Mozart, André, Offenbach: The sound of the time capsule
Exactly 250 years after the founding of the publishing house Johann André, the city of Offenbach is dedicating an extensive series of events to a unique collection of historical first editions, which in a way represents a time capsule of high-quality and yet often forgotten music. The André archive contains a good 17,000 musical works and not only reflects the respectable cultural history of the city and region, it is also one of the most valuable collections of its kind both nationally and internationally.
Music from the André archive is brought to life to an unprecedented extent in symphony and opera, chamber, vocal, piano and organ concerts, a central exhibition and accompanying publications in words and sound.
On this page
Highlights of the first decades of the André music publishing house
The environment in which André's prints were created was outstanding: in the park-filled quarter around today's Offenbach Büsingpalais, there were summer residences of wealthy Frankfurt families as well as elegant houses of Offenbach residents who had come here as a result of the settlement policy of the Isenburg princes. The factory owner Peter Bernard financed the region's first bourgeois professional orchestra here, Johann André wrote joint works with Goethe and André's son (Johann) Anton eventually brought a good 300 manuscripts by W.A. Mozart here as the basis for 79 first editions.
The relationship to 'innovation in the arts' was completely different at the time of the founding of the Johann André music publishing house in 1774 than it is today. While in today's circles of practitioners of classical music the bon mot circulates that the best way to achieve audience affinity is to focus exclusively on composers with two life dates, in the late classical and early romantic periods the paradigm of progress clearly applied in many cases. The idea of creating a canon was by no means the rule; rather, the public generally expected something new.
Even if the name "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart" stood for an extraordinary and musically absolutely outstanding personality even after his early death, it should not have surprised anyone that only a very young - 24-year-old - music publisher had the courage [or the madness] to buy her husband's musical estate from his widow Constanze Mozart for three times her annual income, to be paid off in installments. Constanze Mozart's asking price was definitely too expensive for Breitkopf & Härtel, for example.
Johann Anton André was ahead of his time - and was successful with his concept of publishing a total of 79 first editions of Mozart's works from the almost 300 manuscripts. Among others, the Serenade in G major K. 525, or 'Little Night Music', was printed for the first time in Offenbach's Domstrasse; like André's other editions, it was printed with great care and with the reference to having been set from the manuscript.
Not to forget that on his return journey from Vienna, André persuaded the inventor Alois Senefelder, the developer of lithography [and thus the origin of today's offset printing], to come with him to Offenbach and set up his invention for everyday printing practice for the first time.
These two innovative steps may serve as highlights for the entrepreneurial potential of the André family. At the beginning of the 19th century, the publishing house was definitely one of the most important music publishers in the German-speaking world.
The Andrés also composed music. The founder of the publishing house, Johann André, went to Berlin as music director soon after the company was founded in 1777-1784 and brought a large number of his own Singspiele to the stage there. The best known of these in retrospect is 'Belmont and Constanze', from which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart later used the libretto for his 'Abduction from the Seraglio' without being asked. "A certain person named Mozart in Vienna had the audacity to misuse my drama 'Belmont and Constanze' as an opera text" protested André's librettist at the time against the Mozartian takeover.
Johann's son Johann Anton André also composed with passion and quality; he in turn composed more in the symphonic, chamber music and concertante genres.
The history of the publishing house and the publishing personalities continues through the following two centuries. Until the middle of the 19th century, André maintained its status as a publishing house to be reckoned with - but even in the second half of the century and the first years of the 20th century, the André house continued to publish remarkable works.
Promotion
The project is generously supported by the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, the Dr. Marschner Stiftung, the Kulturstiftung der Städtischen Sparkasse Offenbach, the Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Hessen-Thüringen, the Frankfurter Volksbank Rhein-Main, the Freimaurer Wohltätigkeitsverein, the Internationale Stiftung zur Förderung von Zivilisation und Kultur, the Stiftung Citoyen, the Freunde des Capitol Theaters Offenbach and the Musikhaus André.
The program in the anniversary year
March 7: André Duo
Fine rarities from the André archive
Two outstanding violinists revive masterpieces from 250 years of André publishing. In fact, many of the top-class works once printed by the André publishing house are largely unknown, even to experts. Prof. Tomasz Tomaszewski and Piotr Niewiadomski perform in the André Duo. Tomasz Tomaszewski was first concertmaster at the Deutsche Oper Berlin for many years and is now a professor at the Academy of Music in Szczecin. Piotr Niewiadomski is first concertmaster of the Capitol Symphony Orchestra. The two musicians will perform a duo by the publisher Johann André and one by Mendelssohn's contemporary Friedrich Herrmann. voc'n'semble, made up of members of the Frankfurt Opera, will sing vocal quartets by Bolko Graf von Hochberg, among others.
Program
Anton André
Grand Duo No.1, Op. 27
Friedrich Hermann
Grand Duet No.1, Op.14
Bolko Graf von Hochberg and others
Small vocal quartets
March 7, 2024, 7 p.m.: French Reformed Church
Admission by donation. Recommendation: 15 to 20 euros.
Please register by e-mail to anmeldung.kulturoffenbachde or by telephone on 069 8065 2360.
Video recording of the André Duo by Anton Andrés Alegro commodo from the Duet op. 27 No. 2
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March 9: Polish String Quartet
Fine rarities from the André archive
The first great period of the supreme discipline of chamber music - the string quartet - coincides almost exactly with the most important times of the traditional music publisher Johann André in Offenbach am Main in its first five or six decades. The Polish String Quartet Berlin, composed of high-caliber leaders of Berlin orchestras with roots in Poland, dedicates itself to both rarities and familiar pieces from the André archive. This high-quality project came about through a collaboration with the Mozartgesellschaft Wiesbaden and the concerts in the Schlosskirche Bad Homburg.
Program
Johann Anton André (1775-1842)
Grand Duo No. 1, Op. 27
Johann Anton André
String Quartet No.1 in C major, Op. 14
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
String Quartet in C major, No. 19, KV 465
"Dissonance Quartet" (including editions by Joh. André 1800)
Polish String Quartet Berlin
Tomasz Tomaszewski: Violin 1
Piotr Niewiadomski: Violin 2
Sebastian Sokół: viola
Weronika Strugała: Cello
March 9, 2024, 7 p.m.: French Reformed Church
Admission by donation. Recommendation: 15 to 20 euros.
Please register by e-mail to anmeldung.kulturoffenbachde or by telephone on 069 8065 2360.
Further performances of the program as part of the anniversary year:
Fri, March 8, 2024 | 7:30 pm | Schlosskirche Bad Homburg
Sun, March 10, 2024 | 11:00 a.m. | Museum Wiesbaden, lecture hall
May 5: Talk concert "A day for music"
A talk concert for the "Day for Music" by hr2-kultur
How can a publishing house reflect a city when, in the case of the Johann André publishing house, it produces for the whole world? Well, a large city is a small world in itself - and our Offenbach in particular has been a place where people from many countries around the world have found a home for centuries. However, it is not only the origin, but also the enormous range of musical demands that make up the diversity of such a world from a publishing perspective. The spheres of amateur music and professionalism overlapped much more in the 19th century than they do today. The André publishing house, for example, rarely published strictly separated amateur and professional publishing lines, but rather simply good products across the spectrum of what could be presented on the market.
