History

The musical life of Timișoara cannot be understood or explained outside of the cultural traditions of this geographical area, conventionally called the historical Banat. At the end of the first millennium, in the immediate vicinity of the future Timisoara citadel, at Cenad (Morisena) there was a monastery inhabited by Greek monks who practiced a Byzantine rite religion, and, of course, the music used and spread in the area was of Byzantine origin. The Roman Church, which aimed to attract the Hungarians to it, resulted in the displacement of the Greek monks, turning Cenad into an episcopal site. The first bishop of the Diocese of Cenad was a Benedictine monk from Venice, Gerard de Sagredo (977-1046), who also founded a school here, following the model of advanced medieval educational institutions in which music, an important component of the septem artes liberales, as in the future universities of the time, will obviously occupy a place of honor. In this sense, Bishop Gerard will bring Master Walther as a music pedagogue (Legenda sancti Gerhardi). He will teach many students who, in turn, will spread the musical notions to other monasteries in Banat, having in mind that, in the Benedictine ones, prayers were done singing. It is also known that from the 11th century, next to every cathedral or large church, there was also a school for learning church songs (Fr. Metz – Te Deum Laudamus).

The Timișoara Citadel, documented more than 700 years ago, will absorb these musical traditions and develop them like any other European center.

The first concert took place on December 8, 1871. Under the baton of Heinrich Weidt, two large symphonic vocal works were performed: Die Frithjofs Saga by Max Bruch and Der Taucher – a composition belonging to the conductor from Timișoara.

The concert activity that followed was mainly focused (in the beginning) on the “a cappella” genre (from miniatures to large-scale scores such as Missa Papae Marcelli by G.P.da Palestrina) and on chamber music. It does not mean that the vocal-symphonic genre has been overlooked. On the contrary, large-scale works such as the Requiem (1877) and the Die Könige in Israel Oratorio (1882), both by the Timișoara-born composer Franz Wilhelm Speer, the Creation (J. Haydn, 1880), Elias (Mendessohn-Bartholdy, 1884) and Paulus (Mendessohn-Bartholdy, 1891) oratorios constituted important moments in the concert activity of the Society. In the repertoire-deciding process, as well as that for most of the chamber music programs in the first quarter of a century of the Philharmonic Society’s existence, an important role was played by the conductor, organist, violinist, brass player, teacher and composer Martin Novaček (1834-1906) and, to some extent, by his sons: Rudolf (1860-1929) – violinist, violist, pianist, teacher, prolific composer and orchestrator (appreciated even by P.I. Tchaikovsky), friend of Ferruccio Busoni and Arthur Nikisch, former director of the Berlin Opera; Ottokar (1866-1900), the best-known member of the Novaček family, violinist – former member of the famous “Brodsky” string quartet and the “Damrosch” orchestra in New York, talented composer, author, among others, of a Moto perpetuo for violin and orchestra and of a Heroic Concerto for piano and orchestra presented in first audition (1896) in Berlin by Ferruccio Busoni with Arthur Nikisch as conductor; Karl (1868-1929), – principal cellist in the Budapest Opera orchestra and Victor (1875-1914) – violinist, winner of the “Robert Schumann” Prize (Leipzig), concert soloist (he also performed at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest (1895), former concertmaster of the Helsinki Philharmonic and Sibelius’s consultant for the latter’s Violin Concerto. Until the artistic destiny of each separated them from the family, in Timișoara, Budapest or Karlovy Vary they enjoyed great appreciation for the performances of the “Kammermusikvereinigung Familie Novaček” quartet.