Paul Sacher

Sacher was considered the world's third-richest man of the 1990s after inheriting a fortune from his late wife, Maja Hoffmann (1896–1989), who was the widow of Emanuel Hoffmann (1896–1932) and heiress of the pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche. At the time of his death, Sacher was reputed in various publications to be the richest man in Europe. He died in 1999 at the age of 93.

Sacher had 3 children outside marriage; two daughters, Katharina and Cornelia von Faber-Castell, with the Countess of Faber-Castell, and a son, Georg Schmid.

Commissions

Immensely wealthy, Sacher commissioned works from many well-known composers, including:

Igor Stravinsky (who provided him with the Concerto in D)

Béla Bartók (Divertimento for Strings, the Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, the String Quartet No. 6 and the Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta)

Bohuslav Martinů (many works including the Double Concerto for Two String Orchestras, Piano, and Timpani, Concerto da camera, etc.)

Arthur Honegger (many works, including his Second and Fourth Symphony Deliciae Basilienses)

Frank Martin (six works, including the Petite symphonie concertante)

Paul Hindemith

Hans Werner Henze

Richard Strauss

Elliott Carter

Witold Lutosławski (Sacher-Variationen, Double Concerto, Chain II)

Henri Dutilleux (Trois strophes sur le nom de Sacher and Mystère de l'instant)

Harrison Birtwistle

Pierre Boulez wrote his Grawemeyer Award-winning work Sur Incises for Sacher's 90th birthday. Boulez bequeathed his entire catalogue (including drafts) to the Paul Sacher Foundation. Henze dedicated his Tenth Symphony to the memory of Sacher, who had commissioned it but died before its completion.

In 1983, Sacher acquired the Stravinsky estate. The Paul Sacher Stiftung (Foundation) is located in the centre of Basel (in Münsterplatz) and houses one of the world's most important musical-manuscript collections. Sacher bought most of these manuscripts himself, and they include complete collections by several important twentieth-century composers (including Lutosławski, Ligeti, Boulez and Reich). In 1997, he received an honorary doctorate from the Academy of Music in Kraków.