There are, of course, many 'premium products' in today's terminology, such as the first edition of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Jupiter Symphony", which is indeed almost divinely radiant. But that's not all: from the very beginning, the Johann André publishing house has attached great importance to producing simply good music for practical use. These are, for example, arrangements for home music by talented, trained amateurs. Or small compositions for church practice, which a busy teacher and choir conductor can play on the organ without much practicing and which still correspond to the dignity of the church service. Last but by no means least, countless choral movements, from ambitious first league aspirations to mainly cheerful choral societies.
On hr2-kultur's Hessian 'Day for Music', three Offenbach musicians and a soloist church musician colleague dedicate themselves to an original, exciting, charming, clever and sometimes kitschy repertoire in a musical journey of discovery through a quarter of a millennium of music production from Offenbach for the world.
Program and cast
Piano pieces, organ pieces and songs by Julius, Anton, Carl, Johann, August, J.B., E., Anton jr., Adolf and Ludwig André
Hans-Jörg André, Greeting
Dr. Ralph Philipp Ziegler, Introduction
Erik Grevenbrock-Reinhardt, Tenor
Lydia Maria Bader, piano
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Blume, organ
Bettina Strübel, organ and piano
Sunday, May 5, 2024, 6 p.m.: Lutherkirche Offenbach
Admission is free, registration is not necessary.
Luther Church
Waldstraße 74+76
63071 Offenbach am Main
Organizer: Evangelische Mirjamgemeinde Offenbach am Main
May 12: MärchenKönigsMusik
Capitol Classic Lounge: MärchenKönigsMusik
The symphony for the fairytale castle Neuschwanstein was lovingly prepared for printing and then published for the music world as a fine edition nowhere else than in Offenbach am Main. Asger Hamerik, whom his compatriots celebrate as one of Denmark's most important late Romantic composers, entrusted almost all of his symphonic works to the Johann André publishing house. Not least his second symphony, which he dedicated to "His Majesty Ludwig II, King of Bavaria" in 1883 and which was printed with a magnificent flyleaf in the André publishing house on Domstrasse at the time. Thus, a spark of the splendor of the dream palace that was being built at the time also fell on Offenbach. Hamerik's "Tragic Symphony" is a perfect match for its aristocratic dedicatee - as brilliant as it is sensitive, emotional and a spark of decoration - a great, extremely rare symphonic experience.
Two works from the famous early Mozart prints are performed in this concert. André even had the score of the overture to the "Magic Flute" printed in several colors for scientific reasons, which was an extremely difficult process for the technology of the time. Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, on the other hand, is generally regarded as one of the master's works that in places loses all earthiness and becomes completely "heavenly" and must of course be performed as an André print in this festive year.
Program and cast
Wolfgang A. Mozart (1756-1791)
Overture to "The Magic Flute", KV 620
Wolfgang A. Mozart
Concerto for clarinet and orchestra, KV 622
Asger Hamerik (1843-1923)
Symphony No.2 in C minor, op.32
"Dedicated to Ludwig II of Bavaria"
Fabio di Càsola, clarinet
CAPITOL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Conductor: Douglas Bostock
May 12, 2024, 5 p.m.: Capitol Theater Offenbach
Tickets from 22 euros at www.frankfurtticket.de (opens in a new tab) or at the OF InfoCenter, Salzgässchen 1, Offenbach.
Capitol Theater Offenbach
Kaiserstrasse 106
63065 Offenbach am Main
The Capitol Theater is barrier-free. The Offenbach S-Bahn stations Marktplatz and Ledermuseum are nearby, the bus (Theater/Messe) stops in front of the entrance. Parking spaces for people with disabilities are available in the Capitol courtyard.
May 23: An archive on the strings
The Isenburg Quartet's concert on Thursday, May 23, moves between print workshop and archive: How is written and performed music created? And how does it perhaps disappear again later?
The world premiere "From the Archive" by Diego Ramos Rodríguez, 2nd violinist of the quartet, reflects on the path between the printing workshop and the archive as the beginning and end of the life cycle of scores. Is music already created during the machine production of a score? In the piece, sound recordings from presses are juxtaposed with live quartet sounds in search of a shared musicality between machines and instruments. What happens to the music after it has been heard? When scores lie unplayed in the archive for years, they take on a life of their own beyond the sheet music. This is why places like the old André archive in the attic always have a special atmosphere, which inspired the new composition by Ramos Rodríguez.
"From the Archive" is framed by two quartets by Giovanni Paisiello and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, both from the André archive. How do works like these and others find their way from the archive back into the concert hall? Paisiello was one of the most successful opera composers of the 18th century and an important influence on the young Mozart. In the concert, we get to know him in his much lesser-known facet as a composer of quartets. This is contrasted with Mozart's famous "Hoffmeister" quartet. These two compositions have experienced very different fates, although in some respects they have more in common than differences: one is rarely performed today, the other is one of the most frequently performed chamber music works of the Viennese Classical period.
Print workshop
The sounds of the printing workshop will not only be heard in Diego Ramos Rodríguez' composition, they can also be experienced live thanks to a guided tour by printing workshop manager Dominik Gussmann. The printing workshop opposite the concert hall will be open during the breaks and after the concert, offering exciting insights into the various stages and processes of printing.
Isenburg Quartet
At home in Offenbach, at home beyond the millennium: The Isenburg Quartet was founded when all members were not only members of the Ensemble Modern, but also all lived in Offenbach. They are still at the forefront of contemporary music - and still devoted to the city of Offenbach.
In the Isenburg Quartet, however, the musicians cultivate their love of classical music, romanticism and classical modernism in particular. It is clear that the André Archive also exerts a special attraction on the four members of the quartet. Here, for example, they have tracked down music by Giovanni Paisiello, who was Kapellmeister at the court of Catherine the Great in St. Petersburg and was eventually brought to Paris by Napoleon.
The second violinist in the quartet is Diego Ramos Rodriguez, who was nominated for the German Film Critics' Award for his film music for "A Theory of Everything". The atmosphere of the charismatic source of forgotten music in Offenbach's Frankfurter Strasse also appealed to him and inspired him to compose the evening's premiere.
Program and cast
ISENBURG QUARTET
with guests
G. Paisiello (1740-1816): String Quartet No. 7 in E flat major
D. Ramos Rodríguez (*1989). From the archive (premiere)
W. A. Mozart (1756-1791): String Quartet K.499 in D major ("Hoffmeister")
May 23, 2024, 7 p.m.: Print workshop / Old Citizens' Office
Tickets costing 20 euros (10 euros for students, trainees and pupils; 15 euros for people with disabilities with a GdB of 50 or more) can be reserved by emailing anmeldung.kulturoffenbachde or by calling 069 8065 2360 on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 12 noon.
May 26: Musica Sacra I
Festive High Mass with the Te Deum by Johann Anton André
When Johann Anton André wrote his "Te Deum" [KL1] in 1814, most of Europe had every reason to celebrate - the Napoleonic Wars finally seemed to be over, and after the ineffectual attempt at Waterloo the following year, they were.
Although such a Te Deum was sung in churches, the genre had long since become more of a political statement. Joseph Haydn wrote his "Te Deum" expressly for Empress Marie Therese, Hector Berlioz wrote his for Napoleon III. With the famous "Dettinger Te Deum", Georg Friedrich Händel celebrated a victory in the War of the Austrian Succession - which, incidentally, was won just 20 kilometers from Offenbach as the crow flies; Johann Anton's father had already been born by then.
On the title page of the score of his "Te Deum" in 1814, Anton still identifies himself as a loyal subject of the ruling Princes of Isenburg. The following year, his closeness to Napoleon I cost Prince Isenburg his rule, including Offenbach.
