Tracing the Roots of the University Orchestra

It is little known that the Berlin Hochschule für Musik (University of Music) and the Philharmonic Orchestra worked closely together for a brief period in their early years. When the Conservatory was founded in 1869, the underlying idea was to establish an orchestra within the school itself. For a brief historical moment, this vision seemed achievable with the founding of the Berlin Philharmonic in 1882. Connections also existed during the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich.

From its inception, the Berlin Hochschule für Musik was tasked with influencing the musical life of the city. According to its 1882 statutes, it had a dual mission: “on the one hand, to provide comprehensive advanced training in all areas of music,” and “on the other hand, to organize musical performances using the talents it cultivated.” Thus, the educational mission was complemented—nominally as an equal priority—by a performance mandate.

The ambitions of the university's founder, Joseph Joachim, went even further. He envisioned creating an orchestra directly from the school. In January 1872, about two and a half years after the Hochschule opened its modest doors in September 1869, Joachim visited St. Petersburg, where a conservatory had been established ten years earlier. Writing to his wife Amalie, he shared: “My idea that an orchestra should be formed from students passionate about the cause, and that from this center a noble, independent style of performing the great masterworks must emerge and be preserved to educate the public, is correct.” Against the tide of variety, superficiality, and banality in the concert world, Joachim offered a vision of cultivated artistry.

For Joachim, Leipzig was the German benchmark for the emerging Berlin Hochschule. Leipzig had already established its Conservatory in 1843, which was closely connected to the Gewandhaus Orchestra. Joachim sought a similar relationship for Berlin. However, in the Prussian-German capital, the order of events had to be reversed: first, the educational institution was founded, and from it, Joachim hoped, a high-quality orchestra would grow.

But how did this educational vision fare in reality? Could it pass the test of practice? In its first decade, the Hochschule experienced growth. The Berlin music scene of the 1870s was influenced by the “spirit of the Hochschule” (Adolf Weißmann). However, this spirit was more evident in the soirées of the Joachim Quartet at the Sing-Akademie than in the “public performances” organized by the Hochschule. It was the faculty’s performances that impressed, rather than the university’s events. By the 34th performance on January 28, 1883—with Beethoven’s 9th Symphony serving as a fitting finale—the series of university concerts initiated by Joachim came to an end.

This conclusion coincided with the birth of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1882, former members of Benjamin Bilse’s Kapelle emancipated themselves from their “chief,” conductor and music entrepreneur Benjamin Bilse, and organized themselves independently as an orchestra association. The Hochschule saw this development as relevant to its mission. Joseph Joachim supported the new ensemble, and the university’s administration proposed to the Prussian Minister of Culture that the orchestra be linked to the Academy of Arts.

The administration argued that for decades, Berlin had “felt the lack of an orchestra” that could serve as a model. Now, such an ensemble was emerging. Alongside the “interests of the entire public cultural life of the capital,” the “specific well-being of the Royal Hochschule für Musik” was also at stake. The Philharmonic could function within the Academy as a “permanent orchestra,” in which qualified students would actively participate “in its rehearsals and public performances.”

Thanks to this enthusiastic endorsement, the Minister approved the arrangement, allowing the orchestra to be contracted from the fall of 1883 under a “rental agreement” with the Academy and its affiliated Hochschule. In the Philharmonic concerts aimed at an educated audience, Joachim conducted alongside Karl Klindworth and Franz Wüllner. However, the connection with the Hochschule failed, as was acknowledged just a few years later in 1887. The administration recommended “returning as much as possible to previous arrangements and making music solely with the school’s own resources.”

The Berlin Philharmonic’s rise occurred without the Hochschule. The orchestra’s management was taken over by concert agent Hermann Wolff, and Hans von Bülow was brought on as conductor. With this leadership, the orchestra achieved great success.

During the Weimar Republic, ties were re-established. The Hochschule took over the Philharmonic Choir. Its founder, Siegfried Ochs, was a former student and, in a sense, a defector from the Hochschule. In his engaging memoirs, he humorously described the institution as outdated. The renowned composition teacher Friedrich Kiel privately tutored him after his expulsion. After completing his studies, Ochs became a successful choir director. The choral society he built eventually evolved into the Philharmonic Choir. When the choir faced financial difficulties after World War I, the Prussian state integrated it into the Hochschule in 1920—the once-rebellious student returned as a professor.

The new university choir debuted under Ochs’ direction in December 1920 with Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, commemorating the composer’s 150th birthday. Ochs conducted numerous performances and also led an oratorio class. He retired in 1928 at the age of 70 and passed away the following year. The physician, music critic, and conductor Kurt Singer—later the head of the Jewish Cultural League and the Hochschule’s medical advisor—memorialized him in a literary tribute.

The Hochschule orchestra also maintained a connection with the Philharmonic during the Weimar Republic. Julius Prüwer became the Hochschule’s conductor in 1924, leaving his position as General Music Director at the National Theater in Weimar to join the university. A year later, he was appointed permanent conductor for the Philharmonic’s popular concerts, a role he fulfilled in addition to his university duties. Until 1933, Prüwer conducted over 700 performances. He was dismissed by the Nazis for racist reasons.

In 1940, the Nazi-appointed director Fritz Stein enlisted “State Councillor” Wilhelm Furtwängler for a “masterclass,” in which a select group of students participated in Philharmonic rehearsals and then discussed them with Furtwängler. Among these students was none other than Sergiu Celibidache.

Author: Dr. Dietmar Schenk, Former Director of the University Archive