Dirk Fock (1886 - 1973)

Born 1886 in Nederlands-Indië

Ancestors

Husband of Consuelo Flowerton — married 6 Aug 1923 (to 7 Oct 1926) in New York, United States

Husband of Christine Suze Moltzer — married 25 Jul 1931 in Bloemendaal, Noord-Holland, Nederland

Died 1973 at about age 87 in Switzerland

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Dirk Fock is Notable.

Biography

In 1945 the Dutch-born conductor and composer Dirk Fock (also: Foch) became an American citizen.

Before that – during the interwar years – he conducted many orchestras all over Europe. Living in New York from 1919-1924 he was first conductor to the New York City Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor to the New York Philharmonic. He also was co-founder and first conductor of the American Orchestral Society.

In 1924 Richard Strauss requested him to work as first director of the Wiener Konzertverein, where he performed with Igor Strawinsky. From the thirties - while living in Paris - he focused on composing. In 1939 Fock moved back to New York. His patriotic song cycle Songs of Glory (1945) on texts by Joseph Auslander – then Poet Laureate of the United States – is inspired by the events of World War II. This cycle had several performances in the United States with Todd Duncan, the first Afro-American opera singer of the New York City Opera.

He died in 1973 while living in Switzerland; he left behind a small but extraordinary body of work which expresses his love of the human voice.

Dirk Fock (1886-1973) is born in the Dutch East Indies as the son of Dutch parents. In the first twelve years of his life in Batavia, young Fock makes important musical impressions, as can be heard in the Java Sketches for piano that he composes in the US in 1944.

Back to the Netherlands In 1898 the family returns to the Netherlands, where Fock takes his first steps in music: he plays the violin and composes. Contrary to the expectations of his father, lawyer and statesman Dirk Fock senior (1858-1941), he opts for a career in music.

Violinist under Gustav Mahler Fock leaves for Berlin, where he takes management lessons with Karl Muck and Artur Nikisch, and violin lessons with Anton Witek. Conductor Nikisch offers him the chance to play in the Philharmoniker, and concertmaster Anton Witek gives him a place as the first violinist. In the orchestra he plays under famous conductors such as Gustav Mahler.

Conducting an opera Fock soon develops as a conductor and in 1911 he becomes the first conductor of the Kurfürsten Opera in Berlin, followed a year later by the Mülhausen Opera. At the age of 26, Fock conducts complete Strauss and Wagner operas.

From 1913 to 1917, relations with orchestras in Götenborg and Stockholm follow, and in the years that follow Fock regularly conducts the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam and the Residentie Orchestra in The Hague.

New York Fock continues his career in New York in 1919, where he conducts the Philharmonic Orchestra in the popular Stadium and The National Symphony in Carnegie Hall . In 1922 he became co-founder and first conductor of the American Orchestral Society, an institution that offers young musicians and conductors the opportunity to gain orchestral experience at a high level. In the same year, Fock (who now called himself "Foch") was the first to introduce the music of his friend Darius Milhaud in the US. He becomes the first conductor of the New York City Symphony Orchestra and performs guest conductments with the New York Philharmonic, the National Symphony and St. Louis Orchestra.

Back to Europe In 1924, at the request of Richard Strauss, Fock returns to Europe, where he becomes first conductor in Vienna at the Wiener Konzertverein . In the period up to March 1927 he conducted numerous concerts there. A program entirely devoted to the music of Igor Strawinsky, soloist in his own piano concerto, is a resounding success. Fock also leads successful executive classes at Hochschule für Musik, gives special student concerts and conducts operas. From Vienna, guest directors bring him to Berlin, Budapest, Milan, Paris, Rome and again to Amsterdam and The Hague.

Focus on composing In the 1930s, Fock spent a long period in Paris, where he occasionally conducted the Orchester National, but mainly focused on composing. In 1940 he leaves for the US where he becomes an American citizen.

In 1959, Fock settles with wife Christine Suze Moltzer in Orselina, Switzerland, where he dies in 1973. Fock had a daughter from a previous marriage, the famous Hollywood actress Nina Foch (Leiden 1924-Los Angeles 2008).

Sources

• http://www.dirkfock.org/

• https://www.zefirrecords.nl/album/92f28665528e372219f/songs-and-sketches_dirk-fock.html

• https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0283223/bio