- Paul Sacher
Paul Sacher (
28 April 1906 –26 May 1999 ) was a Swiss conductor,patron andimpresario .He studied under
Felix Weingartner among others. In 1926 he founded theBasel Chamber Orchestra (Basler Kammerorchester) to play works written before the classical period and modern works. Immensely wealthy, he commissioned works from many well known composers, includingIgor Stravinsky (who provided him with the "Concerto in D"),Béla Bartók ("Divertimento" and the "Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta "),Arthur Honegger (many works, including the Second Symphony and the Fourth Symphony ("Deliciae Basilienses" ), Frank Martin (six works, including the "Petite Symphonie Concertante"),Paul Hindemith ,Hans Werner Henze ,Richard Strauss ,Elliott Carter ,Henri Dutilleux andHarrison Birtwistle .Pierre Boulez 's "Messagesquisse" was one of a number of pieces written in order to celebrate Sacher's seventieth birthday. Henze dedicated his Tenth Symphony as anin memoriam to Sacher, who had commissioned it but died before it was completed.In 1983 Sacher acquired the Stravinsky estate. [http://www.paul-sacher-stiftung.ch/e/foundation/the%20founder.htm]
He was named as the world's third richest man in the 1990s, having married the heiress of the
pharmaceutical company ,Hoffmann-La Roche .External links
* [http://www.paul-sacher-stiftung.ch/e/foundation/the%20founder.htm Biography at Paul Sacher Foundation site]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/sundayfeature/pip/5arir/ BBC feature]
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