Eventful times - and certainly eventful music, which Johann Anton André put down on paper as a powerful and brilliant composition. This morning is sure to be an extremely festive high mass with André's music, which music lovers will be delighted to enjoy.
Program and cast
Johann Anton André (1775-1842)
Te deum laudamus, op.18
OFFENBACH ORATORIO CHOIR | SINGERS' ASSOCIATION 1826 E.V.
Olaf Joksch-Weinandy, organ
Conductor: Judith Bergmann
May 26, 2024, 11:30 a.m.: Church of St. Paul
Admission to the high mass is free, registration is not necessary.
Church of St. Paul
Kaiserstrasse 60
63065 Offenbach am Main
June 2: Musica Sacra II
Sacred objects from the cathedral street
Franz Danzi, court conductor at the Baden court in Karlsruhe, is still represented in the concert repertoire today, particularly with his chamber music for wind instruments. André's archive, on the other hand, contains not only wind works in original editions, but also a whole series of works for large ensembles - orchestral works, including several symphonies - as well as effective choral works that have been unjustly largely forgotten today.
Gerhard Jenemann, head of the South German Chamber Choir and artistic director of the Franconian Music Days, has for decades been commendably committed to rediscovering high-quality music that has disappeared from the general repertoire and has paved the way for many a renaissance. This is not the first time he has devoted himself to compositions from the André publishing house in this program.
In this program, organist and composer Stephan Adam plays organ works from the late period of Johann Anton André - the Frankfurt Paulskirche organ, which he helped 'curate', already existed with its inexhaustible wealth of timbres. Julius André, perhaps the most important composer of genuine church music from the André family, also plays 'Sancta Maria', published in 1854, an impressive testimony to the qualities of its creator.
The program is complemented by the profound a cappella motet "Warum ist das Licht gegeben" by Johannes Brahms - which, for once, is not published by André, but nevertheless gives this project a profound central point.
Program and cast
Franz Danzi (1763-1826)
Mass in B flat major for soloists, choir and basso continuo
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
"Why is the light given"
Motet Op.74 No.1 for choir of six voices a cappella
[Simrock edition]
Johann Anton André (1775-1842)
Organ pieces from Op.64 and Op.68
Julius André (1808-1880)
Sancta Maria, Op.33 for four voices and organ
Stephan Adam, organ
SOUTH GERMAN CHAMBER CHOIR
Gerhard Jenemann, conductor
June 2, 2024, 5 p.m.: St. Marien Church
Tickets at a price of 20 euros (reduced 15 euros) at www.frankfurtticket.de or at the OF InfoCenter, Salzgässchen 1, Offenbach.
St. Mary's Church
Bieberer Str. 55
63065 Offenbach am Main
June 7: Ceremony
Filling and opening the time capsule
250 years - a quarter of a millennium: that really is cause for celebration. Especially because we are not only celebrating a past glorious era, but also because our jubilarian - the André music house - continues to be involved in the music scene, promoting, shaping, motivating and supporting it. Naturally with the self-confidence of those seventy years in the early days of the publishing house, when Offenbach was at the center of the European music world through the André publishing house. Not only did the Viennese court composers and opera directors come here, they also had their musical works printed in Offenbach and sent out into the world from there. Finally, Johann Anton André made the brilliant move of buying Mozart's estate in 1799 and, for the first time in cultural history, achieved resounding success with the works of a composer who was no longer alive. Almost incidentally, he brings Alois Senefelder with him to Offenbach, where lithography (on which the long leading offset printing was based) is brought to series maturity in the André house. Today, the family around Hans-Jörg and Moritz André is not only committed to the legacy of the house, but also to the present between jazz and alternative pop.
We want to celebrate the exciting past with interesting speakers and exciting musical guests as well as the lively musical present of our city of Offenbach - in this particular case in the person of the jazz pianist and composer Christof Sänger, who is closely associated with us. His most recent composition will be premiered at the ceremony; it bridges the gap between Viennese classical music and Offenbach's present in a very fitting way.
Program and cast
Johann Anton André (1775-1842)
String Quartet from Op.14
Christof Sänger (*1962)
Sketches on André (world premiere)
Michael Quast (among others), laudatory speech and discussion
Lord Mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke (among others) Greeting
Ib Hausmann, clarinet
CHRISTOF SÄNGER TRIO
Polish String Quartet Berlin
June 7, 2024, 7 p.m.: EVO's old locksmith's shop
Only a limited number of places are available. To register, please use the keyword "Festakt André 250" at anmeldung.kulturoffenbachde or call 069 8065 2360 on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 12 noon.
Old locksmith's shop
EVO Energieversorgung Offenbach AG
Andréstr. 71
63067 Offenbach on the Main
June 8: Choir concert of diversity
Isn't that diversity enough, more than 17,000 printed compositions? Not yet for the Offenbach Sängerkreis - because diversity is not limited to sheet music. Even if there are enough of them at Haus André. The Sängerkreis complements diversity wherever it is important and lively and should have long been a matter of course. And so "male, female or mixed choir" is only part of what choral singing and music in general have to offer in terms of musical power against pigeonholing.
The tonal backbone of this second edition of the "Concert of Diversity" is music with a focus on cheerfulness. Olaf Joksch-Weinandy will be on the grand piano, also playing a wide variety of music from 250 years of André publishing, corresponding to the most diverse facets of choral singing.
Bastian Korff (himself a trained singer), who is both very funny and very clever as a presenter, is just the right person on stage to keep the good mood and the joy of listening constantly high - and, of course, to link the choral pieces not published by André with exciting facts from the last 250 years of Offenbach's music history.
Cast
Bastian Korff, moderation
Olaf Joksch-Weinandy, piano
pro:ton | Offenbach-Bieber (joint choir)
Society of Friends, Seligenstadt (male choir)
Young Voices | Mühlheim-Dietesheim (joint choir)
Die Mainsirenen | Frankfurt am Main (male choir)
June 8, 2024, 7 p.m.: EVO's old locksmith's shop
Advance ticket sales at 15 euros via Reservix (opens in a new tab) and AD-Ticket (opens in a new tab) as well as the OF InfoCenter, Salzgässchen 1, Offenbach (2 euros per ticket will be donated to Behindertenhilfe Stadt und Kreis Offenbach e.V.).
Old locksmith's shop
EVO Energieversorgung Offenbach AG
Andréstr. 71
63067 Offenbach on the Main
June 19: Summer evening concert with exhibition opening
Whether tender Biedermeier worlds or even today modern-looking graphics on the threshold of Expressionism - the music publisher Johann André has rarely been economical in the design of its sheet music editions. In fact, over long periods of its existence, it took great care to create attractive and unusual cover graphics.
Offenbach musicologist Birgit Grün, who is responsible for the cultural program of the Offenbach Adult Education Center, is by far one of the most important experts on the unique archive holdings of the Johann André music publishing house. She has agreed to curate an exhibition for the Stadtkirche from the flood of graphically elaborate sheet music titles, which is unmanageable for laypeople, with several of the most remarkable title graphics, which will be opened on this evening.
Of course, this will also be accompanied by music. Violinist Katrin Ebert and pianist Rozana Weidman, both active protagonists of Offenbach's music scene, have selected high-quality and charming pieces from André's archive, sometimes doing justice to both. In the process, the beautiful things that follow behind the beautiful title pages can be heard.
Program and cast
Music from the André archive
Birgit Grün, exhibition concept
Hans-Jörg André, greeting
Dr. Ralph Philipp Ziegler, greeting
Katrin Ebert, violin
Rozana Weidmann, piano
Dr. Manuela Baumgart, City Church Work
June 19, 7 p.m.: Stadtkirche Offenbach
Admission is free, donations are welcome.
