“My father lived for music. If you looked for him, you could always find him at the organ,” says his daughter Gabriela.
The farm boy from Pischelsdorf discovered his musical talent when he was still in elementary school, when he was inspired by the pastor to play the organ while he was working as an altar boy. At the age of ten he played his first mass on the harmonium in church. From this point on, church music was an integral part of his eventful life.
As an excellent graduate of the organ and Kapellmeister class at the Mozarteum Salzburg, Joseph Werndl was soon employed as a conductor. “If someone needed a conductor for an orchestra, they always said: ‘Take Werndl, he studied it anyway’,” his daughter recalls. The committed musician also practiced conducting with heart and soul: for 35 years he conducted the Brucknerbund Orchestra Ried im Innkreis, where he was able to realize himself.
Cathedral Kapellmeister in Passau
One of the most important events in Joseph Werndl’s musical life was when he was appointed in 1983 as the first non-cleric to be appointed Domkapellmeister at the High Cathedral in Passau. For almost 20 years, until his retirement in 2000, he held this office and during this time also founded a cathedral orchestra and initiated numerous cathedral concerts. “Anton Bruckner is considered God’s musician, Joseph Werndl was God’s organist. Whether in Hart, Pischelsdorf, Braunau, in Salzburg or Passau Cathedral: When Werndl played the organ, you felt God’s closeness musically,” said Joseph Werndl, the former Braunau district governor Georg Wojak remembered.
Joseph Werndl knew all too well what role music can play in the lives of young people. As a music teacher, he taught at the Gymnasium Ried im Innkreis and at the Musisch-Pedagogical Gymnasium. “He always tried to get young people interested in music,” says his daughter Gabriela, remembering her family time.
Because music has always played an important role in the family life of the Werndl family. Their three children, Clemens, Gabriela and Cornelia, always encouraged Joseph Werndl and his wife Erika to learn a musical instrument – “but we never got close to our father’s talent. He was simply unique,” says Gabriela Werndl.
Not only his talent on the organ will remain unforgettable, Joseph Werndl has also immortalized himself musically with his numerous compositions. Especially the “Braunauer Friedensmesse”, which was performed on the occasion of the 2012 state exhibition, and the jubilee cantata “Oans und Vier” for the 200th birthday of the poet Franz Stelzhamer should be mentioned here.
On Saturday, June 11, Joseph Werndl died at the age of 94 surrounded by his loved ones at home in Pischelsdorf. The funeral service for the bearer of the papal Order of Gregory will take place next Saturday, June 18, in the parish church of Pischelsdorf.
Source: Nachrichten
