Wolfgang Jacobi

		An impressive personality

		Wolfgang Jacobi was passionate about music all his life. As a child and adolescent he had lived in a cultured musical environment. When he was a prisoner of war in France in 1917, he sustained himself with the hope of one day obtaining recognition as a composer. And his dream came true. Although he did not achieve a major artistic breakthrough. One reason for preventing him to taking his place beside his better known colleagues may lie in the fact that he was black listed by the Nazis. As a consequence, his career as a promising young artist came to a temporary end for over a decade.

	• 25.10.1894 Wolfgang Jacobi is born in Bergen on the island of Rügen (Germany) • 1914 he joins up to fight in the First World War • 1917 he develops tuberculosis while a prisoner of war in France • First attempts at composition in the sanatorium of Davos (Switzerland)

1955 …9

Late recognition

Jacobi begins to compose, first for accordion orchestra, then for solo accordion and is highly successful. Publishers accept his challenging works; accordion players perform them and greatly esteem the now elderly composer. Jacobi’s other works are performed quite frequently, but not given the recognition they deserve.

»I have found a niche with music for the accordion.
I have just returned covered with sweat and fame
from the Trossinger Musiktage.«
Wolfgang Jacobi, 1968

Wolfgang Jacobi and Gisela Walther

• 1958 Performance of the Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano at the Biennale in Venice • 1961 awarded the German Order of Merit • 1965 awarded the Bavarian Order of Merit • 1969 Honorary member of the Deutscher Akkordeonlehrer-Verband • 15.12.1972 Jacobi dies in Munich

1945 …9

A fresh start

After the end of the war, Jacobi can at last return to the public domain of music and he manages to establish himself. He begins to teach at the Händel-Konservatorium in Munich and later, teaches composition and music theory at the Munich Hochschule für Musik. He composes numerous new works. He remains true to his style and does not attempt to adapt to contemporary trends.

Wolfgang Jacobi with
Li Stadelmann and
Fritz Lehmann after
a concert in 1952
Foto: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München / Timpe

• 1946 founding of the »Studio für Neue Musik« • 1949-59 Professor of Music for Schools at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich • 1951-60 Chairman of the Verband Münchener Tonkünstler e.V. and of the Landesverband Bayerischer Tonkünstler e.V. • 1952 First performance of his choral work »Il Pianto della Vergine« in Munich • 1954 awarded the Munich Art Prize

from 1935 …9

New home in Munich

Currency restrictions force the family to return to Germany in the winter of 1935, but their attachment to Italy remains. The Jacobi family take up residence in Munich. Here they patiently await the end of Nazi terrorism. But the Nazi ban forbidding him to earn his living as a musician causes Jacobi much distress and he finds it hard to cope with the restrictions imposed by the period of »inner emigration«.

Wolfgang Jacobi
with his wife Eveline and
daughter Ursula

• In 1942 an incendiary bomb destroys the family home in Berlin and his scores stored there are burnt • In 1944 his son Andreas is reported missing in the Soviet Union

1934 …9

Refuge in Italy

A colleague made it possible for the family to leave for Italy and to take refuge in Malcesine on Lake Garda. Jacobi took great interest in the language and culture of the country and he studied Italian music intensively in the library of the Conservatorio Cherubini in Florence. He was also fascinated by the colours and the light of his new home and began to paint. Italy was to become a major source of inspiration for him.

»Fishermen’s cottages on Lake Garda«
water colour by Wolfgang Jacobi, 1934

1933 – 1945 …9

Banned under the Nazis

The work »The Human Mole« is written for the Workers’ Choral Movement and is to be given its first performance in 1933. But the Nazis prevent it. They have heard of his work and forbid him to earn his living as a musician. Jacobi is classified as being »half Jewish« and for 12 years is condemned to inactivity: he is neither permitted to compose nor to teach. During this period his works may not be performed on German soil.

From: »The Human Mole«
for mixed choir, speaker, baritone solo
and wind ensemble

from 1919 …9

Berlin

Until 1922 Jacobi studies composition under Friedrich E. Koch at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. He is open to innovation and enjoys the vibrant life of this great centre of culture. He composes a great deal and is beginning to make a name for himself with his works. Working as a freelancer for the Berliner Funkstunde, he is given a large number of commissions for compositions and arrangements. He is soon being celebrated by the press as »a composer of great talent« and a musician to be watched.

»I shall never forget the 1920s in Berlin …
Bartok and Stravinski performed their works; Klemperer
conducted Stravinski’s ballets and Hindemith’s operas.
The most renowned chamber music ensembles
and the great international soloists gave regular concerts.«
Wolfgang Jacobi in 1952

• 1922 marriage to Eveline Rüegg • 1922–33 appointed to teach the theory of music at the Klindworth-Scharwenka-Konservatorium in Berlin • 1923 birth of their son Andreas • 1926 birth of their daughter Ursula • 1928 first great success with his Concerto for Cembalo and Orchestra op. 31 in Dresden • 1930 first compositions for saxophone and electronic instruments • 1931 first performance of the piano concerto Dialogue for Piano and Orchestra op. 37 in Duisburg • 1931/32 Radio plays for the Berliner Funkstunde