City Church Offenbach
Herrnstrasse 44
63065 Offenbach
June 23: Musica Sacra III
Organ music from the house of André
Organ music - the Andrés could do that! As publishers anyway - with the two Silesian masters Adolph Friedrich Hesse and Gustav Merkel, for example, the publishing house printed two of the most respected organists of the time. Two regional composers, who were also highly regarded during their lifetime and have gradually been rediscovered in recent decades, also play a special role in the publisher's organ program. Both are closely associated with Darmstadt, which incidentally has been the territorial 'capital' for Offenbach since 1816. Christian Heinrich Rinck was the Grand Duke of Darmstadt's court organist; within the organist's guild, some still believe that he was the only one apart from Mozart who was able to transfer Mozart's inimitable transparency to the organ in his best moments. The second was Georg Joseph Vogler, court conductor in Darmstadt and one of the most impressive and at the same time most feared organists of his era with his revolutionary ideas in organ building.
When the city of Frankfurt invited tenders for a new organ for St. Paul's Church in 1824, which was to be of exemplary quality, the city appointed Johann Anton André as one of the three musical experts. His commitment to the legendary instrument was still commemorated a hundred years later by the organ builder Walcker in his company's advertising material.
Organ music from the house of André does not only mean refined craftsmanship. The program also included small compositions for church practice. André also published a high-quality program for this purpose, not least with compositions from his own family. Julius André, grandson of the founder, even acquired an international reputation as a composer of organ works and certainly played the organ of the French Reformed Church in Offenbach himself.
Program and cast
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Adagio and Rondo in C minor/C major (KV 617)
Johann Anton André (1775-1842)
Fugue in C major and others
Julius André (1808-1880)
Trio in A major and others
Gustav Merkel (1827-1885)
from: "Eight organ pieces" op. 21
as well as music by
Adolph Friedrich Hesse (1809-1863)
Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck (1770-1846)
Georg Joseph Vogler (1749-1814)
Olaf Joksch-Weinandy, organ
June 23, 7 p.m.: French Reformed Church
Admission is granted against a donation.
French Reformed Church
Herrnstrasse 43
63065 Offenbach am Main
July 5 to August 25: Exhibition in the House of City History
Exhibition for the anniversary year "Mozart, André, Offenbach - The sound of the time capsule"
Using printed music and letters, historical instruments, pictures from the family estate and information on the composers published by André-Verlag, the exhibition "The Sound of the Time Capsule" will stage and convey a quarter of a millennium of (cultural) history at the Haus der Stadtgeschichte Offenbach from July 5 to August 24. The exhibition will be officially opened on Friday, July 5 at 7 p.m. - all interested parties are cordially invited to the vernissage.
The exhibition provides a variety of insights into the personalities and achievements over two and a half centuries of the traditional music publisher. Glasses and a pipe belonging to the legendary Johann Anton André can be found alongside top-class portraits of family members, friends and partners such as Wolfang Amadé Mozart. Many other illustrative objects convey a picture of times and events - as do, of course, numerous historical music editions and manuscripts as well as instruments produced by the Musikhaus.
An interactive website presents the information and exhibits digitally.
Supporting program
An interactive website presents the information and exhibits digitally. The exhibition will also be accompanied by a supporting program with activities for young and old: From July 5 to 11, Hans-Jörg André, Managing Director of Musikhaus André, and cultural scientist Dr. Jennifer Jessen will guide school classes and kindergarten groups through the exhibition free of charge. Appointments can be made at hds-terminplanungoffenbachde or 069 8065 2475. Under the title "Scores of Diversity. Exquisite Offenbach in Offenbach", the poet S. K. Eismann and the author Ida Todisco are offering a walk with a reading from the Haus der Stadtgeschichte to Musikhaus André on July 6 at 2:30 pm. Musicologist Birgit Grün will give a knowledgeable and entertaining tour of the exhibition on July 7 and 20 and August 3. Ingrid Walter will be exploring the "Sound of Offenbach - from Mozart to Haftbefehl" on a city walk on July 27 at 11 am. From August 12 to 14, children between the ages of seven and ten can playfully explore the themes of the exhibition at the musical vacation games, trying out various instruments and making music themselves. Participation is free, but registration is required.
July 9: Offenbach - Vienna
A natural relationship
Have you ever had an asteroid named after you? Very few readers will nod in agreement. Ten years ago, it was named after the composer Adalbert Gyrowetz, born exactly between Mozart and Beethoven, in the original Bohemian spelling: Asteroid 250374 Jírovec. That is quite an impressive honor. If it weren't for asteroid 1034 - which was named after Mozart back in 1924 and is much closer to planet Earth. "They would appear to us today as the great composers of the era if they had not had the misfortune of being contemporaries of Haydn and Mozart," said the astute musicologist Ludwig Finscher about Gyrowetz, among others.
The fact that Johann André published much of Adalbert Gyrowetz's music says a lot about his good relations with Vienna. Even if the Budweiser-born composer is better known to a specialist audience today, at the time he was the court theater conductor in Vienna, one of the most important key musical positions. How fortunate that the Offenbach-based Trio Fortepiano, among others, appreciates his music - and performs it in concerts with great esprit and profound musicality. As, of course, do those of Johann and Johann Anton André and, of course, those of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart!
The host for this evening is the masonic lodge Carl und Charlotte zur Treue, of which Johann Anton André is one of the founding members. An arrangement of the velvety, melancholy and beautiful 'Maurerische Trauermusik' from Mozart's masonic music (first published by André) will be performed.
Program and cast
Johann André (1741-1799)
from: Sonatas for Trio Op.1
Johann Anton André (1755-1842)
Sonata for Trio Op.17
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Trio in G major, KV 496
Maurerische Trauermusik, KV 477 arranged for trio
Adalbert Gyrowetz (1763-1750)
Trio in G minor, Op. 17
TRIO FORTEPIANO
Miriam Altmann, fortepiano
Julia Huber, violin
Anja Enderle, violoncello
July 9, 2024, 7 p.m.: Lodge Carl and Charlotte zur Treue
Tickets at a price of 20 euros (reduced 15 euros) at www.frankfurtticket.de and at the OF InfoCenter, Salzgässchen 1, Offenbach.
Lodge Carl and Charlotte zur Treue
Domstrasse 66
63067 Offenbach on the Main
August 31: Summer evening concert
Music is only where it is played. At least that was the case in the days of Johann André and Johann Anton André and for some time afterwards. But it was no less popular than it is today with mp3s and iPods. So it was made playable in the widest possible range of arrangements - so that Beethoven could also spread his symphonic energy in places where no large orchestra was available. As the André publishing house worked very closely with the trends of the time, especially in the first generations, it also published a large repertoire for a particularly popular instrumentation in the field of arrangements: for piano four-hands.
This includes many enjoyable and effective transcriptions in the publisher's huge archive - but of course also some original and clever original works, all for two musicians playing together in harmony!
Program and cast
Music for piano four hands from the André archive
Rozana Weidmann, piano
Olaf Joksch-Weinandy, piano
August 31, 2024, 7 p.m.: Stadtkirche Offenbach
Admission is free; donations are welcome.
City Church Offenbach
Herrnstrasse 44
63065 Offenbach
September 13: "O moon, you are like a late friend to me ..."
