Otto Strobl worked as a music teacher, choir director and organist in Eisenstadt (Austria).
Strobl had a family musical background, his father was a cantor-teacher of the village, so he combined church music and secular education in his work and passed on his knowledge to his son, his mother was also an organist. The folk song was as much an impression of the first years as church music, both experiences were strongly reflected in his later compositional works. Otto Strobl studied music pedagogy and organ at the Musikhochschule in Vienna and composition with Alfred Uhl, among others. In 1949 he went to school as a teacher in Eisenstadt, was organist mainly at Eisenstadt Cathedral. In addition, he was soon fascinated by the choir life of the provincial capital of Burgenland, and in 1950 he became director of the traditional Haydn Choir for more than forty years. His tasks included performances of the great choral and oratorio literature as well as the writing of pieces on many occasions, including cantatas, choral works, oratorios and masses with extensive orchestral accompaniment. But he also found his personal style as an arranger of Austrian folk songs, which was much appreciated in this area. In 1974 he published “Burgenländische und kroatische Volkslieder”. From 1968 until his retirement in 1992 he also taught at the Pedagogical Academy in Eisenstadt, taught music theory at the Joseph Haydn Conservatory, was regional choir master, teacher at choir leader courses and carried out activities in teacher training.
