Dr. h.c. Fritz Brun and Carl F. Bucherer have a lot in common. Both were pioneers of their time and charismatic personalities who unwaveringly went their own way in their search for perfection. Carl F. Bucherer as a watchmaker, Fritz Brun as a musician. Born in Lucerne in 1878, Fritz Brun is amongst the most influential people in the history of Swiss music from the first half of the 20th century. After studying in Cologne, Berlin and London, he returned to Switzerland where he became leader of the Bernese Music Society and was awarded with an honorary doctorate from the University of Bern in 1922.

During his time in Bern, he composed various pieces of chamber music, the choral work “Promise” and symphonies three to seven. Each of his ten symphonies follows in the tradition of Brahms and Bruckner and bears witness to Brun’s constant search for harmony between himself and the world. Much revered and the winner of various awards, Fritz Brun spent his last years in Morcote on Lake Lugano, surrounded by close friends such as Hermann Hesse and Othmar Schoeck, yet continued to work tirelessly until his death in 1959.