Helmut Bornefeld


Helmut Bornefeld was a German Protestant church musician, composer,, and writer.

Career

Born in Untertürkheim, Bornefeld began his vocational training in 1922 with an apprenticeship as gardener, which he completed with the skilled worker examination. From 1924 to 1928 he studied music at the Adler Conservatory in Stuttgart. In 1928 he moved to the Musikhochschule, where he studied composition with Ewald Straesser, piano and organ with Hermann Keller. From 1935 to 1937 he completed his education by studying church music, which he completed with the A-exam. From 1937 to 1971 he worked, with the exception of a six-year interruption of the war from 1939 to 1945, as cantor and organist at the. In 1951 he was appointed Kirchenmusikdirektor there. From 1950 to 1958 he taught as lecturer for composition and at the.
Together with Siegfried Reda, Bornefeld organized the Heidenheimer Arbeitstage für Neue Kirchenmusik from 1946 to 1960. From 1937 to 1977 he was also an organ keeper with more than a hundred new buildings and renovations, many of them with his own draft brochures. Under his influence, numerous organs worthy of protection were - partly irrevocably - changed in character according to his ideas. By sawing off pipes, among other things, he endeavoured to brighten the sound of mainly Romantic or late Romantic organs and to reshape the dispositions according to his aesthetic ideals.
Bornefeld has written numerous texts and essays on questions of church music and organ building.
Bornefeld died in Heidenheim an der Brenz on 11 February 1990.

Awards

Bornefeld was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz for his achievements in 1972. On 5 June 1976 Land Minister Hans Filbinger awarded him the honorary professorship of the state of Baden-Württemberg and thus the title of professor.
On December 4, 1981, he received the Citizen Medal of the City of Heidenheim. In 1993, the name of the local Kirchenstraße was changed in Helmut-Bornefeld-Straße.

Organ brochures and organ dispositions (selection)

As an organ keeper, Bornefeld designed numerous instruments with an eye to outer appearance, casing and mensuration. His musical aesthetic concerns are still evident today in many instruments, of which a selection of thirty have been listed in the area of the Protestant Church in Württemberg:

Organ, choir and chamber music

The Evangelisches Gesangbuch contains canons by Bornefeld: