Friedrich Hegar (* October 11, 1841 in Basel; † June 2, 1927 in Zurich) was a Swiss composer, conductor and violinist.
Friedrich Hegar, son of the music teacher Ernst Friedrich Hegar was born into a family of musicians in Darmstadt. He also worked as a piano merchant in Basel, received his first musical education in the subjects violin, music theory and composition. At the end of the 1850s he began studying composition at the Leipzig Conservatory.
After completing his studies in 1860, he worked as a conductor in Warsaw, moving one year later to Gebweiler in Alsace, where he became deputy Kapellmeister under Julius Stockhausen. In 1863, he became Kapellmeister of the Zurich Orchestra Association which later became the Tonhalle Association. This was at the initiative of Theodor Kirchner with whom he had a long-standing friendship. He was to hold this position until 1903. From 1865 he also directed the Zurich Mixed Choir and was also Kapellmeister at the Zurich Theatre. At the same time he was involved in the General Music Society (AMG). Until 1914 Friedrich Hegar directed the Zurich Conservatory, the founding of which was his initiative. He died in Zurich in 1927 and was buried at the Fluntern Cemetery.
Hegar had a formative influence on the development of music in Zurich and Switzerland in the second half of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century. As conductor of the ''Tonhalleverein'' he led its orchestra to international renown. As director of the Zurich Conservatory he was constantly striving to improve the education of young musicians. As a choir director, he contributed to the development of male voice and is considered the founder of the male choir ballad. His compositional work mainly comprises songs, choirs and instrumental compositions. Under his aegis several Zurich music festivals and in 1900 the first Swiss ''Tonkuenstlerfest'' took place.
Friedrich Hegar was honored several times. At the end of the 19th century, the University of Zurich awarded him an honorary doctorate. In 1917 he became a member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin.
His son was the cellist Johannes Hegar, his brother the cellist Emil Hegar, and his nephew the opera singer Peter Hegar.
Source: Wikipedia
Note: Translated from the German version Wikipedia into English.
