Heinrich Kaminski

Synopsis

German composer

• 1886 born in Tiengen, Germany to a old Catholic priest of Jewish ancestry.
• 1909 after working in a bank and studying law, he went to Berlin to study music at the Stern Conservatory, under the patronage of Martha Warburg.
• 1914 began to work as a piano teacher, choirmaster, and composition teacher in Benediktbeuern.
• 1930 went to Berlin to teach at the Prussian Academy of the Arts, where he was director of a master class in composition. Among his students were Carl Orff, Heinz Schubert, and Reinhard Schwarz-Schilling.
• 1933 he was terminated from his employment and left Berlin for Benediktbeuern because of his "political opinions." He was unable to reestablish his career for the same reason.
• 1938-1941 categorized as a "half-Jew" and then a "quarter-Jew" because of his ancestry. He was forced to flee and was a refugee in France and Switzerland, among other places.
• Between 1939 and 1945 he lost three children, and died himself in 1946 at Ried, Bavaria, Germany.

For details, see the Wikipedia article on Heinrich Kaminski.

List of Organ Works

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Opus	Title	Year
Op. ??	Wie schön leucht’ uns der Morgenstern	1923
Op. ??	Choralsonate	1926
Op. ??	3 Chorale Preludes	1928
Op. ??	Toccata and Fugue	1939
Op. ??	Andante	1939
Op. ??	Chorale Prelude ‘Mein’ Seel’ iststille’	1940
Op. ??	Title	year

Background and General Perspectives on Performing These Organ Works

From Oxford Music Online:

• "For Kaminski, music was not a ‘craft’, but a revelation of the fundamental laws of the universe and of life."
• "While titles such as that of his most successful orchestral work, the Concerto grosso, suggest contemporary neo-classical trends, Kaminski was far from adopting old forms, although he had a deep affinity with the counterpoint of the Baroque. His organ toccata Wie schön leucht’ uns der Morgenstern takes Reger as its point of departure, but goes beyond him in the intricacy of the counterpoint and the decidedly non-orchestral handling of the instrument (for example, the swell and crescendo pedals are not used). Other organ pieces – the Choralsonate and the Toccata and Fugue – show his struggle to achieve organic development without dependence on formal schemes."

Registration and Organs

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See the footnote in the "Notes" section at the bottom of the page

Fingering and Pedaling

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Articulation and Phrasing

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Ornamentation

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Tempo and Meter

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Scores and Editions

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Recordings

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Free Online

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Other Resources

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Notes

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