August Wenzinger

August Wenzinger was a Swiss cellist, gambist, conductor, and music editor, recognized as a prominent figure in the movement for historically informed performance. He was born and died in Basel, where he was also awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Basel. Wenzinger studied at the Basel Conservatory under Paul Grümmer and later studied composition with Philipp Jarnach at the Cologne University of Music. He also received private instruction from Emanuel Feuermann in Berlin.

From 1929 to 1934, Wenzinger served as the first cellist of the Bremen City Orchestra. He subsequently held the same position in Basel orchestras until 1970 and played in the Basel String Quartet until 1947. His primary artistic focus, however, was on Baroque music and historical performance practice. In 1933, he was a key collaborator with Paul Sacher in the founding of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, a research and teaching center for early music, where he taught viola da gamba for many years; his notable students included Jordi Savall.

From 1935 to 1965, he performed as part of the Chamber Trio for Early Music alongside Gustav Scheck and Fritz Neumeyer. Between 1954 and 1958, Wenzinger led the Cappella Coloniensis in Cologne, an early music orchestra he co-founded, with which he toured extensively throughout Europe and the USSR. In 1955, he released a recording of Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, considered one of the first authentic recordings of the opera. Wenzinger also edited editions of the cello repertoire of Johann Sebastian Bach and published method books for the viola da gamba.

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