Nikolaus Harnoncourt

• Born: December 6, 1929
• Birthplace: Berlin, Germany
• Died: March 5, 2016
• Place of death: St Georgen im Attergau, Austria

Austrian classical conductor, cellist, and viol player

A brilliant and versatile conductor, Harnoncourt is widely recognized for his interpretations of Renaissance and Baroque music, the classical and Romantic repertoire, and works from the twentieth century. In addition, he has been instrumental in the revival of early music.

The Life

Austrian conductor Nikolaus de la Fontaine und d’Harnoncourt (NIH-koh-lows HAHR-nuhn-koort) was born to Eberhard de la Fontaine, Count of Harnoncourt-Unverzagt, and Ladislaja, Countess of Meran and Baroness of Brandhofen. Brought up in Graz, he studied cello with Hans Kortschak and Paul Grümmer. In 1952, upon completion of his studies at the Vienna Academy of Music with Emanuel Brabec, he joined the Vienna Symphony Orchestra as a cellist, and he held his position until 1969.

Harnoncourt’s work on early music began in 1949 when he founded the Vienna Viola da Gamba Quartet. In 1953, with his wife Alice and fellow musicians, he founded the Concentus Musicus Wien ensemble, devoted to performances of Renaissance and Baroque music on period instruments. After four years of research on Baroque music and rehearsals, the ensemble made its debut in May, 1957. They began touring in 1960; in the same year, one of the first of their many recordings, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber: Georg Muffat, was released by Amadeo.

Since the 1980’s, Harnoncourt has increasingly performed classical and Romantic repertoire with modern instrumental ensembles, including the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras. From 1973 to 1993, he was a professor at the Mozarteum University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Salzburg, where he became an artist in residence in 2006. In 2008, Harnoncourt conducted his first twentieth-century opera, Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, and later recorded George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.

The Music

Founded in 1953, the Concentus Musicus Wien is one of the first major ensembles devoted to the performance of Renaissance and Baroque music on period instruments. Conducted by Harnoncourt from his cello or viola da gamba, the ensemble has performed and recorded the major works of Claudio Monteverdi, Georg Philipp Telemann, Georg Frideric Handel, and Johann Sebastian Bach. After his debut at the conductor’s rostrum with Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria at the Piccola Scala in Milan in 1972, Harnoncourt conducted the acclaimed Monteverdi and Mozart cycles at the Zurich Opera House, from 1975 to 1987, in collaboration with Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. He has conducted at the Vienna State Opera, at the Amsterdam Opera House, at the Zurich Opera House, and at other venues, performing a wide range of works by Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Carl Maria von Weber, Johann Strauss, and others.

In 1985 Harnoncourt became involved in the annual Styriarte Festival in his hometown of Graz, performing cycles of works by Joseph Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Robert Schumann, and Felix Mendelssohn with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He has appeared regularly with the Concertgebouw Orchestra since 1975 and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra since 1991, and he conducted the New Year’s Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in 2001 and 2003.

J. S. Bach: The Complete Sacred Cantatas. In 1971, in collaboration with musician Gustav Leonhardt, Harnoncourt began his pioneering recordings of Bach’s complete cantatas. Besides the soloists, a number of instrumental and vocal groups took part in this groundbreaking project, including the Concentus Musicus Wien and the Leonhardt Consort playing on period instruments, the Vienna Boys’ Choir, the Chorus Viennensis, the Tölz Boys’ Choir, the King’s College Choir Cambridge, the Hanover Boys’ Choir, and the Collegium Vocale Gent. By the time the project was completed, almost two hundred sacred cantatas had been recorded, and a total of ninety albums in forty-five volumes had been issued. J. S. Bach: The Complete Sacred Cantatas was awarded the Gramophone Special Achievement Award in 1990.

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9. Under Harnoncourt’s direction, the complete cycle of Beethoven’s nine symphonies played by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe was recorded at the Styriarte Festival in 1990 and 1991. For the recordings, Harnoncourt employs a mid-size orchestra, similar to those during Beethoven’s time, and he mixes modern instruments played in period style with period trumpets. The five-disc recording received critical acclaim, and it was awarded the German Record Critics’ Award in 1991, as well as the Emmy Award, the Gramophone Record of the Year, the Stella d’Oro, the Grand Prix du Disque, and the Belgian Caecilia Prize in 1992.

Schumann: Genoveva.Genoveva is the only complete opera by Schumann with a libretto by the composer. Harnoncourt conducted the rarely performed work at the Styriarte Festival in 1996, featuring Ruth Ziesak, Marjana Lipovsek, Deon van der Walt, Rodney Gilfry, Thomas Quasthoff, and Oliver Widmer, together with the Arnold Schoenberg Choir and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. On two compact discs, the live recording for Teldec was awarded the BBC Music Magazine Best of 1997, the Caecilia Prize, and the Independent 50 Best of the Year CDs in 1998.