The best-known first edition published by Johann André is clearly and inevitably a night music - and not just any music, but the night music, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Serenade No. 13 in G major, the 'Little Night Music'. André thus saw the night music of night musics see the light of day in the printed world. This is a nice parallel to the music treasure of the house - not only because it is completely dark deep down in the archive rooms before the light switch is turned on, but above all because of the poetry inherent in the idea of the night, especially from a 19th century perspective. This is the origin of this special program.
Pianist and (re)discoverer Jens Barnieck became acquainted with the fascination of André's archive several years ago and has already extracted a number of delightful and exciting programs from the holdings - including in streaming concerts during the COVID pandemic.
Among other things, André printed many works by the Irish-Russian composer John Field, who is considered the inventor of the piano genre of nocturnes, those ornate, mostly small-scale night music pieces. In addition to night pieces by well-known masters such as Fréderic Chopin and Robert Schumann, the program includes several rarities from the publisher's production, from Carl Haine to Julius André.
They will be linked by the rightly highly esteemed hr presenter Bastian Korff with texts by Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, Richard Wagner and Christian Morgenstern. Music and words merge in an extraordinary way in the magical image of the night as conceived by the Romantic period.
Program and cast
Poems and stories about the night and night pieces ('Nocturnes') from the André publishing house by Robert Schumann, Fréderic Chopin, Julius André and others.
Bastian Korff, speaker
Jens Barnieck, piano
September 13, 7 p.m.: Free religious community
Consecration hall of the free religious community Offenbach
Schillerplatz 1
63067 Offenbach
Tickets at a price of 20 euros (reduced 15 euros) at www.frankfurtticket.de or at the OF InfoCenter.
September 20: The sound of the time capsule in Frankfurt
Offenbach also likes to give something away, even to considerably larger sister cities to the west: in the middle of the 19th century, the André company opened a branch 'Haus Mozart' on Frankfurt's Zeil, which was given up in 1872 in exchange for 'Haus Beethoven' on Steinweg. Naturally, the André publishing house also felt attached to the secondary business location. In the 1920s, for example, they published the fashionable one-step "In Frankfurt auf der Zeil" or the official theme tune for the world event of the Frankfurt International Aviation Exhibition in 1909. So the people of Offenbach, and the Andrés in particular, cared about being good neighbors. Even the still unknown Robert Schumann was so keen to practice on a grand piano in André's store during a visit to Frankfurt that he pretended to be the domestique of an aristocrat who was keen to buy such an instrument. And Johann Anton André was one of the three musical experts for the construction of the most famous German organ of the time in St. Paul's Church in Frankfurt.
So it goes without saying that we also have to celebrate in the parlor of classical music in Frankfurt. We have the most successful overture by Johann Anton André, his gripping concert piece to the Kotzebue drama "The Hussites before Naumburg" and a sparklingly effective symphony by Paul Wranitzky, director of the Vienna Court Opera Orchestra, published by André. Wranitzky was a personal friend of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven - so it is no wonder that he was drawn to André as a publisher. The Mozart bassoon concerto, first published by André, is played by an absolutely charismatic colleague from the Frankfurt Opera, the French bassoonist Lola Descours.
Program and cast
Johann Anton André (1775-1842)
The Hussites before Naumburg, concert overture
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra in B flat major KV 191
Paul Wranitzky (1756-1808)
Symphony in D major, Op. 36
Lola Descours, bassoon
CAPITOL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Conductor: Friedrich Preatorius
September 20, 2024, 8 p.m.: Alte Oper Frankfurt
Old Opera Frankfurt
Opera Square 1
60313 Frankfurt am Main
Tickets from 22 euros are available via Frankfurt Ticket, at the OF InfoCenter and at all known advance booking offices.
September 28: A day full of Mozart and André!
Every year, 'A Day Full of Mozart' celebrates the great Salzburg composer and the 79 Offenbach first editions of his works. And it celebrates the entire spectrum of people who learn or teach music at the Offenbach Music School. From first-class professionals to highly motivated pupils - they are all inspired and driven by the indescribable verve and unsurpassable beauty of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's music.
Our 'Day full of Mozart' is inspired by the format 'Mozart for everyone', which Munich patron Erich Fischer organized as part of the festival "toujours Mozart!" [KL1] festival of his International Foundation for the Promotion of Culture and Civilization. Erich Fischer and the foundation hosted the festival here in Offenbach three times between 2016 and 2018, after which it returned to its original location in Salzburg. The 'Day full of Mozart' will stay with us.
Offenbach is a city of Mozart solely and exclusively because of the André family and publishing house. Reason enough to include plenty of music by the Andrés themselves in the André anniversary year. Incidentally, for the second time this year, young director Pia Epping will bring parts of the performance to the stage as a staged play.
Mozart and André - harmonious and lively!
Program and cast
Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the André family and their circle
14.30 Teachers' concert
17.00 hrs Large theater concert with teachers and students of the music school
MUSIC SCHOOL OFFENBACH
Direction: Catherine Veillerobe
Director: Pia Epping
September 28, 2:30 p.m./5 p.m.: EVO's old locksmith's shop
Admission is free, registration is not necessary.
Old locksmith's shop
EVO Energieversorgung Offenbach AG
Andréstr. 71
63067 Offenbach on the Main
October 5: Jocular songs and texts with the Ariadne Project Ensemble
Jocular songs and texts from the Enlightenment and Empfindsamkeit a capella
As always, the Ariadne Projekt Ensemble is interested in the context of origin: Who knows whom and how does it come to what? Music and text are equally important.
Johann André meets Christian Felix Weisse in Berlin. Both are interested in theater, which is how the delightful songs that Johann André sets to Christian Felix Weisse's Scherzhafte Lieder come about. These songs have the inventory number 4, the absolute beginning of the André publishing house. The ensemble has selected four of these songs and arranged them for three voices.
There are also some joking songs and thoughts by Christian Felix Weisse, which are recited, as well as four Mozart songs arranged for three voices by André, which were composed on texts by Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart, Johann August Weppen and Gottfried August Bürger.
One work is not by André, but fits the context and is actually composed for three voices: a three-part song by Joseph Haydn on a text by Karl Wilhelm Ramler. And then there is the other outlier by Mozart. You can be curious.
Ariadne Project Ensemble
Björn Wolf, Renate Vogl, Lena Mittelbach, Rudolph Klemisch, Pamela Kipp, Ina Juretzek, Dennis Ranke, Stephanie Fehling and Theresa Buschmann
October 5, 8 p.m.: Parkside Studios
Parkside Studios
Friedhofstr. 59
63075 Offenbach
Admission is free, donations are welcome. Admission is one hour before the start of the event.
Further performances will take place on Saturday, 2.11.24 at 8 pm in the B71 Atelierhaus and on Sunday, 3.11.24 at 6 pm in the Parkside Studios.
October 6: Capitol Classic Lounge "Offenbach Symphony"
A single handwritten work from the pen of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart still exudes the aura of being completely original in the André house. All the others were sold after Johann Anton André's death, mostly to the great court and state libraries. Mozart's last sheet of music paper even has its own number in the legendary Köchel index: KV 470a. The grand master Mozart notated wind and timpani parts here; it is a re-instrumentation of the Violin Concerto No. 16 in E minor (also published by André, of course) by the then highly esteemed Italian-English composer Giovanni Battista Viotti. The violinist and man of the century Yehudi Menuhin in turn personally requested a copy from the Andrés in the 1970s in order to record the somewhat Offenbachian version of the Viotti concerto at Abbey Road Studios. It is magnificent - the work takes on a fascinating dark glow. Nevertheless, it is rarely played - all the more worthy for our anniversary. We follow the violin concerto appropriately with Mozart's overture to "Don Giovanni".
