Felix Woyrsch
Encyclopedia
Felix Woyrsch was a German composer and choir director.
Woyrsch lived in Dresden
and Hamburg
while young, studying in the latter under Ernst August Heinrich Chevallier. He held posts as a conductor and organist in several German cities in the 1890s and 1900s. In 1917 he was elected to the Prussian Academy of Arts
, and in 1936 he was given the Goethe Medal
. He retired in 1937. His main influences included his friend Brahms as well as Bach, Palestrina
, Lassus, and Heinrich Schütz
.
His compositions include seven symphonies, five further works for orchestra, three operas, 100 songs, and a violin concerto.
Woyrsch lived in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
and Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
while young, studying in the latter under Ernst August Heinrich Chevallier. He held posts as a conductor and organist in several German cities in the 1890s and 1900s. In 1917 he was elected to the Prussian Academy of Arts
Prussian Academy of Arts
The Prussian Academy of Arts was an art school set up in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and later king in Prussia. It had a decisive influence on art and its development in the German-speaking world throughout its...
, and in 1936 he was given the Goethe Medal
Goethe Medal
The Goethe Medal, also known as the Goethe-Medaille, is a yearly prize given by the Goethe Institute honoring non-Germans for meritorious contributions in the spirit of the Institute. It is an official decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany....
. He retired in 1937. His main influences included his friend Brahms as well as Bach, Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was an Italian Renaissance composer of sacred music and the best-known 16th-century representative of the Roman School of musical composition...
, Lassus, and Heinrich Schütz
Heinrich Schütz
Heinrich Schütz was a German composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and often considered to be one of the most important composers of the 17th century along with Claudio Monteverdi...
.
His compositions include seven symphonies, five further works for orchestra, three operas, 100 songs, and a violin concerto.
Operas
- Der Pfarrer von Meudon (The Priest of Meudon) 1886
- Wikingerfahrt (Journey of the Vikings) 1896