FROM

Jan Bender 1909-1994

A Church Musician of the 20^th Century

July 2007

Chronology

FROM	TO
May 12, 1897		Jan Bender’s parents, Herman Bender (Jun 2, 1870-Aug 18, 1908) and Margarethe Schindler (Feb 23, 1874-Jul 22, 1951) were married in Marienkirche, Lübeck. The Bender family were piano dealers in Holland. Margarethe’s father, Paul Friedrich Schindler (May 24,1845-May 16, 1931) was a prominent Marzipan baker in Lübeck. Margarethe's Mother was Ida Maria Meckwitz (1845-93), Paul's second wife. Her father (Paul Schindler) had bought the house in Lübeck (Königstraße 59) in 1876 (it was built in 1295).
Aug 18, 1908		Herman Bender (Jan’s father) died of tuberculosis.
Feb 3, 1909		Jan Bender was born in Haarlem, Holland.
Dec. 27, 1914		Charlotte Peters was born in Heiligenstedten.
Jun, 1922		Bender moved to Lübeck, Germany with his mother and family. He became page turner and then student of Karl Lichtwark, Marienkirche organist 1888-1929.
March, 1926		Bender was baptized and, on the next day, confirmed, in Marienkirche, Lübeck.
1928		He completed a four-movement string quartet as his “Jahresarbeit” before graduating from the Oberrealschule zum Dom in Lübeck.
1928	1937	He became a member of the Lübecker Sing- und Spielkreis, founded and conducted by Bruno Grusnik. Hugo Distler was an active participant also after 1931.
Nov 26, 1928	Mar 18, 1929	Bender was hospitalized with “spinal tuberculosis,” (which ultimately proved to be a misdiagnosis).
Jan 21, 1929		He took his Abitur while in the hospital.
Jun, 1929	Mar, 1930	He consulted specialists in Leysin, Switzerland, and was hospitalized again, being essentially confined to bed for several months.
Mar, 1930		After an extended recuperation, he returned to Lübeck, traveling via Milan and Venice.
Oct 1, 1930	Sep 30, 1933	Bender was a student of Karl Straube at the Kirchenmusikalisches Institut und Landes Konservatorium in Leipzig.
Oct 1, 1933	Mar 31, 1934	He moved to Amsterdam (following the advice of Karl Straube) and studied at the Konservatorium there.
Apr 1, 1934	Sep 30, 1935	Bender finished his studies at the new Staatskonservatorium und Hochschule für Musik in Lübeck as a student of Hugo Distler. As it turns out, Bender was Distler’s only composition student.
Jun 1, 1934	Jan 1, 1937	Organist at St. Gertrudkirche, Lübeck. His first service was on June 3.
Jul 24, 1934		Jan Bender became a German citizen.
Sep 28, 1935		Bender received his “Prüfung für Organisten und Chorleiter”
Jan 1, 1937		Bender was arrested by police and accused of sabotage of the church organ. He was turned over to the Gestapo and jailed in Hamburg, then sent to a concentration camp at Sachsenhausen near Berlin.
Apr 20, 1937		He was released from the concentration camp on Hitler’s birthday. He returned to Lübeck, but did not get his church position back.
Oct, 1937	Apr, 1952	Organist at St. Lambertikirche in Aurich. He was also Kirchenmusikdirektor (one of nine in the district of Hanover).
Feb 6, 1939	May 6, 1939	Military training in Oldenburg.
Jun 21, 1939		Jan married Charlotte Peters in Heiligenstedten in Schleswig-Holstein.
Aug 28, 1939		Jan was called to active duty in the German Army. After further training in Oldenburg, he was stationed in Aachen until May 1940.
May 20, 1940		Jan Eilhard Bender (first son) born
Sep 10, 1940	Apr, 1941	After a three-week furlough, Bender was stationed to Ringstedt in Denmark. After additional furloughs in Dec (‘40) and Feb (41) he was sent via Danzig, Tilsit, Lithuania, and Latvia to the USSR in June, 1941.
Jun 5, 1941		Christoph Bender (second son) born
Aug 17, 1941		On this day, at Luga (about 160 K from St. Petersburg) Bender lost his left eye to shrapnel from a Russian hand-grenade. For his recuperation he was sent first to Wernigerode, in Sept. to Braunschweig, in Oct. to Oldenburg and then to his in-laws in Hanerau.
Nov 10, 1941		Bender returned to Aurich, but had to live in the Pastor’s house until mid-January. He remained a non-commissioned officer in the German Army, but was able to resume his duties at Lambertikirche and as Kirchenmusikdirektor for Ostfriesland.
1942		During this year he began composing his Auricher Singbüchlein, which would become Opus 1.
1942	1960	Opus 1-20 composed in Europe.
Nov 1, 1942		(Hugo Distler died in Berlin)
Jul 19, 1943		Friedemann Johannes Bender (third son) born.
Sep, 1944	Oct, 1944	Bender was called up again for active duty in the German Army, being sent again to Aachen.
