3.1956 / broadcast 4.4.1956
- Südwestfunk 19-21 July 1956 Rehearsals and recordings with the Kleines Unterhaltungsorchester
- Südwestfunk 24-29 September 1956 Rehearsals and recordings with the Small Entertainment Orchestra
- Südwestfunk 1st-5th, 9th-11th October 1956 Rehearsals and recordings with the Kleine Unterhaltungsorchester
Johann Christian Fischer: Sonata in D minor - Südwestfunk 17 December 1956 / broadcast 2 January 1957
Johann Ernst Galliard: Sonata in C major - Südwestfunk 17 December 1956 / broadcast 2 January 1957
Johann Christian Fischer: Sonata for oboe, harpsichord and violoncello - Südwestfunk 18 June 1957 / broadcast 6 August 1957
Paul Adam: Trio for clarinet, viola and violoncello - ? / Emil Seiler, viola / Bertold Hummel, violoncello - Südwestfunk 19.9.1957 / broadcast 21.11.1957
Friedrich Zehm: Trio for violin, violoncello and harpsichord - ? / Bertold Hummel, violoncello / Jürgen Klodt, harpsichord - Südwestfunk 10.10.1957 / broadcast 17.10.1957
- Südwestfunk 20-25 January 1958 Rehearsals and recordings with the Kleines Unterhaltungsorchester
Georgi Konstantinoff: From my homeland - Südwestfunk 30 January 1958 Rehearsals and recordings with the Kleine Unterhaltungsorchester
Friedrich Zehm: Trio for violin, violoncello and piano - Südwestfunk 30.5.1958 / broadcast 19.6.1958
Johann Baptist Schenk: The village barber (opera) - Südwestfunk 11-14 June 1958
Music recording for the programme "Von der Heiligen Elisabeth" - Südwestfunk 4.6.1958 / Broadcast 18.6.1958
Music recording for the programme "Vom Berggeist Rübezahl" - Südwestfunk 11.6.1958 / Broadcast 1. and 2.7.1958
Bertold H ummel: Kleine Suite für Violoncello - Bertold Hummel, violoncello / Jürgen Klodt, piano - Südwestfunk 16.10.1958 / broadcast 23.10.1958 UKW II, 19.00 h
Bertold Hummel: String trio in E for violin, viola and violoncello - Inken Hummel, violin / Edith Klein, viola / Bertold Hummel, violoncello - Südwestfunk 16.10.1958 / broadcast 23.10.1958 UKW II, 19.00 h
Music recording for the programme "Die Geschichte ohne gleichen" - Südwestfunk 12.12.1958 / Broadcast 3 and 4.3.1959
Music recording for the programme "Geistliche Musik am Ostersonntag" - Südwestfunk 19.3.1959 / Broadcast 29.3.1959, 9.00 a.m.
Marin Marais: Suite for two violas and basso continuo - Südwestfunk 18.9.1950 / broadcast 19.11.1959, 7.00 pm
Francois Couperin: Lecons de Tenèbres" parts 3 and 4 - Johannes Hoefflin, tenor / Bertold Hummel, violoncello / ? - Südwestfunk 27 October 1959 / Broadcast Holy Week 1960
- Südwestfunk 29-20 October 1959 Rehearsals and recordings with the Kleines Unterhaltungsorchester
Georg Philipp Telemann: Ihr Völker hört (Cantata) - Südwestfunk 4.1.1960 / Broadcast 6.1.1960
Music recording for the programme "Sorge und Leid" - Südwestfunk 13.7.1960 / Broadcast 6 and 7.9.1960
- Südwestfunk 18-20 August 1960 Rehearsals and recordings with the Kleine Unterhaltungsorchester for the programme "Im heiteren Trab" on 3.9.1960, 8.30 p.m.
Karl Amadeus Hartmann: Phantasy for orchestra - Südwestfunk 8 October 1960 with the Small Entertainment Orchestra
Music recording for the programme "Die Argonauten I-III" - Südwestfunk 31/10/1960
Friedrich Zehm: La Belle Cordière - Six sonnets (1555) by Louise Labé for soprano, clarinet, guitar, string trio and double bass - Ursula Buckel, soprano / Anton Stingl, guitar / Philipp Rauck, clarinet / Peter Dohms, violin / Edith Klein, viola / Bertold Hummel, violoncello - Südwestfunk 13 April 1961 / broadcast 13 July 1961, 7 p.m.
