|
Born: September 9, 1912 - Walheim, near Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Died: January 3, 1999 - Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany |
|
The German German tenor and conductor, Matthias Büchel, grew up in Walheim, where his father worked as an organist. Here he entered his succession as an organist after the blindness of his father. Already at the age of 17, he was choirmaster of the community in Lichtenbusch. From 1933 he studied at the Rheinische Musikhochschule Köln and attended the music teacher seminar at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik. In 1936 he passed his private music teacher's examination in the major subject of piano and worked for two years as a piano teacher, choirmaster and lecturer at the Sozialen Frauenschule in Aachen. He took singing lessons with Leo Nießen and vocal coach Albert Greiner and completed two choir master-classes in Berlin.
In 1938, Matthias Büchel became assistant to the municipal choir director in Aachen Wilhelm Pitz. In 1939-1940 he was entrusted by the then General Music Director Herbert von Karajan with his representation in the rehearsal of J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor (BWV 232) for a performance in Paris and by L.v. Beethoven's Missa solemnis in Berlin. Herbert von Karajan gave him the singing teacher Fritz Schlenker. From 1941 Büchel was drafted as a soldier and came to Ahlen after an injury to the hospital. Here he was engaged after the war as Artistic Director of the Städtischen Singgemeinschaft and the Ahlener Orchesterkonzerte (Ahlen's orchestral concerts).
After performing J.S. Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium (BWV 248) in December 1945 with the ensemble and as an Evangelist at the Martin-Luther-Kirche in Gütersloh, Matthias Büchel was asked to take over the direction of the Städtische Musikverein Gütersloh. From 1946 he became the conductor of the Musikverein, in 1950 he was appointed Municipal Music Director. From 1958 to 1964, he was also Kantor at the St. Pankratius-Kirche in Gütersloh. He also founded the Philharmonischen Chor Münster as well as choirs in Recklinghausen and Bünde and further ensembles. With the Gütersloher Musikverein he undertook the choir to tours of Berlin and Salzburg and recorded some LP's. For the Bertelsmann label he made recordings with repertoire of classical music.
In 1954, Matthias Büchel had to end his singing career due to a diphtheria disease. In 1966, he began on behalf of the district Warendorf the establishment of the local Jugendmusikschule (youth music school), which he directed until 1977. After his retirement, he continued to work as a choirmaster and took on a teaching job at the Universität Münster. On June 20, 1978, he was awarded by the Landrat Paul Lakämper the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Cross of Merit). In 1982 he received the Verdienstmedaille (Medal of Merit) of the city of Gütersloh. His 75th birthday ended his active career. In 1987 he was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz Erster Klasse (Federal Cross of Merit First Class) for his high-level artistic and educational achievements. |
