Jochum, Otto (EN)

Jochum Otto, *18 March 1898 Badenhausen (Bavaria), †24 October 1969 Bad Reichenhall, German choral conductor and composer. He studied organ, piano and music theory with his father, Ludwig Jochum, then studied at the Augsburg Conservatory, and from 1922 at the Akademie der Tonkunst in Munich, where in 1928, he graduated in composition, conducting and piano. In 1932, he received the Preussische Staatspreis for the oratorio Der jüngste Tag. In 1933, he took over the management of the Städtische Singschule in Augsburg, where in 1935, he founded the first seminary in Germany for singing teachers and choir conductors; he also created his own Jochum-Chor. In 1951, due to poor health, he limited his activities to composing and settled in Weissbach near Bad Reichenhall. He wrote approximately 250 works, mainly choral pieces influenced by folk songs. His patriotic songs gained great popularity in Germany in the early 1930s; the influence of folk songs is also visible in the Florianer Sinfonie. His collection of songs Der Singschulgarten (34 issues, 1930–38) still functions in primary music schools in Germany. Jochum composed motets, masses, oratorios, cantatas, song cycles, symphonies, and chamber music. He published Werkstatt der Musikpädagogik (in Musicus – Magister, commemorative book of Th. Schrems, Regensburg 1963).

Literatura: T. Troll Otto Jochum. Eine Biographie mit Werkverzeichnis, Augsburg 1975.