Wolfrum, Philipp

Wolfrum, Philipp, German conductor, musicologist, and composer; b. Schwarzenbach-am-Wald, Dec. 17, 1854; d. Sa maden, May 8, 1919. He was a pupil of Rheinberger and Wullner in Munich, receiving his Ph.D. at Leipzig Univ. in 1890 with the diss. Die Entstehung und erste Entwickelung des deutschen evangelischen Kirchenliedes in musikalischer Beziehung. After serving as a music teacher in a Bamberg seminary (1879-84), he was named director of music at Heidelberg Univ., where he was made a prof. in 1898. He was also founder-conductor of the noted Heidelberg Bachverein (from 1885), with which he championed the music of Bach; he also furthered the cause of Bruckner and Reger. In addition to his composition, he also ed. Der evangelische Kirchenchor (collection of 44 hymns) and Pfälzisches Melodienbuch. His brother, Karl Wolfrum (b. Schwarzenbach-am-Wald, Aug. 14, 1856; d. Neustadt-an-der-Aisch, May 27, 1937), was a pedagogue and composer.

Works

Festliche Ouvertüre; Das grosse Halleluja, ode for Chorus and Orch. (1886); Ein Weihnachtsmysterium, Christmas play, for Chorus and Orch. (1899); Piano Quartet; String Quartet; Piano Trio; Cello Sonata; 3 organ sonatas.

Writings

Joh. Seb. Bach (2 vols., 1906; 2^nd ed. of vol. 1, 1910); Die evangelische Kirchenmusik: Ihr Stand und ihre Weiterentwicklung (1914); Luther und Bach (1917); Luther und die Musik (1918).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire