Friedrich Weinkopf
Friedrich Weinkopf was an Austrian member of the armed forces and part-time composer. I came into possession of parts of his musical estate which I would like to present here. There are is only little biographical information about him, so I wrote everything together that I could find:
Friedrich Weinkopf was born most likely around 1890. In World War I he enrolled for military service and was part of the II. batallion of the "Festungsartillerie Regiment „Freiherr von Rouvroy“ Nr. 5 which was based in Castelnuovo (now: Herveg Novi in Montenegro). During World War I Friedrich Weinkopf was decorated with the Military Cross of Merit 3rd Class and was finally promoted to the rank of a major.
After World War I Friedrich Weinkopf first lived in Schönberg am Kamp, where he owned a large estate. There he composed music, painted aquarelles and conducted experiments on the cultivation of cereals (Ackerbeetkultur). He later moved to Vienna where he lived in the Schönbrunnerstrasse 71.
It seems that he supported the rise of the Nazi regime in the early 1930s and was awarded the Anschluss Commemorative Medal ("Ostmark-Medaille"). During the early 1940s Friedrich Weinkopf worked as the head of a registration office (Wehrmachtsevidenzstelle). In 1947 he was sentenced to three years of prison because of denunciation.
The musical estate of Friedrich Weinkopf consists of manuscripts of several compositions as well as some correspondence and private documents. Included compositions are:
- Ouverture "Sommernacht" to the opera "Der Tod des Tiberius" in full score.
In addition there is a manuscript with short themes for other parts of the opera, but it seems the opera remained incomplete and only the ouverture was completed. - Sextet for violin, flute, clarinet, trumpet, cello and piano
- Piano quintet (1927), my manuscript lacks the beginning of the piano part
- Seit ich dich sah, for voice and piano on words by Atsutada
- Ich finde keinen Weg zu dir, for voice and piano on words by Peter Sturmbusch (1929)
- Ich will dir's nimmer sagen, for voice and piano on words by Robert Prutz (1927)
- Eine Sommernacht, for voice and piano on words by Inno Betto (1930)
- Das alte Lied, for men's choir (1928)
- Stosstrupp-Marschlied, in different settings (men's choir, men's choir and piano, orchestra) (1941)
- some untitled piano pieces
In addition there are the following documents:
- a letter from 3 February 1933 by Kapellmeister Anton Mader (1877-1953) who thanks Friedrich Weinkopf for sending his music. But Mader explains that he cannot perform the works because he conducts the military band and only performs light music. The works of Friedrich Weinkopf are more serious and so he should contact Kapellmeister Theodor Christoph of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.
Note: Anton Mader also served in the Festungsartillerie-Regiment in Castelnuovo, so he and Friedrich Weinkopf knew each other from that time. - postcard from 6 January 1935 by Kapellmeister Theodor Christoph (1872-1941) who thanks for the New Year's wishes and hopes to perform one of the works by Weinkopf in the future.
- a letter from 15 February 1943 by the Reichsmusikkammer that freed Friedrich Weinkopf from the commitment to be a member as a composer.
- a letter from 18 October 1947 by Kapellmeister Anton Mader (1877-1953) again, who writes to the wife of Friedrich Weinkopf. He regrets that Friedrich Weinkopf "was separated from the household" (he was imprisoned in February 1947) and thanks for lending the score of "Addio Mamula".
- a printed score of the march "Addio Mamula" op.107 by Anton Mader, dedicated to the officer corps of the 2nd and 3rd batallion of the k.u.k. Festungsartillerieregiments No.5 and published by J. Sekulovic in Castelnuovo, Bocche di Cattaro in 1916. On the back is a handwritten text of the accompanying words dedicated to Alice Weinkopf (most likely the wife of Friedrich Weinkopf) and illegible signed and dated Mamula, 27 July 1916.
For information purposes I include here the full score of the ouverture "Sommernacht" from the opera "Der Tod des Tiberius":
