Fritz Jöde


Fritz Jöde was a German music educator and one of the leading figures in the.

Life

Born in Hamburg, Jöde was the son of a master shoemaker.
After his studies, Jöde first worked as a teacher at an Volksschule in Hamburg and joined the youth movement in 1916. At first he was a musical autodidact. Due to his achievements in the field of folk music, he was released from teaching duties to study musicology. In the years 1920 and 1921 Jöde studied in Leipzig, mainly with Hermann Abert.
Subsequently, Jöde became a lecturer at the in 1923. There he founded the first state youth music school in the same year. In 1926 Jöde also initiated so-called open singing lessons. From 1930 he was entrusted with the direction of the seminar for folk and youth music at the academy, to which he was still affiliated.
After the seizure of power by the Nazis in 1933, he was granted a leave of absence "until further notice". For this leave of absence, an article by Pfitzner biographer Walter Abendroth in the Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger as well as others in the Zeitschrift für Musik and the Allgemeine Musikzeitung may have played a role. Furthermore, there was a "Declaration against Jöde" in the latter two newspapers, which was signed by Hans Pfitzner, Paul Pretzsch, Heinz Pringsheim and Paul Schwers, among others.
In 1934 Der Musikant: Lieder für die Schule, edited by Jöde was published by Georg Kallmeyer Verlag. The songbook is divided into seven chapters.
In the last chapter Deutschland im Lied the title picture is marked with a swastika. Here are songs that propagate the strengthening of Hitler Germany, for example Heinrich Spitta : Erwachen, Canon for two voices after words by Friedrich Schiller : "Und setzet ihr nicht das Leben ein, nie wird euch das Leben gewonnen sein."" and by Otto Riethmüller : Deutschlands Erwachen, in which the 3rd verse goes: "Stand einst ein graues Heer, rang von den Alpen zum Meer. Kämpfe du mit für das künftige Land, Arbeit und Freiheit für jeglichen Stand. Kämpferland, Hitlerland, schirm dich Gottes Hand".
Due to disciplinary proceedings in October 1936, Jöde was relieved of all offices with effect from 26 February 1937; also some of his writings were banned. In 1937, however, he became head of the Munich Youth Radio and in 1938 head of the Hitlerjugend playing group there. From 1939 to 1945 he worked as a teacher at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. On 1 January 1940 he joined the National Socialist German Workers' Party. From 1940 to 1944 he was also the editor of the Zeitschrift für Spielmusik.
Jöde, who had lived in Bad Reichenhall since 1941, first became director of the local Protestant church choir after the end of the Second World War in 1945. From 1947 to 1952 he was director of the Office for Youth and School Music in Hamburg. From 1951 to 1953, also in Hamburg, he directed the subject of music education at the Academy of Music. He then went to Trossingen to head the International Institute for Youth and Folk Music.
In 1957 Jöde was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Jöde died at the age of 83 on 19 October 1970 in Hamburg. He was buried at the Nienstedten Cemetery.
Jöde's pedagogical principles had grown out of the youth music movement. His aim was to create "a singing youth" and "a singing people". The child should also be looked after outside school. Open singing lessons at markets and squares in the big cities were intended to build up a sense of community and to fight against pop songs and jazz, as well as to protest against "bourgeois hypocrisy of art" in opera houses and concert halls. Jöde's main principle was: "Even making music is better than listening to music." So his main concern was to stimulate the youth.

Work (song collections)