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Eugen Jochum (1961)
Eugen Jochum (1961)

Eugen Jochum (born November 1, 1902 – died March 26, 1987) was a famous German conductor. He was especially known for leading music by composers like Anton Bruckner, Carl Orff, and Johannes Brahms.

Early Life and Musical Start

Eugen Jochum was born into a Catholic family in Babenhausen, Germany. His father was an organ player and conductor, which meant music was a big part of Eugen's early life.

He started learning the piano and organ in Augsburg. From 1914 to 1922, he studied at the Academy of Music there. Later, he went to the Munich Conservatory. At first, he studied composition, but then he decided to focus on conducting. His teacher was Siegmund von Hausegger, who was famous for conducting Anton Bruckner's Ninth Symphony.

Becoming a Conductor

Jochum's first jobs were as a rehearsal pianist in Mönchen-Gladbach and Kiel. He made his official conducting debut in 1926 with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. In that concert, he conducted Bruckner's Seventh Symphony.

That same year, he became a conductor at the Kiel Opera House. In his first season, he conducted many operas, including Der fliegende Holländer and Turandot.

After Kiel, he moved to Mannheim. Even the famous conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler praised his work there. Jochum was offered a chance to conduct with the New York Philharmonic, but he turned it down. He felt he wasn't ready yet. He didn't perform in America until 1958.

From 1930 to 1932, he was the music director in Duisburg. In 1932, he became the head of the Berlin Radio Orchestra. He also conducted many concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic and at the Deutsche Oper.

Leading Orchestras in Difficult Times

In 1934, Jochum took over from Karl Böhm as the music director of the Hamburg State Opera and the Hamburg Philharmonic. During the time of the Nazis, Hamburg was considered "reasonably liberal." Jochum was able to keep his job even though he didn't join the Nazi party. He even performed music by composers like Paul Hindemith and Béla Bartók, whose music was banned by the Nazis in other places.

After World War II, authorities looked into everyone who had worked during the Nazi era. Some American officials were concerned about Jochum because he had done well during the war. However, British officials found no fault with him. They noted he was never a Nazi party member and remained a strong Catholic. By 1948, American authorities also found no evidence that he had joined any Nazi groups.

Post-War Career and Famous Works

Jochum stayed in Hamburg until 1949. Then, he became the first music director of the new Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He worked hard to build this orchestra, bringing in many talented musicians. He led this orchestra until 1961 and made many recordings with them.

He was also a frequent guest conductor for the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. He even shared the chief conductor role there from 1961 to 1963 with Bernard Haitink. Jochum often conducted in London with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. In 1975, the LSO made him their conductor laureate. From 1969 to 1973, he was the main conductor of the Bamberg Symphony.

Later, he worked regularly with the Staatskapelle Dresden. With them, he recorded all of Anton Bruckner's symphonies and Joseph Haydn's "London" symphonies. He also performed often at the Salzburg Festival. In 1953–54 and 1971, he conducted at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, making his debut with Tristan und Isolde.

Jochum also led the very first performances of several new musical works. These included pieces by composers like Boris Blacher, Werner Egk, and Karl Amadeus Hartmann.

His Legacy in Recordings

Eugen Jochum started making recordings in 1932. Many of his most famous recordings were for Deutsche Grammophon. His recordings of Anton Bruckner's symphonies are especially well-known and loved. He recorded them twice: once with the Berlin Philharmonic and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and again with the Staatskapelle Dresden. These recordings made his name strongly linked to Bruckner's music. He was even president of the International Bruckner Society starting in 1950.

However, Jochum once said in an interview that while people saw him as a Bruckner expert, he felt closest to the music of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. His recordings of Bach's Mass in B minor and St. John Passion are considered some of the best. He also recorded all of Beethoven's symphonies three times and Johannes Brahms's symphonies twice. Some experts, like conductor Kenneth Woods, even called him "the greatest Brahms conductor who ever lived."

His recordings of Brahms's piano concertos with Emil Gilels are also highly praised. Jochum's recordings of music by Mozart, Haydn, Schumann, Wagner, and Carl Orff are also very popular. His 1967 recording of Carmina Burana is seen as a very important version because Orff himself was there during the recording and approved it.

When it came to conducting, Kenneth Woods noted that Jochum used "very small and focused motions but so powerful."

Family and Passing

Eugen Jochum had two brothers who were also involved in music. His older brother, Otto Jochum, was a composer and choral conductor. His younger brother, Georg Ludwig Jochum, was also an orchestral conductor. Eugen's daughter, Veronica Jochum, became a pianist and taught music in Boston, Massachusetts.

Eugen Jochum passed away in Munich in 1987, at the age of 84. His wife, Maria, had passed away two years earlier.

Famous Recordings

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Eugen Jochum para niños

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