Bertold Hummel: Improvisation and Toccata for piano trio - Südwestfunk 7.6.1961 / broadcast 13.6.1961, 7.15 pm
Kurt Bossler: Trio for 2 violins and cello - Dohms, ?, violins / / Bertold Hummel, cello - Südwestfunk 4.7.1961 / Broadcast on the occasion of Kurt Bossler's 50th birthday 11.7.1961
- Südwestfunk 7, 30 and 31 October 1961 Rehearsals and recordings with the Kleine Unterhaltungsorchester
Music recording for the programme "Bänkelsängers Bildzeitung" - Bertold Hummel, Electronium-Cembalet - Südwestfunk 16.1.1962 / broadcast 23. and 24.1.1962
Music recording for the programme "Schattenspiele und Kasperlkomödien" - Bertold Hummel, Electronium-Cembalet - Südwestfunk 27.2.1962 / Broadcast 6 and 7.3.1962
Music recording for the programme "Die Provence" - Bertold Hummel, Electronium-Cembalet - Südwestfunk 27.2.1962 / Broadcast 21. and 22.3.1962
Music recording for the programme "Namen von Straßen und Plätzen" - Bertold Hummel, Electronium-Cembalet - Südwestfunk 4.10.1962 / Broadcast 18. and 19.10.1962
Friedrich Zehm: Trio for violin, violoncello and piano - Peter Dohms, violin / Bertold Hummel, violoncello / Friedrich Zehm, piano - Südwestfunk Freiburg 1962
Bertold Hummel: Trio violin, violoncello and piano - Bayerischer Rundfunk, Studio Nürnberg 4.12.1964
G.B. Riccio: Jubilent Omnes, Philipp Friedrich Böddecker: Natus est Jesus, G.F. Händel: Trio Sonata - Südwestfunk 14 December / Broadcast "Laudate Dominum" 25 and 27 December 1964
G. Ph. Telemann, J.G.Jannitsch, J.Chr. Bach - Bayerischer Rundfunk, Studio Nürnberg 21.12.1964
- Bayerischer Rundfunk, Studio Nürnberg - 29.5.1965 Production recording and concert recording: Bayerischer Heimattag Aschaffenburg, Part 1: Chamber music
Bertold Hummel: Divertimento for violoncello and bassoon - Bertold Hummel, violoncello / Eberhard Buschmann, bassoon - Bayerischer Rundfunk 2 June 1979
- as conductor -
Bertold Hummel studied composition and violoncello at the University of Music in Freiburg from 1947 to 1954. He learnt the basics of conducting from Konrad Lechner, which he was able to develop further during his time as cantor (1956-1963) at St. Konrad Church in Freiburg. Here he conducted baroque music as well as classical orchestral masses, in which his student friend Fritz Wunderlich also took part. J. Haydn's Stabat mater was performed in an oratorio concert in 1962. He also occasionally premièred his own orchestral works: his 1st Symphony op. 20 in Wuppertal in 1959, the Fantasia gregoriana op. 65 in Giessen in 1978 and the Musica urbana op. 81c in his native town of Hüfingen in 1984. Every summer between 1961 and 1983 (except 1968) he conducted an orchestra week with amateur musicians and music students at the Landvolkshochschule Wies/Steingaden. In June 1981, he took over a symphony concert at the Würzburg Mozart Festival in the Kaisersaal of the Residenz for Hanns Reinartz, who was ill, and performed the Brandenburg Concertos No. 2 and No. 5 with the chamber orchestra of the Musikhochschule at the Würzburg Bach Festival in the same year. During this time, he founded the Würzburg Soloists' Ensemble with students of the Hochschule, with which he undertook various concerts and - on behalf of the Greek-German Initiative e.V. - concert tours to Greece in 1980 and 1981. In 1982, Bertold Hummel concluded his conducting career with the recording of Haydn's work The Seven Last Words of Our Saviour on the Cross, which he arranged for string orchestra.
Radio and disc recordings
Wilhelm Weiß: Freiburg-Lied - Kirchenchor St. Konrad Freiburg - Südwestfunk 8/11/1957 / Broadcast 10/12/1957
Joseph Haydn: Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuz (with meditations by Luise Rinser) - Luise Rinser / Solistenensemble Würzburg / Bertold Hummel - Calig 30 210/11 [LP] 1982