Wolfgang Baumgratz

Wolfgang Baumgratz in 2007 at the Sauer organ of the Bremer Dom

Wolfgang Baumgratz (born 10 October 1948) is a German organist and academic teacher. He is the organist of the Bremer Dom, and professor of organ at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen. He has toured in Europe as a concert organist and made recordings. He was president of the international association Gesellschaft der Orgelfreunde from 1998 to 2013.

Life

Born in Meersburg,[1] Baumgratz received his musical training in Heidelberg and Freiburg im Breisgau, where he studied with Ludwig Doerr.[1] He passed the A-examination in Protestant church music in 1976 and worked as cantor at the Johanneskirche in Merzhausen from 1971 to 1976. He completed two years of organ studies on a scholarship from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), studying in Amsterdam with Albert de Klerk.[1] In 1978, he completed the soloist's examination in organ.[1][2]

In 1979, Baumgratz was appointed as successor of Zsigmond Szathmáry as organist at the Bremer Dom.[1][3] One year later he received an organ teacher position at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen (HfK Bremen), and in 1984, he was appointed professor of organ there.[1][3] Five years later he was appointed head of the HfK Bremen church music department.

Since 1982, he has been the organ expert of the Bremen Protestant Church.[1] In 1990, he became Vice President of the international Gesellschaft der Orgelfreunde [de] e. V. (GdO). He was the association's president from 1998[1][4] to 2013.[5] When he retired in 2014, Baumgratz took over an organist position at the Protestant St. Remberti congregation in Bremen (in addition to being a full-time church musician), whose Fischer+Krämer organ (1993/94) he had helped design.

His concert tours as an organist have taken him through many European countries, and he has made numerous recordings.[1]

Recordings

  • Werke für Orgel und Violine, Gitarre, Flöte, Englischhorn by Claus Kühnl u. a.
  • Werke von Bach und Händel in romantischen Orgelbearbeitungen (Die Sauer-Orgel im Bremer Dom)
  • Orgellandschaft Schleswig/Sonderjylland
  • Romantische Orgeln in Holstein
  • Schnitger-Orgel Grasberg, works by Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer
  • Das Orgelwerk von Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
  • Orgellandschaft Holstein/Lübeck
  • Orgelmusik von Komponistinnen (Sauer organ at the Bremer Dom, works by Schumann, Andree and Chaminade)
  • Orgelwerke von Georg Philipp Telemann
  • Orgelmusik der Bachfamilie
  • Silbermann Orgel Vol. 6, works by Schneider, Bestel and Homilius
  • Joseph Rheinberger Orgelwerke, Vol. 7, Sauer organ at the Bremer Domn
  • Inventionen & Sinfonien von Johann Sebastian Bach
  • J. S. Bach, 6 Triosonaten
  • Orgelmusik von Albert De Klerk
  • Orgelkonzert im Dom zu Bremen – Kompositionen über das Te Deum

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Autor: Wolfgang Baumgratz" (in German). Musica Sacra. 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  2. ^ Wolfgang Baumgratz on France Orgue
  3. ^ a b Langkowski, Ilka (20 February 2014). ""Auf einen Espresso" mit Domorganist Wolfgang Baumgratz / Pausen fürs Gemüt". kreiszeitung.de (in German). Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  4. ^ Keggenhoff, Christoff (2004). "Gesellschaft der Orgelfreunde (GDO)". In Bush, Douglas; Kassel, Richard (eds.). The Organ: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. p. 224. ISBN 9781135947965.
  5. ^ Funktionsträger in der Geschichte der GdO (in German) gdo.de