Erwin Horn, born in Würzburg in 1940, studied theology, pedagogy, music theory and church music in his home town, as well as Gregorian chant in Essen. In his younger years he worked as the first regional cantor of the diocese of Würzburg, later as a lecturer for organ and music theory in Regensburg and Würzburg, and from 1997 as director of the conservatory of the city of Würzburg. From his music pedagogical work, Erwin Horn developed and published music-theoretical explanations of modal and baroque movement techniques. With the publication of the Catholic hymnal “Praise of God”, he edited the accompanying organ book “Organ Pieces for Praise of God”.
In addition to research, lectures and publications on Girolamo Frescobaldi, Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, Hans Rott, Richard Wagner and Franz Schmidt, he is particularly dedicated to the life and work of Anton Bruckner. He also launched four “Bruckner Festivals Würzburg”. In addition, he initiated the founding of the International Hans Rott Society Vienna in 2002.
His in-depth involvement with orchestral sound structures and with the romantic sound possibilities of the organ manifests itself in diverse transcriptions of symphonic movements, especially by Anton Bruckner, as well as in organ versions of extensive opera parts by Richard Wagner. Erwin Horn presented their realisation in numerous CD recordings, sheet music editions and concerts. Thanks to intensive research, he also succeeded in finding and editing the original manuscripts of Bruckner’s organ pieces. In 2010, he was awarded the Golden Bruckner Medal by the Upper Austrian Bruckner Society for his contributions to Bruckner research.