Samuel Kummer

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Samuel Kummer
Kummer at the organ console of the Frauenkiche, 2009
Born(1968-02-28)28 February 1968
Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
Died23 April 2024(2024-04-23) (aged 56)
Dresden, Saxony, Germany
EducationState University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart
Occupations
  • Organist
  • Academic teacher
Organizations
Websitewww.samuelkummer.de

Samuel Kummer (28 February 1968 – 23 April 2024) was a German organist, from 2005 to 2022 at the Frauenkirche in Dresden. He played concerts internationally, made recordings and taught at the Hochschule für Kirchenmusik Dresden from 2007.

Life and career

Kummer was born in Stuttgart[1] on 28 February 1968.[2] He studied church music at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart, organ with Christoph Bossert [de], Werner Jacob and Ludger Lohmann, and specifically organ improvisation [de] with Willibald Bezler [de], Hans Martin Corrinth [de] and Wolfgang Seifen.[1][3] He took master classes with Marie-Claire Alain, Hans Fagius, Lorenzo Ghielmi, Olivier Latry and Jean-Claude Zehnder.[3] He passed his A exam [de] in 1997 with an award in improvisation.[1][3]

Kummer played concerts internationally from 1988, in Europe, the Americas and Japan.[3][4] He played in concert series such as European Organ Festival in Maastricht, achieving the first prize of the Concours L'Europe et L'Orgue in 1996, and the International Bach Festival in Warsaw.[1] He gave concerts at the Cologne Cathedral,[4] Riga Cathedral, the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City,[1] Saint Petersburg Philharmonia and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.[4] He played several times at the Guatemala Cathedral, where he supported the restoration of the historic Walcker organ of 1937[1] in 1999.[3] He played on 11 May 2016, the centenary of Max Reger's death, at the Konzerthaus Dortmund Reger's Variationen und Fuge über ein Originalthema, Op. 73, broadcast live by WDR.[5]

Kummer was Bezirkskantor [de] in Kirchheim unter Teck from 1998,[1][6] where he conducted several oratorios including Frank Martin's In terra pax. He installed a concert series, Orgelmusik zur Marktzeit (Organ music at market time),[1][3] and played the complete organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach.[3]

Kern organ of the Frauenkirche

In 2005, he moved to the Frauenkirche in Dresden, when the destroyed church was reopened after restoration.[1][7] He played the new Kern organ for the inauguration and in subsequent concerts, choosing for his first recital music by Bach, Brahms, Reger, Louis Vierne and his own.[8] He shaped the profile of music at the church in many regular services, adding "depth and spirituality" by his playing, especially in improvisation, according to the Frauenkirche.[2] He was among the initiators of a concert series, Dresdner Orgelzyklus, at three churches in Dresden, also the Kreuzkirche and the Hofkirche. He played as an organ soloist in orchestral works at the Frauenkirche, the Organ Symphony by Saint-Saëns with the Staatskapelle Dresden and Joseph Jongen's Symphonie Concertante with the Chemnitz Philharmonic[3] in 2007.[1] He recorded a CD with organ music by Bach and Duruflé for Carus in 2005, the first CD recorded at the Frauenkirche,[3] to critical acclaim.[1] He recorded Louis Vierne's Organ Symphonies Nos. 3 and 5 in the year 2007,[8] beginning a complete recording of the composer's organ works following the new edition by Carus. It was awarded a Diapason d'Or.[3] He recorded in 2020 Bach's The Art of Fugue at the organ of St. Wenzel [de] in Naumburg, built by Zacharias Hildebrandt; the instrument was approved in 1748 by Bach and Silbermann and is the largest extant organ that Bach is known to have played.[9] A reviewer wrote:

Kummer takes great care, as the music progresses and the registrations become more imposing, to maintain clarity at all times in the contrapuntal lines. Never did I hear definition lost at any time throughout. He revels in the textures of the denser fugues, such as Contrapunctus 11 a 4, emphasizing the more subtle lines. Registration choices show ingenuity and resourcefulness. In short, Kummer displays a great maturity of vision.[9]

The recording was awarded the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik.[10]

Kummer was dismissed in 2022, with his employer accusing him of unreliability and unpunctuality.[7][11] Music journalist Claus Fischer from the MDR commented then that Kummer was perhaps more an artist than an organiser, and thus not ideally suited to the position.[4]

From 2007, Kummer was a lecturer for organ improvisation and literature play at the Hochschule für Kirchenmusik Dresden [de].[1]

Personal life

Kummer was married to Irena Renata Budrytė-Kummer.[2] He died on 23 April 2024, at the age of 56. According to his family, he collapsed at Dresden Main Station on his way to teaching in Würzburg.[4][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Giersch, Steffen (2024). "Samuel Kummer". Carus-Verlag (in German). Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Noth, Maria; Engelhardt, Markus (24 April 2024). "Gedenken an Samuel Kummer". Frauenkirche, Dresden (in German). Archived from the original on 24 April 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Samuel Kummer". konzertwinter.de (in German). Kirchheim. 2012. Archived from the original on 24 April 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Ehemaliger Organist der Dresdner Frauenkirche unerwartet gestorben" [Former organist of the Dresden Frauenkirche dies unexpectedly]. MDR (in German). 24 April 2024. Archived from the original on 24 April 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  5. ^ "Ehemaliger Organist der Dresdner Frauenkirche unerwartet gestorben" (PDF). Konzerthaus Dortmund (in German). 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  6. ^ Siegfried Bauer (ed.): Tasten-Spiele. Das Klavierbuch zum Evangelischen Gesangbuch. p. 367.
  7. ^ a b c "Früherer Organist der Dresdner Frauenkirche gestorben" [Former organist of the Dresden Frauenkirche has died]. Sächsische Zeitung (in German). 24 April 2024. Archived from the original on 24 April 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  8. ^ a b Wilson, Brian (September 2008). "Louis Vierne (1870–1937) / Symphonie No.3, Op.28 / Symphonie No.5, Op.47". musicweb-international.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  9. ^ a b Greenbank, Stephen (July 2021). "Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) / The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080". musicweb-international.com. Archived from the original on 24 April 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik Bestenliste 04/2021". aeolus-music.com/ (in German). April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  11. ^ Klempnow, Bernd (21 June 2023). "Dresden: Gericht bestätigt Kündigung des Frauenkirchen-Organisten" [Dresden: Court confirms dismissal of Frauenkirche organist]. Sächsische Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 24 April 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2024.

External links

Retrieved from "https://mdwiki.org/wiki/Samuel_Kummer"