Oct 20, 1944	Aug 14, 1945	The day before Aachen fell to the Allies, Bender surrendered and was held in a POW camps in Compiégne until Dec., when he was transferred to a camp at nearby Attichy (both are NE of Paris). During this time he served as assistant to Chaplain Carl Albert Zimmermann (American), playing for services and sweeping out the office. He also was able to practice, study, and continue writing his Auricher Singbüchlein.
Aug 14, 1945	Sep 14, 1945	Bender was taken from Attichy to Ter Hulpen (near Brussels), discharged on Sept. 4, and finally reached home in Aurich on Sept. 14, 1945. He continued in his positions in Aurich until 1952.
Oct 1, 1947		Matthias Gerhard Gotthilf Bender (fourth son) born.
spring, 1947		First publication, Opus 3 no. 1, appeared in print.
May 1, 1952	Apr 27, 1953	Organist at St. Jacobikirche, Langen, near Frankfurt. He was also a lecturer in composition and piano at the Kirchenmusikschule in Frankfurt/Main.
May 1, 1953	Sep 4, 1960	Cantor and Organist at Michaeliskirche, Lüneburg.
Mar 2, 1954		On this day Bender was commissioned by Pr. Fred Otto to write his St. Mark Passion (opus 11 no. 1) and received an invitation from Concordia Publishing House to become a “House Composer”.
Apr 1, 1955	1960	Bender became Kirchenmusikdirektor for the Diocese of Lüneburg.
Apr 4, 1956	May 25, 1956	Guest Professor at Valparaiso University, USA, substituting for Heinrich Fleischer. Bender traveled to San Francisco before returning home to Lüneburg.
Jun 29, 1956		Beginning of the Bachfest in Lüneburg, during which more Americans became acquainted with Jan Bender.
1957	1960	Lecturer for Kirchenmusik at the Pedagogische Hochschule in Lüneburg.
Oct 20, 1957		First broadcast of a composition by Jan Bender on the radio--Erich Stoffers, Harburg, played opus 6 # 1.
July 3, 1958	July 20, 1958	Visit to England.
Sep 11, 1958		Bender wrote his first 12-tone composition (opus 31 # 1--Allein Gott)
Summer, 1959		Visiting Professor at University of Denver, USA, having been invited by Daniel Moe. On the way there, he gave an organ concert in London, Ontario, visited Fleischer in Valparaiso. He took Jan Eilhard (eldest son) along on this trip.
1960	1976	Opus 21-64 composed in America
Sep, 1960	May, 1965	Assistant Professor at Concordia Teachers College, Seward, Nebraska, USA.
Jan 21, 1963	Mar 31, 1967	Bender attended at least 9 meetings of the Hymnal Committee, originally developing a new hymnal for the Missouri Synod (which became the Worship Supplement ), and then evolved into the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship, which developed the Lutheran Book of Worship.
Sep, 1965	Jun 3, 1976	Professor of Composition at Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio, USA. Bender retired in 1975, but continued teaching another year as part-time Professor Emeritus. (NB: Bender played his first service in Lübeck on June 3, 1934!)
Summer, 1966	Summer, 1972	Adjunct Professor at Schola Cantorum, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO, (summers only)
1976	1979	Opus 65-80 composed in Hanerau, Germany.
Aug 8, 1976	1994	Jan Bender retired. He and Charlotte moved to Hanerau-Hademarschen, Germany.
Jan, 1979	May, 1979	Visiting Professor of Music at Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN, USA for one semester.
Sep, 1979	May, 1981	Composer–in–Residence and Visiting Professor of Music at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN, USA.
1979	1981	Opus 81-85 composed in St. Peter, MN.
1981	1989	Opus 86-114 composed in Hanerau, Germany.
Aug 16, 1981		Bender had a mild heart attack on the beach in Holland.
Jan, 1982	May, 1982	Visiting Professor at Lutheran Southern Seminary, Columbia, SC, USA.
May 29, 1982	Dec, 1994	Bender finally at home for his retirement in Hanerau, but made two additional trips to the US, in Sept., 1982, for the premier of his opus 85 at St. Olaf College, and for an extended stay with Jan Eilhard in Portland, OR, from Dec. 1982-April, 1983.
Dec 29, 1994		Jan Bender died at his home in Hanerau following a short illness. He was buried on Jan. 4, 1995 in the Mannhardt (Charlotte’s ancestors) family cemetery in the woods behind their retirement home.
Mar. 2, 2002		Charlotte Bender died at home in Hanerau. She was buried on March 11, 2002 in the Mannhardt family cemetery in the married women’s section across from her husband.