Bertold Hummel studied the cello with Atis Teichmanis at the Freiburg University of Music from the winter term of 1947/48 up to and including the summer term of 1955. The renowned Latvian cellist also encouraged Hummel in his work as a composer. He performed the world premiere of his Sonata in F for cello and piano, Op. 2, in London. To mark his teacher’s birthday in 1951, Hummel composed two paraphrases on Latvian folk songs for five cellos, Op. 59e, for his esteemed teacher. In 1955, Hummel was on a concert tour of South Africa and wrote to Teichmanis asking for advice on his future. Teichmanis replied:

Biography
Atis Teichmanis was the son of a carpenter. From 1920, he studied at Gabriel Vīker’s music school in Liepāja and played at the Brenner Café and in Liepāja’s cinemas to earn money. Between 1925 and 1930, he was a student at the Latvian Conservatoire in Rīga (in Alfred Ozoliņš’s cello class). He later honed his skills in Paris with Gérard Hekking and Maurice Eisenberg, and in Salzburg with Ludwig Hölscher.

From 1927 to 1928, he was principal cellist with the Liepāja Philharmonic Orchestra, which was then conducted by T. Reiter. From 1928, Teichmanis performed in concerts for Latvian Radio and, from 1932 to 1944, served as principal cellist in the Latvian Radio Orchestra. At the same time, from 1933 onwards, he performed as a member of the so-called Professor Vītols Trio, alongside the pianist Jānis Kepītis and the violinist Voldemārs Rušēvics. The three musicians were graduates of the Conservatoire and were mentored by its director, Jāzep Vītols. From 1940, he was an associate professor at the Latvian Conservatoire and played in the Latvian String Quartet.

At the end of 1944, before the Soviet offensive, he fled to Germany. In 1945, together with other refugee musicians – Arvids Noritis, V. Ruševics and Eduards Vīnerts – he re-formed the Latvian String Quartet, with which he performed in various European countries until 1947. He subsequently lived and worked in Freiburg, where he was professor of cello at the Freiburg University of Music. His pupils included Bertold Hummel. As a member of Carl Seemann’s piano trio, he undertook tours of Italy, Greece, Turkey and India in the early 1940s and 1950s. Two portraits of Teichmanis were painted by Arnolds Mazitis.

His wife, Edīte Teichmane (née Vīdzirkste; 21 May 1926, Daugavpils – 8 June 2016, Freiburg), was the sister of the painter Sigurd Vīdzirkste; she modelled for the paintings “Edīte” (1947) and “Kurzemes Meitene” by Valdemāras Tones. She had five children with Atis Teichmanis: Atis Sigurds (1950–2016), Gunna, Anda, Maruta (born 1963) and Juris (born 1966), who also became a cellist.

Source: the Russian Wikipedia page and www.lmic.lv/lv/muziki/atis-teihmanis-1694; accessed: 11 September 2023

Recommended reading : Maruta Lietiņa: Visiting the Teichmanns