Georg Hanstedt (9 October 1904 – 25 March 1975) was a German violinist. He was a long-standing member of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, and played in various string quartet formations. In 1934, he became a violinist of the Bayreuth Festival orchestra. He made recordings in the 1960s as second violin of the Schuster Quartet.

Georg Hanstedt
Born(1904-10-09)9 October 1904
Died25 March 1975(1975-03-25) (aged 70)
OccupationClassical violinist
Organizations
AwardsHandel Prize

Life

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Hanstedt was born in 1904 in Gelsenkirchen as the son of a police station master, Georg Hanstedt, and his wife Elisabeth, née Wahnes.[1] After the Abitur passed at the secondary school in his home town, he studied[1] violin (with Walther Davisson and Hans Bassermann), teaching theory and composition (with Max Ludwig) at the Leipzig Conservatory from 1923 to 1928.[2]: 440  In addition, he was enrolled at the University of Leipzig in humanities subjects.[1] He participated in the Gewandhaus concerts already during as a student.[1]

In 1929, he became a member of the second violins of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, conducted by Bruno Walter.[1] Following the emergency decree of Reich Chancellor Heinrich Brüning, he was dismissed in November 1931.[1] From October 1934, he played in the Leipziger Sinfonie-Orchester conducted by Hans Weisbach.[1] The same year, he was accepted by the Bayreuth Festival orchestra.[3]: 138  In April 1937, he was reinstated in the Gewandhaus Orchestra, which was meanwhile conducted by Hermann Abendroth. He was drafted to the Wehrmacht in February 1943.[1] Until his release in Fürstenwalde in August 1945, he was a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union.[1] He then continued his activities in the Gewandhaus Orchestra with conductors Herbert Albert, Franz Konwitschny, Václav Neumann and Kurt Masur until 1971,[1] eventually playing first violin.[1]

Chamber music

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Hanstedt as second violinist of the Kirmse Quartet (1949)

Hanstedt was active as a chamber musician in many ways: From 1928 to 1938[2] he played second violin in the Genzel Quartet,.[4]: 112  and in 1943 in the Schachtebeck Quartet,[4]: 209  and from 1945 in the Kirmse Quartet.[2] Later, Hanstedt was second violin of the Schuster Quartet.[5]: 3  In 1960, they recorded Max Butting's String Quartet No. 8, Op. 96.[6] They recorded in 1965/66 the String Quartet No. 2 by Leo Spies.[7] The quartet was awarded the Handel Prize in 1963.

From 1936 he was married to Irene Melzer; the couple had two children.[2] He died in Leipzig at age 70.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Hans-Rainer Jung: Das Gewandhaus-Orchester. Seine Mitglieder und seine Geschichte seit 1743. Faber & Faber, Leipzig 2006, ISBN 3-936618-86-0, p. 222.
  2. ^ a b c d Hedwig und Erich Hermann Mueller von Asow (ed.): Kürschners deutscher Musiker-Kalender 1954. 2nd edition of the Deutsches Musiker-Lexikon, de Gruyter, Berlin 1954.
  3. ^ Alfred Sous: Das Bayreuther Festspielorchester. Geschichte, Geschichten und Anekdoten von damals bis heute on WorldCat Lienau, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-87484-125-1.
  4. ^ a b Jürgen Stegmüller: Streichquartett. Eine internationale Dokumentation zur Geschichte der Streichquartett-Ensembles und Streichquartett-Kompositionen von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart in: Quellenkataloge zur Musikgeschichte. Vol 40). Noetzel, Wilhelmshaven 2007, ISBN 978-3-7959-0780-8
  5. ^ Hansjürgen Schaefer: Berliner Festtage 1957. Musik von Ottmar Gerster. Berliner Zeitung, 11 October 1957, Jg. 13, edition 238
  6. ^ Eterna LP / 825800 bis 825899 (in German) liedderzeit.de 10 April 2020, retrieved 7 August 2020
  7. ^ Rare Classical Recordings Episode 1 virtuosochannel.com retrieved 7 August 2020
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