The Koeckert violin dynasty is one of the most influential families of Munich musicians: Rudolf the Elder (1913 – 2005) was concertmaster of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1949 to 1979. His son Rudolf-Joachim, born in Prague in 1941, followed him on this orchestra post after. And in his father’s famous string quartet, he first acted as second violinist and then took over the part of first violin from 1982 until the end of the ensemble in 1992. Rudolf-Joachim Koeckert was, of course, one might say, taught by his father first and got the decisive one Polished by the famous violin master Max Rostal in Bern.
When Koeckert appeared on the podium of the Munich Herkulessaal at the first podium of the BRSO, it was never according to the motto, oops, here I come!, but always as an accomplished, solid musician of the first class who has an important task to fulfill, in the spirit of what the great Isaac Stern described as the function of the concertmaster as opposed to that of the soloist. The soloist “differs considerably from the qualities of a first-rate concertmaster, who, after all, must above all be an enthusiastic and collegial ensemble player.” One could experience Koeckert when he played the great symphonic repertoire with his orchestra under conductors such as Colin Davis, Lorin Maazel and others, not only in Munich but also on major tours around the world. Even as a quartet leader, he did not push himself forward, did not shine at the expense of the others, but carefully fulfilled the function and position of the leader, always geared to the idea and spirit of the music in question. Accordingly, in 1989 he also became professor for violin at the Munich Music Academy. As has only just become known, Rudolf-Joachim Koeckert died on January 10 of this year after a serious illness. However, the family’s tradition of playing violin continues in his son Nicolas.