Herbert Collum (Conductor, Organ, Harpsichord, Arranger)

Born: July 18, 1914 - Leipzig, Germany
Died: April 29, 1982 - Dresden, Germany

The German organist, harpsichordist, conductor, Herbert Collum, studied organ with Karl Straube and Günther Ramin at the Hochschule fur Musik in Leipzig 1930 to 1934. He also piano with Adolf Martienssen and composition with Johann Nepomuk David.

In 1934 Herbert Collum became organist of the Kreuzkirche in Dresden and held this post until his death. In 1935 he founded the Collum Concerts,. He led the harpsichord class at the Dresden Musikhochschule, where he was appointed professor in 1960. In addition to his duties at the Kreuzkirche, he exercised decisive influence on musical life in Dresden in the sophisticated programmes of his "Collum Concerts", which he founded in 1935. In in 1946 he also founded the Collum Choir of Dresden.

Concert tours took Herbert Collum all over Europe, and he regularly played in Reinhardtsgrimma. He was a distinguished interpreter of the music of J.S. Bach, both as organist and as harpsichordist. As a composer, Collum ensured with numerous organ, orchestral (including concertos for harpsichord) and choral works and in particular with his psalm settings that bis name will not be forgotten.

Source: Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20^th Century Classical Musicians (1997)l; Liner notes to the 15-CD Box Set ‘J.S. Bach: Orgelwerke auf Silbermann-Orgel · Organ Works’ (Berlin Classics)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (October 2002); Matthias Hansen (February 2011)

Herbert Collum: Short Biography | Recordings of Instrumental & Vocal Works | Arrangements/Transcriptions: Works | Recordings

Organ Works on Silbermann Organs: LP Recordings on Eterna | CD Recordings on Berlin Classics | CD Recordings on Baroque Music Club
Short Biographies: Christoph Albrecht | Herbert Collum | Arthur Eger | Hannes Kästner | Robert Köbler | Johannes-Ernst Köhler | Günter Metz | Hans Otto | Erich Piasetzki | Johannes Schäfer
Recording Reviews: Bach on Silbermann Organs, Vol. 2 (C. Albrecht) | Bach Organ Works from Berlin Classics, Vol. 9 (E. Piasetzki)

Links to other Sites

Dresdner Totentanz - Veranstaltung/Herbert Collum [German]
Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten Online [German]

Herbert Collum (Wikipedia) [German]