Konrad Wölki

Konrad Wölki was a German composer, mandolinist and music educator who contributed to the musically critical appreciation of the Zupforchesters (German mandolin orchestras — may also include other plucked string instruments or conventional orchestral instruments). Historian Paul Sparks labeled Wölki "the founding father of modern German plucked-string music."He was a senior member of the German Mandolin and Guitar Player Federation (D.M.G.B.) until he was forced out in 1935 and replaced with a Nazi party member. In 1961 he helped create the German Zupfmusiker League (BDZ), with members from his own D.M.G.B. and the German Workers Mandolinists Federation (D.A.M.B.), another mandolin organization closed down under the Nazis).The D.M.G.B. federation published compositions for its members to play. Wölki, the DMGB's "most significant figure" composed music in the 1920s for the mandolin and guitar based orchestras "that demonstrated the dramatic potential and range of color" possible for the plucked orchestra.In the 1930s, Wölki explored 18th century mandolin music from 1760s and 1770s Paris and reached a conclusion that caused controversy. He found that the classical music of the period that used mandolin had been played without tremolo. While some cherished the tremolo, others embraced "a return to classical methods." His influence asthe examples he composed resulted in a restraint in the use of tremolo in new German compositions.He was the author of a history of the mandolin Geschichte der Mandoline (1939) as well as a three volume mandolin method, Deutsche Schule für Mandoline. He continued to teach in Berlin, educating many of the next generation of mandolinists.Over the course of his life, he composed or arranged 103 pieces of published music.