Hoch Conservatory Explained

Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium
Musikakademie
Type:Public
City:Frankfurt
State:Hesse
Country:Germany
Address:Sonnenmannstraße 16
Coor:50.1102°N 8.6999°W

Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium – Musikakademie was founded in Frankfurt am Main on 22 September 1878. Through the generosity of Frankfurter Joseph Hoch, who bequeathed the Conservatory one million German gold marks in his testament, a school for music and the arts was established for all age groups. Instrumental to the foundation, prosperity and success of the conservatory was its director Joachim Raff who did most of the work including setting the entire curriculum and hiring all its faculty.[1] It has played an important role in the history of music in Frankfurt. Clara Schumann taught piano, as one of distinguished teachers in the late 19th century, gaining international renown for the conservatory. In the 1890s, about 25% of the students came from other countries: 46 were from England and 23 from the United States.

In the 1920s, under director Bernhard Sekles, the conservatory was far ahead of its time: Sekles initiated the world's first Jazz Studies (directed by Mátyás Seiber)[2] and in 1931 the Elementary Music Department.

Dr. Hoch's conservatory offers instruction in the Music Education for Youth and Adults (ANE) program, the Elementary Music Department (Basisabteilung), and the Pre-College-Frankfurt (PCF) program, which provides preparation for future studies at a Hochschule or conservatory. There are also Ballet, Early Music and New Music departments. The following qualifications are available: Bachelor of Music in Performance and Pedagogy in all instruments, voice, music theory, composition, performance and Elementary Music Pedagogy.

Chronology

June: Joachim Raff elected first director.

20 October: Clara Schumann's 50th anniversary as a performer.

9 June: Frankfurt visit by Franz Liszt.

21. March: Bernhard Scholz takes over as director.

September: Opening of the Seminar (Director: Iwan Knorr).

Dr. Hans Rumpf becomes chairman of the foundation and Bertil Wetzelsberger director.

17 October: Opening of the »Hochschule für Musik und Theater der Stadt Frankfurt am Main« without permission of the Ministry of Culture. Growing influence of Artistic Director Hans Meißner.

Directors

Teachers and students

Distinguished teachers

Distinguished students

Teachers

Students

Legacy

The German Federal Bank honored the conservatory on the reverse side of the former 100 DM bill with a picture of the original conservatory building, unfortunately bombed in World War II. Clara Schumann, the first piano teacher, is pictured on the front side of the bill.

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Raff's Role in Dr. Hoch's Conservatory. 24 May 2016. 28 July 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160728070536/http://raff.org/life/art/teacher.htm. dead.
  2. "This was actually the first academic program for the study of jazz anywhere in the world." Kathryn Smith Bowers, "East Meets West. Contributions of Mátyás Seiber to Jazz in Germany." Jazz and the Germans, (Ed. Michael J. Budds), Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press, 2002,, S. 122.
  3. Web site: albert mangelsdorff . albert mangelsdorff . de . 9 May 2022 . 3 July 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220703183337/http://www.albert-mangelsdorff.de/index.php?/vita/ . dead .