Finally, there is a real, great Offenbach Symphony - a diamond in the crown of our anniversary year! Johann Anton André wrote it when he was in his mid-thirties; it made its way through the musical world from Offenbach's Domstrasse, where the publishing house was located until 1800. Apparently it did so emphatically that the publishing house published a lavish score of the symphony more than 30 years after the composer's death. It is a gem of Offenbach's musical history, which will be performed on the 249th birthday of its composer, possibly for the first time in over 100 years, and will of course also be recorded on CD on this occasion.
Program and cast
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Overture to "Don Giovanni", KV 527
Giovanni Battista Viotti (1755-1824)
arranged by: Wolfgang A. Mozart
Violin Concerto in E minor, KV 470a
Johann Anton André (1775-1842)
Great Symphony in E flat major, op.25
Maximilian Junghanns, violin
CAPITOL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Conductor: Michael Hofstetter
October 6, 2024, 5 p.m.: Capitol Theater Offenbach
Tickets from July 2024 from 22 euros at www.frankfurtticket.de or at the OF InfoCenter, Salzgässchen 1, Offenbach.
Capitol Theater Offenbach
Kaiserstrasse 106
63065 Offenbach on the Main
Further performances:
Monday, October 7, 2024 | Hugenottenhalle Neu-Isenburg
October 11: "Czerny or the angel of patience"
Music by Beethoven's pupil Carl Czerny and amusing readings from the master's letters to his publisher
For generations, piano pupils and students have associated the name Carl Czerny with tireless practicing of dry finger exercises. The music writer Grete Wehmeyer even called one of her books "Carl Czerny and solitary confinement at the piano". In fact, however, the piano exercises make up only a small part of the composer Carl Czerny's oeuvre. Prof. Dr. Axel Beer, among other things the most important academic advisor to today's André music house with regard to the archive, has found letters between Czerny and his publisher André that are as exciting as they are absolutely amusing for today's readers or listeners.
This program combines chamber music works, virtuoso practice pieces and letters in a lively and humorous way to create a musical narrative.
The Korean composer Yulim Kim has also studied Czerny's work intensively herself and has written a new work for this evening and the anniversary, which will be premiered on this evening.
Program and cast
Music by Carl Czerny (1791-1857)
as well as readings from the correspondence with his publisher Johann Anton André
Michael Herrschel, voice and conférence
Sirka Schwartz-Uppendieck, piano and organ
Jens Barnieck, piano
Project idea: Prof. Dr. Axel Beer
October 11, 2024, 7 p.m.: Consecration hall of the Free Religious Community Offenbach
Tickets at a price of 20 euros (reduced 15 euros) at www.frankfurtticket.de.
Free Religious Community Offenbach
Schillerplatz 1
63067 Offenbach
Further performances:
Spring 2025: Deutsche Bahn Museum Nuremberg (date to be announced on www.jensbarnieck.de)
October 15: MuseumsSalon
The Andrés in the bathing temple
This evening is a particularly intimate central point of our festive year. Metzler's bathing temple, which radiates classicist elegance in gleaming white, is not only a wonderful stone document of the time when wealthy Frankfurt citizens needed a country house in Offenbach as a status symbol. It is also probably the last room in Offenbach that largely dates back to the early days of the Johann André publishing house. This makes it the most authentic location of the 'Sound of the Time Capsule' project.
After the Metzler family (today: von) Metzler set up their regular summer residence on the sunny banks of the Main in Offenbach in 1792, they also had their park architecturally refined. The current bathing temple was built in 1798 by the French architect Nicolas Alexandre Salins de Montfort, who was responsible for a number of prominent Frankfurt buildings of the time, including palaces for the Rothschild and Bethmann families. The temple consists of a bathing room in the basement, which was located directly on the river before the Maindamm was built, and a chic salon on the first floor.
As part of the MuseumsSalon program of the Frankfurt Museum Society, Prof. Dr. Claudia Nagel, owner of the ensemble, invites us for this evening to be guests in the bathing temple and enjoy fine chamber music from the André archive in authentic period surroundings.
Program and cast
Johann Anton André: Duetto No. 1, Op. 27
Allegro poco moderato
Adagio con motto
Minuetto Allegretto, Trio
Jean-Louis Cherblanc: Grand Duo Op.2, No. 2
Moderato fieramente
Adagio non troppo
Theme con Variationi - Andante poco Allegretto
Allegro non troppo
ANDRÉ DUO
Tomasz Tomaszewski, violin 1
Piotr Niewiadomski, violin 2
October 15, 2024, 6 and 8 p.m.: Metzler's Bathing Temple
Advance ticket sales with the start of the general advance sale of the MuseumSalon at www.frankfurtticket.de; information at www.museumskonzerte.de/konzerte/museumssalon-konzerte-in-privaten-raeumen/. (opens in a new tab)
Metzler's Bathing Temple
Herrnstrasse 100
63065 Offenbach am Main
Event in cooperation with the Frankfurter Museumsgesellschaft e.V.
October 27: Fine rarities from the André archive IV
Piano solo
Together with the wonderful Swiss pianist Esther Walker, we rummaged through the old sales warehouse in the attic of the Johann André publishing house. In contrast to the well-sorted archive, here we find ourselves in historical utility rooms where the lucky ones invited here are allowed to reach into the shelves themselves. Even though we then presented Esther Walker with a pile of sheet music requests based on the archive list, she had already fallen in love with one piece up there: the 'Hamlet Suite' by the then 23-year-old Offenbach composer Erich Riede. It is both an early work by its creator and a late work by the publisher.
Esther Walker loves the profound classics - in this program she will play the great C minor Piano Sonata by Franz Schubert. But she also loves the many original and infinitely personal highlights that so many lesser masters have created with passion over the centuries and which are largely forgotten today. For example, the archive contains the original character pieces by the Englishwoman C. M. E. Oliver, who brought the spa scene of her time to life in piano and orchestral works, for example. Or the work of the André family itself, which runs through many generations of publishing activity and is often well worth listening to.
With this concert evening, we treat ourselves to an exciting insight into a very subjective selection of piano music from the André archive, which comes from the heart of a great musician.
Program and cast
Jean Baptist André (1823-1882)
Impromptu en form de Etúde
Erich Riede (1903-1986)
A Hamlet Suite, Op.4
and other rarities from the André archive
Franz Schubert
Piano Sonata in C minor, D 958
[not published by André]
Esther Walker, piano
October 27, 2024, 7 p.m.: French Reformed Church Offenbach
Admission to the concert in Offenbach is by donation (approx. 15-20 euros). Please register at anmeldung.kulturoffenbachde or call 069 8065 2360.
French Reformed Church
Herrnstrasse 43
63065 Offenbach am Main
November 4: Fine rarities from the André archive V
Music Campus Frankfurt RheinMain
When it comes to rarities, there is hardly a work in the program for the festive year that lives up to the claim of a "noble rarity" from the André archive as much as the arrangement of the overture to the "Barber of Seville" by the celebrated Italian guitar virtuoso Ferdinando Carulli - for flute, violin and, of course, guitar. In addition to thousands of first editions of original works, the André archive also contains a large number of arrangements for the most original compositions. Because where music was not omnipresent on recordings, it was necessary to make it audible in high quality even where there was no full opera orchestra in the theater pit.
Franz Krommer was not only the next but one to succeed the great Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as court composer and chamber music director at the imperial court. He also relied on the Johann André publishing house, which brought out over 140 editions of the Bohemian's works, from delicate chamber music to Krommer's imaginative symphonies.
