Ramin, Günther (Werner Hans)

Ramin, Günther (Werner Hans ), distinguished German organist, conductor, composer, and pedagogue; b. Karlsruhe, Oct. 15, 1898; d. Leipzig, Feb. 27, 1956. As a boy he sang in the Thomanerchor in Leipzig. He then studied organ with Sträube, piano with Teichmüller, and theory with Krehl at the Leipzig Cons. In 1918 he was appointed organist of the Thomaskirche in Leipzig; he also was organist of the Gewandhaus concerts and a teacher at the Leipzig Cons. During the season 1933–34, he toured the U.S. as an organ virtuoso. He was also active as a conductor; he led the Lehrergesangverein in Leipzig (1922–35) and the Gewandhaus Choir (1933–34; 1945–51); from 1935 to 1943 he conducted the Phil. Choir in Berlin. In 1940 he became cantor of the Thomaskirche, where he sought to preserve the integrity of the Thomanerchor after the establishment of the German Democratic Republic. His compositions include an Orgelchoral-Suite and many other organ pieces, as well as chamber music and songs. He ed. several collections of organ works and publ. the manual Gedanken zur Klärung des Orgelproblems (Kassel, 1929; new ed., 1955). A vol. of his essays on Bach was ed. by D. Hellmann (Wiesbaden, 1973).

Bibliography

L. von Koerber, Der Thomanerchor und sein Kantor (Hamburg, 1954); E. Hasse, Erinnerungen an G. R .(Berlin, 1958); C. Ramin, G. R. (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1958); idem, Weggefährten im Geiste Johann Sebastian Bachs: Karl Straube —G. R.: Zwei Thomaskantoren 1918–1956 (Darmstadt, 1981).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire