Erna Woll


Erna Woll was a German composer, church musician and author.

Life

Erna Woll was born in St. Ingbert in the Saar. She studied music from 1936 to 1938 at the Evangelisches Kirchenmusikalisches Institut Heidelberg with Wolfgang Fortner and studied composition from 1940 to 1944 with Joseph Haas and Gustav Geierhaas at the Munich Academy of Music. During this time she converted to Catholicism, and from 1946 to 1948 she studied Catholic church music at the Cologne Music Academy with Heinrich Lemacher, Theodor Bernhard Rehmann and Hermann Schroeder.
From 1950 to 1962, Woll worked as an organist in Cologne Bayenthal and a music teacher and choral director at the Church Music Institute in Speyer. From 1962-1969 she was a lecturer, and from 1969 to 1972 she was Honorary Professor at the College of Education at Augsburg. In 1972 she retired from working due to a serious illness, but after recovering she continued to compose. Woll died 7 April 2005 in Augsburg.
Erna Woll was a member of professional organizations including the Werkgemeinschaft Musik, the Ecumenical Lyricists and Composers working group, and the AG Musik in der Evangelischen Jugend.

Honors

Erna Woll composed over 200 works including solo songs, choruses, motets, cantatas and choral pieces. She was especially interested in the music genre of New Sacred Song. Selected works include: