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Jean Kurt Forest

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Werner Renner, Jean Kurt Forest and Willi Hera 7 June 1960

Jean Kurt Forest (2 April 1909 – 3 March 1975) was a German violinist and violist, Kapellmeister and composer.

Life

Born Jean Kurt Forst in Darmstadt,[1] the son of a paperhanger, he learned to play the violin at the age of four. From age six, he received a thorough and varied musical education at the Spangenberg Conservatory in Wiesbaden, studying violin, viola, voice, piano, trumpet, timpani and harmony until 1925.[1] He worked as concert master in Wiesbaden for the UFA film orchestra i 1926, and in the same position for the Alhambra [de] cinema in Berlin from 1927 to 1930, collaborating with Paul Dessau.[1] From 1930 to 1933, he played principal viola for the Rundfunksinfonieorchester Frankfurt, and in the same role for the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg and the Hamburg State Opera[1] from 1934 to 1936.[2] In 1937 he was arrested by the Nazis because of his anti-fascism attitude. Dismissed from all positions, he emigrated to Paris, but was expelled back to Germany in 1938.[2] He worked as Kapellmeister at the Stadttheater Neiße,[2] and from 1939 at the Staatstheater Braunschweig.[1]

In 1942, Forest was drafted to the Wehrmacht, but in 1945 defected to the Red Army.[2] As a prisoner of war until 1948, he attended an Antifa School [de] and led its group Music and Artistics[1]. When he returned to Germany, he joined the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)[1] and participated in Berlin in various functions in the development of musical life in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), first as a consultant for choral music at the Berliner Rundfunk to 1951, and as Kapellmeister for Deutscher Fernsehfunk from 1952. He was a freelance composer from 1954.[2]

In 1951, Forest was one of the founding members of the Verband der Komponisten und Musikwissenschaftler der DDR [de] (VDK)[1] and was Chairman of the Berlin District Association from 1967 to 1971.[1] In 1970 he was admitted to the Akademie der Künste der DDR (DAK). From 1969 until his death, he directed the chamber ensemble Musica Nova.[2]

He died in Berlin at age 64, and was buried at the Südwestkirchhof Stahnsdorf [de].

Work

Forest composed around 250 songs,[2] several of the genre Massenlied. His opera Der arme Konrad, written between 1955 and 1957 after a play by Friedrich Wolf,[1] was followed in 1960 by the chamber opera Tai Yang erwacht,[2] also after Wolf. In the 1960s, Forest was also active as a film score composer, for example in Credo: Martin Luther – Wittenberg 1517 [de] and Wenn Du zu mir hältst [de].[2]

Filmography

Forest wrote film scores for several films, including:

Awards

Among Forest's awards were:[1]

Further reading

  • Forest, Jean Kurt. In Minister of Intra-German Relations (ed.): SBZ-Biographie. Ein biographisches Nachschlagebuch über die sowjetische Besatzungszone, Zusammengestellt vom Untersuchungsausschuß Freiheitlicher Juristen [de]. Deutscher Bundes-Verlag, Bonn 1964, p. 91.
  • Hans-Joachim Kynaß: Jean Kurt Forest. [Kurzbiographie und ausgewählte Werke]. Published in association with the Music Council of the GDR. Association of German Composers and Musicologists, Musikinformationszentrum, Berlin 1967.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Baumgartner, Gabriele; Hebig, Dieter, eds. (2012). Forest, Jean Kurt (in German). Vol. 1+2. Munich: Walter de Gruyter. p. 189. ISBN 978-3-11-169913-4. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Kurt_Forest&oldid=973114211"