Johann Strauss in Berlin. Recorded in 1998 and 1999 on Teldec DVD-audio, Johann Strauss in Berlin contains a collection of polkas, waltzes, and marches performed by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Harnoncourt. A selection of works by Strauss in connection to his time in Berlin is featured, including the “Pigeons of St. Mark’s,” the “Tritsch-Tratsch Polka,” and the “Emperor Waltz.” The recording was given the Edison Award in 2000.

Musical Legacy

Harnoncourt has an extensive discography of almost five hundred recordings, many of which have been awarded international prizes. In 2006 he won the Echo Klassik 2006 for his recording of Handel’s Messiah with the Concentus Musicus Wien and with the Arnold Schoenberg Choir. His views on music are documented in several acclaimed books, including The Musical Dialogue: Thoughts on Monteverdi, Bach and Mozart and Töne sind höhere Worte: Gespräche zur Interpretation romantischer Musik (2007, notes are superior words: conversations on the interpretation of Romantic music).

In recognition of his lifetime achievements, Harnoncourt has received numerous international awards, including the Polar Music Prize (1994), the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (2002), and the Kyoto Prize (2005). He became an honorary member of the Vienna Concert House Society in 1989, of the Vienna Society of the Friends of Music in 1992, and of the Viennese Philharmonic Orchestra in 2004. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Edinburgh in 1987, and he became an honorary member of the universities of music in Graz and Vienna. Harnoncourt died in March 2016 at age eighty-six in Austria.

Bibliography

Elste, Martin. “Nikolaus Harnoncourt: A Profile.” Fanfare 13, no. 3 (January/February, 1990): 449-452. This article discusses Harnoncourt’s career and the changes in his performance style over the years.

Harnoncourt, Nikolaus. Baroque Music Today: Music as Speech—Ways to a New Understanding of Music. Translated by Mary O’Neill. Edited by Reinhard G. Pauly. Portland, Oreg.: Amadeus Press, 1988. This is a collection of essays written by Harnoncourt that summarize his views on Baroque performance practice.

Harnoncourt, Nikolaus. The Musical Dialogue: Thoughts on Monteverdi, Bach, and Mozart. Translated by Mary O’Neill. Edited by Reinhard G. Pauly. Portland, Oreg.: Amadeus Press, 1988. This book by Harnoncourt contains a collection of essays, lectures, and talks relating to the music of Monteverdi, Bach, and Mozart.

Millington, Barry. "Nikolaus Harnoncourt Obituary." The Guardian, 6 Mar. 2016, www.theguardian.com/music/2016/mar/06/nikolaus-harnoncourt-obituary. Accessed 29 Dec. 2017.

Oestreich, James R. "Following His Fixations, Early Music to Whatever." The New York Times, 10 Nov. 1996, www.nytimes.com/1996/11/10/arts/following-his-fixations-early-music-to-whatever.html?pagewanted=all. Accessed 29 Dec. 2017.

Principal Recordings

albums:Bach: Brandenburg Concertos, 1964; Bach: St. John Passion, 1965; Bach: Four Orchestral Suites, 1966; Bach: Mass in B Minor, 1968; Bach: St. Matthew Passion, 1970; J. S. Bach: The Complete Sacred Cantatas, 1971-1988 (with Gustav Leonhardt); Bach: Christmas Oratorio, 1972; Monteverdi: Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria, 1975; Monteverdi: L’Incoronazione di poppea, 1975; Monteverdi: L’Orfeo, 1975; Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9, 1991; Telemann: Der tag des gerichts, 1993; Bach: Sacred Cantatas, 1994; Purcell: Dido and Aeneas, 1994; Haydn: Symphonies 30, 34, and 73, 1995; Handel: Water Music, 1996; Schumann: Genoveva, 1997; Johann Strauss in Berlin, 2000.

writings of interest:Zur Geschichte der Streichinstrumente und ihres Klanges, 1961; Das Musizieren mit alren Instrumenten: Einflüsse der Spieltechnik auf die Interpretation, 1967; Das quasi Wort-ton-verhältnis in der Instrumentalen Barockmusik, 1969 (Baroque Music Today: Music as Speech—Ways to a New Understanding of Music, 1988); Probleme der Wiedergabe von Bachs Chor-orchester-werken, 1969; Notenschrift und Wektreue, 1971; Musik als Klangrede: Wege zu einem Neuen Musikverständnis, 1982; Monteverdi, Bach, und Mozart, 1984 (The Musical Dialogue: Thoughts on Monteverdi, Bach, and Mozart, 2003); Was ist Wahrheit?, 1995.