Paul Sacher
Paul Sacher (28 April 1906 – 26 May 1999) was a Swiss conductor, patron, and impresario.
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[edit] Biography
Sacher studied under Felix Weingartner, among others. In 1926 he founded the Basel Chamber Orchestra (Basler Kammerorchester) to play both modern works and those written before the classical period. Immensely wealthy, Sacher commissioned works from many well-known composers, including Igor Stravinsky (who provided him with the Concerto in D), Béla Bartók (the Divertimento for Strings, String Quartet No. 6, and the Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta), Bohuslav Martinů (many works including the Double Concerto, Concerto da camera etc.), Arthur Honegger (many works, including the Second Symphony and the Fourth Symphony Deliciae Basilienses), Frank Martin (six works, including the Petite Symphonie Concertante), Paul Hindemith, Hans Werner Henze, Richard Strauss, Elliott Carter, Witold Lutosławski (Sacher Variation, Double Concerto, Chain 2, etc.), Henri Dutilleux, and Harrison Birtwistle.
Pierre Boulez wrote his Grawemeyer Award-winning work Sur Incises for Sacher's 90th birthday. Boulez bequeathed his entire catalogue (including drafts) to the Paul Sacher Foundation. Henze dedicated his Tenth Symphony in memory of Sacher, who had commissioned it but died before it was completed.
In 1983 Sacher acquired the Stravinsky estate.[1] The Paul Sacher Stiftung (Foundation) is located in the centre of Basel (in Munsterplatz) and houses one of the world's most important musical-manuscript collections. Sacher bought most of these manuscripts himself, and they include complete collections by several of the most important 20th-century composers (including Lutosławski, Ligeti and Boulez). In 1997 Sacher received an honorary doctorate from the Academy of Music in Kraków.[2]
He was named the world's third-richest man in the 1990s, having married the heiress of the pharmaceutical company Hoffmann–La Roche. At the time of his death he was reputed in various publications to be the richest man in Europe. He died in 1999, aged 93.
[edit] "eSACHERe"
On the occasion of Sacher's 70th birthday, twelve composer-friends of his (Conrad Beck, Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Benjamin Britten, Henri Dutilleux, Wolfgang Fortner, Alberto Ginastera, Cristóbal Halffter, Hans Werner Henze, Heinz Holliger, Klaus Huber and Witold Lutosławski) were asked by Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich to write compositions for cello solo using his name spelt out in musical notes as the theme (eS, A, C, H, E, Re). The compositions were partially presented in Zurich on 2 May 1976. The whole "eSACHERe" project will be (for the first time in complete performance) performed by Czech cellist František Brikcius in May 2011 in Prague.
| Composer | Composition |
|---|---|
| Conrad Beck | Für Paul Sacher : Drei Epigramme für Violoncello solo |
| Luciano Berio | Les Mots sont allés |
| Pierre Boulez | Messagesquisse, pour 7 violoncelles |
| Benjamin Britten | Tema "Sacher" |
| Henri Dutilleux | Trois Strophes sur le nom de Sacher |
| Wolfgang Fortner | Zum Spielen für den 70. Geburtstag : Thema und Variationen für Violoncello Solo |
| Alberto Ginastera | Punena n° 2, op. 45 |
| Cristóbal Halffter | Variationen über das Thema eSACHERe |
| Hans Werner Henze | Capriccio per Paul Sacher |
| Heinz Holliger | Chaconne, für Violoncello Solo |
| Klaus Huber | Transpositio ad infinitum |
| Witold Lutosławski | Sacher-Variationen |
[edit] Source
- ^ "The Founder": Chronology, Paul Sacher Foundation.
- ^ [1]
