Sallie Bruchac Collection of Dr. Harald Rohlig Materials

Collection

Identifier: MSS-2500

No requestable containers

Scope and Contents

This collection contains various materials by and about Dr. Harald Rohlig from Sallie Bruchac, probably a member of St. John's Episcopal Church in Montgomery, Alabama where Rohlig is the organist and choir master.

Included in the collection are several worship bulletins and organ recital programs, two pieces of handwritten sheet music and one published miniature score arranged by Rohlig. The unpublished music pieces are titled "Ephisians I:15-18" (3 copied) and "Prayer of Consecration - Part I (3 copies). The miniature score is Rohlig's setting of "Alabama," the official state song written by Edna Gockel-Gussen with text by Julie Tutwiler.

There are also several photographs of Rohlig playing organs [at St. John's Episcopal Church and a Presbyterian church (not identified further than that)] and directing choirs.

The rest of the collection consists of one LP record ("Music from St. John's Episcopal Church, Montgomery, Alabama"), eleven audiocassettes (all identified to some degree) and ten 7" reel-to-reel tapes (all identified).

Dates

Creation: 1962 - 1992

Biographical / Historical

Harald Ernst Hermann Rohlig was born in Aurich, Germany, on October 6, 1926. The son of a United Methodist minister who opposed Hitler's regime, Rohlig was forced to join the Hitler Youth at age 10 when his family's food and basic necessities were restricted. His father was later incarcerated at the Bergen Belsen concentration camp. In 1943 Rohlig was drafted into the air force. Before World War II ended he was captured by American soldiers, from whom he received good treatment, and spent three years in a French prison camp.

After his release from the prison camp in 1948 Rohlig returned to his musical studies. A musical prodigy who was composing and concertizing before he was in his teens, Rohlig studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in London and earned his doctorate in pipe organ design from Osnabruck Conservatory. In 1953 he immigrated with his wife Ingeborg Lieverz Rohlig, a violinist, to Linden, Alabama, where he taught piano and organ, played the organ, and conducted choirs at the Methodist and Baptist churches. He moved to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955 to take a faculty position at Huntingdon College. Dr. Rohlig taught at Huntingdon for more than fifty years, where he was awarded every teaching honor the college grants. During his career he has written over 1,000 pieces of music and published over 300 works. In 2000, the United Methodist Foundation for Christian Higher Education named him Educator of the Year

His wife, Inge, passed away in 1999. In July 2005 he married Jeannette Lynn.

He retired from Huntingdon in 2006 and continues to compose, teach private piano and organ lessons, and serves as organist/choir master at St. John's Episcopal Church in Montgomery, a position he has held since 1962. His legacy includes design of several neo-Baroque pipe organs in the Southeast, including one in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Source: "Dr. Harald Rohlig: A Story of Triumph and Love," Huntingdon College Magazine, Fall 2005, Volume 84, Number 1, pages 8-10

Extent

0.4 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The collection consists of recital programs and worship bulletins, sheet music, photographs, audiocassettes, reel-to-reel audio tapes, and one LP record featuring the music and performance of Dr. Harald Rohlig.