The Flute Quartet K. 285, composed in 1777 by the enamored 21-year-old Mozart, has been published by André as a first edition for flute and orchestra in addition to the original chamber music version.
With the Music Campus FrankfurtRheinMain, an extraordinary selection of outstanding young musicians honors the André archive - because in this form of master classes, an outstanding selection of internationally award-winning young musicians come together to develop exemplary interpretations under inspiring guidance.
This time from the House of André!
Program and cast
Gioacchino Rossini/Ferdinando Carulli (1792-1868/1770-1841)
Overture to "The Babian of Seville"
arranged for flute, violin and guitar
Franz Krommer (1759-1831)
Great Quartet
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Quartet in D major KV 285
for flute and string trio
et al.
MUSIC CAMPUS FrankfurtRheinMain
Conductor & violin: Franziska Hölscher
November 4, 7 p.m.: Conference room of Sparkasse Offenbach
Tickets at a price of 20 € (reduced 15 €) at www.frankfurtticket.de
Sparkasse Offenbach am Main
Berliner Street 46
63065 Offenbach am Main
Further performances:
Saturday, November 2, 2024, 6 p.m. | Rittersaal Burg Alzenau
Sunday, November 3, 2024, 5 p.m. | Historic Town Hall Miltenberg
Tickets for this at www.fraenkische-musiktage.de
November 15: Offenbach alliances
Sketches on the composer Erich Riede, the writer Martha Wertheimer and her opera "Riccio"
In this way, people come together in a common place, work in the melting pot of a common work of art and are then again subject to their own paths and fates. A look at the young composer Erich Riede and the journalist and author Dr. Martha Wertheimer opens up an interesting view of artistic alliances in Offenbach in the late 1920s on the threshold to the 1930s.
Even as a young man, Erich Riede seemed to have a great career ahead of him: At the age of 26, he was already conducting at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and at 27 he was assisting Arturo Toscanini - all doors seemed to be open to him.
Wertheimer is the third woman ever to graduate from Frankfurt University and works as an editor at the Offenbacher Zeitung. When she wrote the libretto for 'Riccio', she was still largely writing journalistically; her two novels would follow a few years later.
In the one-act opera "Riccio", which André lavishly published in 1929, the two biographies merge - and then diverge again, both artistically and personally. When "Riccio" was finally premiered in 1947, Riede had survived National Socialism unscathed, having been put on trial for homosexuality under Paragraph 175. Martha Wertheimer had already been dead for five years at the time of the premiere and was deported to Sobibor in June 1942.
A look into the depths of the 20th century.
Program and cast
Erich Riede (1903-1986)
Riccio
Excerpts from the one-act opera from 1929 and other fragments
Dieter Eckhardt, Dr. Stefan Soltek and Dr. Ralph Philipp Ziegler, discussion
Sarah C. Baumann, recitation
Olaf Joksch-Weinandy, piano
November 15, 2024, 6 p.m.: Klingspor Museum
Free admission, registration not necessary
Klingspor Museum
Herrnstrasse 80
63065 Offenbach on the Main
November 16: Belmont and Constanze
Johann André, who was stolen by Mozart
"A certain person named Mozart in Vienna has had the audacity to misuse my drama 'Belmont and Constanze' as an opera text. I hereby solemnly protest against this encroachment on my rights", librettist Christoph Friedrich Bretzner had printed in 1782 in the then widely read 'Leipziger Zeitung'. The "opera text" became Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Abduction from the Seraglio", which is still celebrated today. However, Bretzner, a renowned opera and playwright at the time, preferred to rely on the composer for whom he had originally written the text: Johann André from Offenbach. He had premiered "Belmont and Constanze" in Berlin in 1781; Mozart's "Abduction" was published in Vienna the following year.
Certainly, music history has vindicated Mozart for his little text thievery. But Johann André's Singspiel is also worth listening to - it is lively, transparent, colorful and wonderfully melodic music. On behalf of the International Foundation for the Promotion of Culture and Civilization, the Munich conductor, singer and musicologist Wolfgang Antesberger has re-edited the work for performance.
We are delighted to be able to bring this refreshing work back to life in a strong partnership with the Offenbacher Sparkasse, the International Foundation and the International Opera Studio Nuremberg.
Program and cast
Johann André (1741-1799)
Belmont and Constanze
Singspiel based on a text by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner
Performance version by Wolfgang Antesberger
INTERNATIONAL OPERA STUDIO NUREMBERG
ORCHESTRA OF THE RUMPENHEIMER HOFMUSIK
Conductor: Roland Böer
November 16, 2024, 7 p.m.: Sparkasse Offenbach
Advance ticket sales at www.frankfurtticket.de or at the OF Infocenter, Salzgässchen 1, Offenbach.
Sparkasse Offenbach am Main
Berliner Strasse 46
63065 Offenbach am Main
November 17: Offenbacher Kantorei goes East
"Habent sua fata libelli", "Books have their destinies", says a Latin proverb. Of course, this also applies to sheet music. Some are dusty and have not been touched for a long time because fashion has passed them by or they are simply not really the music that musicians of the respective generation would like to play. Others, however, have gone up in flames, both figuratively and literally, infected by hatred and barbarism.
The works of the two Jewish (late) Romantics Friedrich Gernsheim and Bernhard Sekles are among the music that would not have been almost completely forgotten on its own. Even though only Sekles lived to see the dawn of the Nazi era, he and Gernsheim were almost completely eradicated from musical practice within twelve years, as was the case with disgusting listings such as "Jews in music" (there was a separate encyclopaedia about this!).
Bernhard Sekles from Frankfurt was one of the most important composition professors of his time, with students such as Hindemith and Adorno, and not least an outstanding composer himself. Friedrich Gernsheim, born in Worms, began his studies in Frankfurt and came to teach at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin via Leipzig and Paris.
This program is dedicated to imaginative, witty, dreamy, artful, intelligent music that is only slowly seeing the light of day again after a good half century of predominantly silence. Most of the works in this program are - it almost goes without saying - published by André.
Incidentally, the two song cycles are based on the more than 200 poems by the Persian poet Hafiz (actually Mohammed Schemseddin, ca. 1325-1390), which Georg Friedrich Daumer published in a translated form in 1846.
Program and cast
Bernhard Sekles (1872-1943)
"From Hafiz" - Four songs
for one baritone voice, op. 11
Translated into German by G. Fr. Daumer
Bernhard Sekles
The 137th Psalm, op.45
for mixed choir, solo soprano and organ
(manuscript)
Friedrich Gernsheim (1839-1916)
Hafis - A series of songs
Sonja Grevenbrock, soprano
Larissa Botos, alto
Erik Grevenbrock-Reinhardt, tenor
Johannes Hill, bass
OFFENBACH CHOIR
Andreas Frese, piano
Bettina Strübel, conductor and organ
November 17, 2024, 6 p.m.: Lutherkirche Offenbach
Admission: €15 / €10 reduced - advance booking at the OF Infocenter, Salzgässchen 1, the parish office of the Mirjamgemeinde and from choir members.
Luther Church
Waldstraße 74+76
63071 Offenbach on the Main
Organizer: Evangelical Mirjamgemeinde Offenbach am Main
November 20: Musica Sacra IV
Concert for the Day of Prayer and Repentance
Johann Anton André, the most important composer in the family history, was a member of the presbytery of the French Reformed congregation in Offenbach. At the same time, he also composed without narrow denominational boundaries - just like the great Johann Sebastian Bach. Johann Anton was thus clearly and unambiguously committed to the Enlightenment and its call for tolerance between denominations. This makes it easy to understand how the reformed Protestant André was able to compose such opulent liturgical works as Latin orchestral masses for the Catholic rite.
