Paul Huber on his centenary
A richly illustrated biography of the composer by Hanspeter Spörri and a list of all his works, compiled by Bernhard Hangartner and Eva Martina Hanke.
The fact that Paul Huber (1918-2001) was a striking personality and important for St. Gallen was not only demonstrated on the occasion of the unveiling of his statue in the Huberpärkli, which Thomas Scheitlin, Mayor of St. Gallen, writes about in his foreword to the newly published volume on the composer and music teacher. The large number of interested music lovers who attended the vernissage of this book, initiated by the Paul Huber Society, last February leaves no doubt about this.
The first part contains a biographical sketch, lovingly compiled by Hanspeter Spörri. Paul Huber was born as the second son into a farming family and had to accept the loss of his father and mother at the age of ten. He came to classical music through his foster family. Training at the Zurich Conservatory in piano, organ, school music and theoretical subjects, a short trip to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger, election as head teacher for singing and piano at the St. Gallen cantonal school, starting a family, concerts and concert tours: Stages of a fulfilled life. He has received many honors, including an honorary doctorate from the University of Fribourg.
A catalog raisonné of Huber's works was published back in 1993, edited by Max Lütolf and Bernhard Hangartner. The latter has now completed it together with Eva Martina Hanke to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth. It contains 460 titles, with a particular inclination towards sacred music and an affinity for wind music.
The appraisal of Huber's compositional output that introduces the catalog raisonné is largely based on Max Lütolf's foreword from 1993: "Although he repeatedly sought access to an understanding of modern music, modernism ... remained insignificant in his oeuvre", he writes; the decisive model for Paul Huber throughout his life was the personality and music of Anton Bruckner.
Paul Huber - the composer and his work, ed. by Bernhard Hangartner, Eva Martina Hanke and Hanspeter Spörri, 233 p., Fr. 29.50, VGS Verlagsgenossenschaft St. Gallen 2018, info@vgs-sg.ch, ISBN 978-3-7291-1167-7
