Charles Munch (born Charles Münch) (September 26, 1891 – November 6, 1968) was an Alsatian symphonic conductor and violinist. Noted for his mastery of the French orchestral repertoire, he is best known as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Munch was born in Straßburg, Alsace, Germany (now France, since 1919). He was the fifth in a family of six children. Although his first ambition was to be a locomotive engineer, he studied violin ...
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Charles Munch (born Charles Münch) (September 26, 1891 – November 6, 1968) was an Alsatian symphonic conductor and violinist. Noted for his mastery of the French orchestral repertoire, he is best known as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Munch was born in Straßburg, Alsace, Germany (now France, since 1919). He was the fifth in a family of six children. Although his first ambition was to be a locomotive engineer, he studied violin at the Strasbourg Conservatoire. His father, Ernest Münch, was a professor of organ at the Conservatoire and performed at the cathedral. His father also taught and directed an orchestra with his son in the second violins. After receiving his diploma in 1912, Charles studied with Carl Flesch in Berlin and Lucien Capet at the Conservatoire de Paris. He was conscripted into the German army in World War I, serving as a sergeant gunner. He was gassed at Péronne and wounded at Verdun.
In 1920, he became professor of violin at the Strasbourg...
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