Volkmar Andreae


Volkmar Andreae was a Swiss conductor and composer.

Life and career

Andreae was born in Bern. He received piano instruction as a child and his first lessons in composition with Karl Munzinger. From 1897 to 1900, he studied at the Cologne Conservatory and was a student of Fritz Brun, Franz Wüllner, Isidor Seiss and Friedrich Wilhelm Franke. In 1900 he was a soloist tutor at the Munich Hofoper. In 1902 he took over the leadership of the Mixed Choir of Zurich, where he remained until 1949, also leading the Stadtsängerverein Winterthur from 1902 to 1914 and the Männerchor Zürich from 1904 to 1914.
From 1906 to 1949 he led the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and from 1914 to 1939 the Conservatory of Zurich. Later he worked as freelance composer in Vienna and worked internationally as a conductor. He composed opera, symphony and chamber music, piano, violin, and oboe concertos, piano music, as well as choir music and songs. He died in Zurich.
He is mentioned in Chapter XXI of Thomas Mann's novel Doctor Faustus, where he is cited as conducting the Thirteen Brentano Lieder by the fictional composer Adrian Leverkühn. This fictional concert is said to have taken place in 1922 in the Tonhalle in Zurich.
His grandson is the conductor Marc Andreae, who recorded various of his grandfather's works for the Guild label.

Works (selection)

Operas