Herman Koenig | Componisten

StartpaginaComponistenHerman Koenig
Herman Koenig
Herman Koenig

Geboren
1820

Overleden
1870 (?)

Info

When looking at the history of British military music we know that England possessed a high degree of attractiveness for German musicians during the 19th century. This evidently held true for Herman Koenig too who also came to England during the first half of the 19th century. There he performed as a soloist on the cornet and also became known for his activities in the field of instrument making. Finally he also was a composer of some reputation.

In 1840 and probably in the years to follow Koenig played in the Dury Lane Orchestra, London. Later he cooperated with the instrument dealer Pask, and their company became known as Pask & Koenig. Although he spent most of his life in Europe, he also lived in the United States of America for some time, as he went to his country in 1853 together with the then famous French composer and conductor Louis Jullien. The latter had hand-picked 27 musicians which he took with him to the States; in New York he augmented the “European core” by some 100 American performers.
In 1854 Herman Koenig returned to Europe together with Jullien. Concerning the years to come we only know of Koenig’s activities in the field of instrument-making. In 1855 he developed the Koenig horn in F for the French instrument-maker Antoine Courtois, and between 1856 and 1858 he developed two different cornet models also for Courtois.
Even in various contemporary publications experts praise the abilities of Herman Koenig as a soloist on the cornet. Koenig himself is said to have been of the opinion that a cornet could rival the human voice, if it was “skillfully played and similarly treated”.

Koenig left behind only a small number of compositions his most famous one being the “Post Horn Galop”, as it is still performed at various occasions today.
Herman Koenig himself was the soloist of this gallop when the piece was premiered during one of the winter promenade concerts in Covent Garden in 1844. His general attitude towards the post horn is quite remarkable: Koenig clearly preferred the sound of the German post horn, but he advised his students to practice on the smaller English post horn for reasons of improving lip flexibility and technical agility.