Franz Lehrndorfer

Main Organ from Georg Jann (1994) at the Frauenkirche in Munich

Franz Lehrndorfer[1] was born in Salzburg and spent his youth in Kempten. He received his first music lessons from his father, a choir director and musicologist and began to play the organ at age nine. From 1948 until 1951, Lehrndorfer studied sacred music in Munich and obtained a master class diploma in organ performance in 1952. Upon graduation, he worked as music instructor for the Regensburger Domspatzen, under music director Theobald Schrems. In 1962, he began his teaching career at the Musikhochschule München, first as adjunct professor of organ, later (from 1969 until 1993) as professor and department chair of sacred music and organ performance. From 1969 until 31 October 2002, Lehrndorfer was organist at the Frauenkirche in Munich. He left his cathedral appointment after major disagreements with the cathedral’s music director, Karl-Friedrich Nies.[2]

Lehrndorfer focused on organ improvisations, both in concert and recordings. As a performer, he often included music by Johann Sebastian Bach and Max Reger, as well as works by contemporary composers, such as Karl Höller and Harald Genzmer, in his programs. In 2001, he played the premiere of Genzmer's Concerto for organ, which he subsequently edited for Schott Music.[3]

As an organ consultant, Lehrndorfer was in charge of several major organ projects, such as the 1980 Georg Jann organ at Tegernsee Abbey,[4] or the four organs at the Frauenkirche in Munich (1993/1994).[5][6]

On the occasion of Lehrndorfers 80th anniversary in 2008, more than 50 of his former students celebrated at the Musikhochschule Munich.[7] Franz Lehrndorfer died at age 84 in a hospital in Munich.[8][9]

• 1957: First Prize in Organ Performance, ARD International Music Competition
• 1970: Bavarian Order of Merit
• 1981: Deutscher Schallplattenpreis (LP Recording, "Organ Music from Munich Cathedral." Munich: Calig Label)
• 1983: Cross of Merit, Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 1997: Officer's Cross of Merit, Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 1998: Knight Commander, Order of St. Gregory the Great
• 1999: Honorary Doctorate, Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music

Many of Franz Lehrndorfer's former organ students became concert organists, obtained positions at important churches or faculty positions in Germany and abroad:

• Martin Bernreuther (Eichstätt Cathedral)
• Winfried Bönig (Cologne Cathedral)
• Christian Brembeck
• Roland Büchner (Regensburg Cathedral)
• Gabriel Dessauer (St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden)
• Harald Feller (Musikhochschule München)
• Marlene Hinterberger (Musikhochschule München)
• Wolfgang Hörlin (Musikhochschule München)
• Rudolf Kelber (Hauptkirche St. Jacobi, Hamburg)
• Edgar Krapp (Musikhochschule Frankfurt, Musikhochschule München)
• Hans Leitner (Passau Cathedral, since 2003 Frauenkirche Munich)
• Wolfram Menschick (Eichstätt Cathedral)
• Tomas Adam Nowak (Musikhochschule Detmold)
• Ludwig Ruckdeschel (Passau Cathedral)
• Klemens Schnorr (Musikhochschule Freiburg, Freiburg Minster)
• Josef Still (Trier Cathedral)
• Gerhard Weinberger (Musikhochschule Detmold)
• Markus Willinger (Bamberg Cathedral)
• Elisabeth Zawadke (Lucerne School of Music)

• Franz Xaver Schnizer: Six Sonatas op. 1 for harpsichord (piano) or organ (Stuttgart: Carus, 1980)
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Intrada and Fugue in C major from K. 399 (385i) (Eichstätt: Jubilate, 1994)
• Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto in D major (Munich: Opus-Verlag, 1994)
• Johann Melchior Molter: Concerto Pastorale (Munich: Opus-Verlag, 1995)
• John Stanley: Concerto in D major (Munich: Opus-Verlag, 1996)
• John Stanley: Concerto in A major (Munich: Opus-Verlag, 1999)
• John Stanley: Concerto I in E major (Munich: Opus-Verlag, 1999)
• John Stanley: Concerto III in B major (Munich: Opus-Verlag, 2000)
• John Stanley: Concerto VI in C major (Munich: Opus-Verlag, 2000)
• Harald Genzmer: Concerto for organ (Munich: Schott, 2002)
• Harald Genzmer: Sinfonisches Konzert no. 2 for organ (Mainz: Schott, 2003)
• Giuseppe Tartini: Eleven slow Sonata movements (Munich: Opus-Verlag, 2011)
• Joseph Rupert Ignaz Bieling: Concerto in B major and three Sonatas (Munich: Opus-Verlag, 2015)
• George Frideric Handel: Concerto in G minor (Munich: Opus-Verlag, 2015)

• Dux et comes. Festschrift für Franz Lehrndorfer zum 70. Geburtstag (book and CD), edited by Hans D. Hoffert and Klemens Schnorr. Regensburg: Universitätsverlag Regensburg, 1998. ISBN 3-930480-68-9.

• Official website (in German)
• Franz Lehrndorfer at AllMusic
• Gabriel Dessauer: The Improvisation of Franz Lehrndorfer American Guild of Organists