The main work of the evening is Johann Anton André's Mass No. 2 in C minor from 1825-1826, which is generously scored for solo quartet, choir and large orchestra. In melodic and rhythmic terms, but also in the structure and tempo of the individual sections, it is related to the language of classical orchestral masses - but André finds his own independent way of expression in the instrumentation and harmony.
The basic idea of the Pentecost hymn 'Veni creator spiritus' is reminiscent of Heinrich Schütz's sacred concertos accompanied by basso continuo. However, Johann Anton André combines this historically influenced compositional style with chromatic harmony, which was characteristic of his time. The 'Te Deum' for soloists, choir and orchestra is in the heroic key of E flat major and unfolds a festive and solemn character in a well-dosed structure.
Program and cast
Johann Anton André (1775-1842)
Mass No. 2 in C minor o.op.
Veni creator spiritus, op.59
Te Deum, op.60
Soloist quartet
RHINE-MAIN VOCALISTS
YOUNG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA HESSE
Jürgen Blume, conductor
November 20, 2024, 8 p.m.: Johanneskirche Offenbach
Tickets in advance of the concert for 15 € at the parish office of the Johannesgemeinde, Ludwigstr. 131, Offenbach or register via karten.johannesgemeinde.ofposteode
St. John's Church
Ludwigstr. 131
63067 Offenbach on the Main
December 15/16: 4th Museum Concert of the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra
Dedication for the 250th anniversary of the music publisher Johann André
The 'Coronation Concerto' is a Mozart work with several concise Rhine-Main references and therefore perfectly suited to celebrate both Mozart and the Adré publishing house in the neighboring city of Frankfurt. Although the concerto was premiered in Dresden in 1789, it received a particularly prominent performance when Mozart played the solo part in person on the occasion of Leopold II's coronation as emperor in Frankfurt. The fact that Mozart only played the solo part of this already downright symphonic solo concerto himself during his lifetime resulted in the original incident that he only notated the solo part in the voice of the right hand - after all, he knew what he wanted to play with the left hand. When Johann André published the first edition of the score in 1794, he composed the left hand part without further ado - he would have had no other choice. The last three great symphonies that Mozart wrote at the same time were also published by André.
The Frankfurt Museum Concerts are dedicating these two performances with a prominent cast to the anniversary of the André family, who played an important role in Frankfurt's musical life for over a hundred years with their Frankfurt branch and as a family of music experts.
The second part of the concert features Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Symphony in F sharp major. Korngold is a downright tragic figure - as a late (est) Romantic, a top-class composer among other masters of his time and at the same time, to a certain extent, an outcast from the European concert world due to his great success as a film composer in Hollywood. The symphony is a true work of confession and Korngold's last major work - incidentally also published in the Rhine-Main region by Schott in Mainz.
Program and cast
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
26th Piano Concerto in D major, KV 537
Completion of the solo part by Johann André
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957)
Symphony in F sharp major, op.60
in memory of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Martin Helmchen, piano
FRANKFURT OPERA AND MUSEUM ORCHESTRA
Conductor: Simone Young
December 15, 11 a.m./December 16, 8 p.m.: Alte Oper Frankfurt
Tickets available from the start of the season at www.frankfurtticket.de or at the OF infocenter, Salzgässchen 1, Offenbach.
Old Opera House
Opera Square 1
60313 Frankfurt am Main
December 22: Angel harps
Romantic Christmas music from the André archive
The sky is full of angel harps - and all other Christmas magic... If you take the music folders from the later decades of the 19th century in the André archive, a whole land of Christmas sounds opens up to the musician. For just as the André publishing house always published with its audience in mind, the longing for the most beautiful festival of all was naturally also fulfilled with a full gift table of sheet music. Santa Clauses wander merrily through the winter landscape, choirs of angels sing through the spheres and, of course, the wonderful old Christmas carols are especially honored.
There is noble chamber music as well as musical reflections of the garden arbor aesthetic. What unites them is what makes this program so particularly appealing: they are all a great pre-Christmas pleasure. Olaf Joksch, one of the most profound connoisseurs of Offenbach's musical history, has selected a wonderfully romantic and enjoyable program from the rich treasure trove of Christmas music in the André archive with audible delight in both the beautiful and the cheerfully sweet.
The charismatic soprano Ljuba Nitz takes on the diverse vocal parts, while violinist Yumiko Noda and cellist Ratislav Huba add a special sparkle to the enchantingly sugary sounds.
Then it really could be Christmas in the André year!
Program and cast
Works of the
André family
and by
Franz Ewald
Carl Hillmann
Oskar Brückner
and others
Ljuba Nitz, soprano
Yumiko Noda, violin
Rastislav Huba, violoncello
Olaf Joksch-Weinandy, organ
December 22, 2024, 7 p.m.: French Reformed Church
Admission to the concert in Offenbach will be granted for a donation (approx. 15-20 €). Please register at anmeldung.kulturoffenbachde or call 069-8065 2360.
French Reformed Church
Herrnstrasse 43
63065 Offenbach am Main
January 31, 2025: Exhibition of printed music
Exhibition Music Print / Assemblages Painting Print / Karin André & Jens Matthaei
As the sevenfold great-granddaughter of Johann André, the founder of the music publishing house, and also as an artist, there is of course every reason to engage creatively with her legacy. And this is exactly what Karin André is doing in cooperation with her artist colleague plabilio, alias Jens Matthaei, with whom she initiated the "Notendruck" exhibition a few years ago. As a trainee music dealer in the publishing house, she gained her experience and began to deal with sheet music, music and compositions at an early age. Negative experiences with "printed music", e.g. at school, also played a role in her reflections and motivated the artists to take another look at the subject. Karin André's works with titles such as "Rosenduett" or "Hobellied Song" correspond with plabilio's assemblages and object paintings. Although both artists set their own accents, they combine thematically and complement each other in this joint exhibition. The realization of loving music, even without being able to play it, is clearly expressed.
As a special "treat", pianist Jens Barnieck (www.jensbarnieck.de) will play Karin André's favorite pieces from the works of her forefathers Johann, Anton, Julius and Ludwig André at the vernissage on 31.01.2025 at 6 pm.
Friday, January 31, 6 p.m.: Stadtkirche Offenbach
Vernissage January 31, 6 p.m.
Finissage March 28, 6 pm
Opening hours: Mon. - Fri. 12 - 4 p.m. and Sat. 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
An exhibition of the Offenbach Open City Church Work
Program book
The program book in Offenbach
The program book for the anniversary year "Mozart, André, Offenbach - the sound of the time capsule" contains the complete program of events as well as musicological background texts, interviews and photos from the Andrés' old music storage. The program book is available at the Haus der Stadtgeschichte, Steinmetz'sche Buchhandlung, Buchhandlung am Markt, Musikhaus André and at the concerts in the anniversary year. The program book can also be ordered on the website www.andre250.de (opens in a new tab).
Download the program book
Podcast: Music history made in Offenbach
It is about flight, migration, Mozart and Goethe. But also about the sound of a unique time capsule. In a new episode of the "Nah!" podcast, Energieversorgung Offenbach spoke to owner Hans-Jörg André and the Head of the Office for Cultural Management of the City of Offenbach, Ralph Philipp Ziegler, about what all this has to do with the 250th anniversary of Offenbach-based Musikhaus André.