Munch (originally, Munch), Charles
Munch (originally, Munch), Charles
Munch (originally, Munch), Charles, eminent Alsatian-born French conductor, son of Ernst Munch; b. Strasbourg, Sept. 26, 1891; d. Richmond, Va., Nov. 6, 1968. He studied violin at the Strasbourg Cons, and with Lucien Capet in Paris. At the outbreak of World War I (1914), he enlisted in the German army. He was made a sergeant of artillery, and was gassed at Perorine and wounded at Verdun. After the end of the war (1918) and his return to Alsace-Lorraine (1919), he became a naturalized French citizen. Having received further violin training from Flesch in Berlin, he pursued a career as a soloist and was also prof, of violin at the Leipzig Cons, and concertmaster of the Gewandhaus Orch. there. On Nov. 1, 1932, he made his professional conducting debut in Paris with the Straram Orch. He studied conducting with Szendrei in Paris (1933–40). He quickly rose to prominence; was conductor of Paris’s Orch. de la Société Philharmonique (1935 –38) and became a prof, at the École Normale de Musique (1936). In 1938 he became music director of the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire de Paris, remaining in that post during the years of the German occupation during World War II; refusing to collaborate with the Nazis, he gave his support to the Resistance, being awarded the Legion d’honneur in 1945. He made his U.S. debut as a guest conductor of the Boston Sym. Orch. on Dec. 27, 1946; a transcontinental tour of the U.S. with the French National Radio Orch. followed in 1948. In 1949 he was appointed music director of the Boston Sym. Orch., which he and Monteux took on its first European tour in 1952; they took it again to Europe in 1956, also touring in the Soviet Union, making it the first U.S. orch. to do so. After retiring from his Boston post in 1962, Munch made appearances as a guest conductor; also helped to launch the Orch. de Paris in 1967. Munch acquired an outstanding reputation as an interpreter of the French repertoire, his performances being marked by spontaneity, color, and elegance. French music of the 20thcentury also occupied a prominent place on his programs; he brought out new works by Roussel, Milhaud, Honegger, and others. He wrote Je suis chef d’orchestre (Paris, 1954; Eng. tr., N.Y., 1955).
Bibliography
P. Olivier, C. M.: Une Biographie par le disque (Paris, 1987); G Honegger, C. M. (Strasbourg, 1992).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire