In the long period of his pedagogical work, he never presumptuously elevated himself above other people, despite his pronounced self-confidence. On the other hand, his personal attitude could sometimes be criticised as obstinate, even one-sided: it never happened in class that a contemporary was treated disparagingly, but certain trends, such as the American avant-garde, were not even discussed, so that the master's opinion was expressed indirectly, as it were. It must be added here, however, that Bertold Hummel never closed his mind as a teacher; if a student wanted to discuss a particular question with him and brought along the relevant scores or texts, he was sure to find a sympathetic ear. There were no analyses in the strict sense in the composition lesson. (Seminars with other professors were available for this.) They talked about the works, listened to them, discussed them and tried to fathom the connections between form and content. The students' own works took priority in the discussions. Hummel's most valuable advice had to do with instrumentation, in which he is a great master. But he did not leave it at theoretical discussions: he organised performance opportunities early on and was always there to help with rehearsals, so that a young composer grew into the profession as if by magic.

Claus Kühnl 1990

Hummel's humorous manner accompanied the time he generously took for each of his pupils. Despite his many artistic and administrative tasks, he guided his students idealistically and individually, each on their own path. The calmness with which he approached each musical direction with stylistic confidence was always very impressive.

Ernst Ueckermann 2002

The composition evenings always reflected the tolerant pluralism of the composition teacher Bertold Hummel. He always tried to anticipate the path of each individual pupil and then offer them his support. They rubbed up against each other on many points, but never purely as an end in itself to demonstrate aesthetic dogmas. His supportive and stimulating acceptance was often forthcoming; truly enthusiastic praise, on the other hand, was hard to come by and therefore all the more longed for. But when it did come, it was expressed with complete honesty and conviction.

Rolf Rudin 1995

Bertold Hummel was a teacher who was open-minded and curious about new developments. Back in the 1960s, shortly after his appointment to the Würzburg Conservatory, he invited Karlheinz Stockhausen to give a concert in the (darkened) Great Hall - a shocking event according to ear and eyewitness reports. Alois Haba, the Czech pioneer of microtonal music, also performed at the HfM. In the first semester of my composition studies, Hummel arranged for me to buy an analogue synthesizer (EMS - Synthi A) with three tone oscillators, a noise oscillator, several filters, a reverb spiral (!), an envelope generator and a ring modulator. This ring modulator, which modulated live recorded instrumental or vocal sound frequencies with an (inaudible) electrical sine tone frequency in such a way that you could hear sum and difference frequencies at the same time as the live sound, awakened my desire to experiment. During a performance of my choral work "Kyrie", Bertold Hummel himself sat on stage and controlled the sine tone generator, which ring-modulated the live choral sound.

Hermann Beyer 2003

To this day, no rehearsal phase, no performance in concert or opera has gone by without the suggestions of our teacher Bertold Hummel coming to mind when it comes to decisive questions of interpretation, their compositional justification and musical realisation.

Christian Fröhlich 2002

For me, a fourteen-year-old at the time, Bertold Hummel was the first composer I could "touch and feel" from the far reaches of the province of Würzburg. And that's what he remained to me: a friend who listened and to whom I wanted to listen.

Claus Kühnl 2002

B. Hummel was unique as a teacher because he was more than that. His living space was not the musical masterclass as a talent factory, but the person and the knowledge he imparted took centre stage. He fascinated generations of students with his richly colourful "Baden" imagery, his unforgettable kindness and linguistic articulation. He fascinated because for him, music was always more than just the sound; an irreplaceable mirror of life and thought, of faith, trust and failure.

Norbert Düchtel 2002