Siegfried Ochs

Siegfried Ochs (19 April 1858 in Frankfurt – 6 February 1929 in Berlin) was a German choir-leader and composer.

Life

Ochs first studied medicine and chemistry at the Polytechnikum Darmstadt (today the Technische Universität Darmstadt) and at the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg. He later devoted himself entirely to music, studying at the Königliche Hochschule für Musik, Berlin, under Schultze and Ernst Rudorff, and later privately under Friedrich Kiel and Heinrich Urban. In 1882 Ochs founded the Philharmonic Choral Society of Berlin, which he would lead until 1920. At first an obscure organization, it became prominent through numerous performances given by Von Bülow, an intimate friend of Ochs. It arguably became the greatest choral society in Berlin and was distinguished for its helpful patronage of young musicians, whose compositions were performed for the first time.

Works

Ochs himself was noted for humorous or parodic compositions. He wrote both the libretto and music of the three-act comic opera Im Namen des Gesetzes (Hamburg, 1888), two operettas, duets for soprano and alto, male choruses, vocal canons, and several books of songs. Many musicologists also maintain that Ochs was both composer and lyricist of the aria Dank sei Dir, Herr, still widely believed to be by Handel.^[1]

References

1. Staehelin, Martin. ""Dank sei Dir, Herr" - Zur Erklärung einer Händel-Fälschung des frühen zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts". Göttinger Händel-Beiträge, volume 2, 1986. pp. 194-206. Retrieved 2016-01-31.. The title translates as "Thanks Be to Thee" - On the explanation of a Handel fake in the early twentieth century.

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Isidore Singer and Joseph Sohn (1901–1906). "Siegfried Ochs". In Singer, Isidore; et al. Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.

External links

• Free scores by Siegfried Ochs at the International Music Score Library Project
• Guide to the Siegfried Ochs Collection at the Leo Baeck Institute, New York.