Gächinger Kantorei
Encyclopedia
Gächinger Kantorei is an internationally known German
mixed choir, founded by Helmuth Rilling
in 1954 in Gächingen (part of St. Johann
close to Reutlingen) and still conducted by him. A "Kantorei" is a choir of high standard dedicated mostly, but not exclusively, to sacred music
. The ensemble operates in Stuttgart
now and is therefore officially named "Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart". The choir has up to 200 voices, called together for projects from Germany and Switzerland, most of them singers with a degree in music. Since 1965 they have performed music with orchestra as Gächinger Kantorei and Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, including several first performances.
of the 16th, 17th and 20th century, later adding works from the period of Romanticism
. In 1965 Rilling founded the orchestra Bach-Collegium Stuttgart
, and both groups started performing choral music with orchestra.
The first international tours were conducted in the 1960s to the (then) DDR, CSSR
and Hungary
, the first tour to the United States
followed in 1968. In 1976 the choir sang with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
the first performance in Israel
of Brahms's A German Requiem. Tours of the 1980s took the group to Poland
and Moscow
.
Gächinger Kantorei and Bach-Collegium Stuttgart have performed at festivals such as the "Musikfest Stuttgart" of the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart
, Salzburg Festival
, Lucerne Festival
or the Prague Spring. In 2004 they celebrated their 50th year by performing Bach's Mass in B minor at the Oregon Bach Festival
. They have appeared at the Rheingau Musik Festival
and recorded Mozart's Great Mass in C Minor in 2006.
and Leonhard Lechner
, and music of 20th century composers such as Hugo Distler
, Paul Hindemith
, Kurt Hessenberg
, Willy Burkhard
, including premieres of works by Johann Nepomuk David
, Evangelienmotetten (motets on the Gospel) in 1959 and Psalm 139 in 1961.
Gächinger Kantorei and Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, conducted by Rilling, completed the first complete recording of Bach's cantatas
and oratorios, a project of 15 years in collaboration with the Hänssler Verlag, on 21 March 1985, the composer's 300th birthday. The recording was awarded a Grand Prix du Disque
.
The choir premiered works such as the Messa per Rossini
(1988), Litany of Arvo Pärt
(1994), the Requiem of Reconciliation
(1995) or Wolfgang Rihm
's Deus Passus (Passionsstücke nach Lukas) in 2000 and Creatio in 2009. They explored different repertoire in 2004, in a premiere performance and recording of Mendelsohn's opera Die beiden Neffen
.
Gächinger Kantorei have also performed new versions of works, such as Mozart's unfinished Great Mass in C minor completed by Robert D. Levin
. In 2009 they performed Bach's Christmas Oratorio
in St. Thomas Church, Leipzig where it had been premiered 275 years before.
The choir has performed with notable guest conductors such as Masaaki Suzuki
. Krzysztof Penderecki
conducted his Credo on the occasion of Rilling's 70th birthday, 29 May 2003, with the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, programmed with Bach's setting of these words in the Symbolum Nicenum from his Mass in B minor, Rilling conducting Gächinger Kantorei and Bach-Collegium Stuttgart with Sibylla Rubens
, Ingeborg Danz
and Christian Gerhaher
. Sir Roger Norrington
chose the choir for his recording of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9
with Camilla Nylund, Iris Vermillion, Jonas Kaufmann
, Franz-Josef Selig and the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart. Ton Koopman
conducted Haydn's The Seasons
with soloists Klara Ek, Jörg Dürmüller
and Klaus Mertens
in 2009.
In 2009 the Gächinger Kantorei sang under Rilling with the New York Philharmonic
Handel's Messiah
in Avery Fisher Hall
in New York with soloists Annette Dasch
, Daniel Taylor
, James Taylor
and Shenyang.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
mixed choir, founded by Helmuth Rilling
Helmuth Rilling
Helmuth Rilling is an internationally known German choral conductor, founder of the Gächinger Kantorei , the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart , the Oregon Bach Festival , the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart and other Bach Academies worldwide, and the "Festival Ensemble Stuttgart"...
in 1954 in Gächingen (part of St. Johann
St. Johann (Reutlingen)
St. Johann is a town in the district of Reutlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany....
close to Reutlingen) and still conducted by him. A "Kantorei" is a choir of high standard dedicated mostly, but not exclusively, to sacred music
Church music
Church music may be defined as music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclestiacal liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. This article covers music in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. For sacred music outside this...
. The ensemble operates in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
now and is therefore officially named "Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart". The choir has up to 200 voices, called together for projects from Germany and Switzerland, most of them singers with a degree in music. Since 1965 they have performed music with orchestra as Gächinger Kantorei and Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, including several first performances.
History
Initially the choir was dedicated to a cappella musicA cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
of the 16th, 17th and 20th century, later adding works from the period of Romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
. In 1965 Rilling founded the orchestra Bach-Collegium Stuttgart
Bach-Collegium Stuttgart
Bach-Collegium Stuttgart is an internationally known German instrumental ensemble, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1965 to accompany the Gächinger Kantorei in choral music with orchestra...
, and both groups started performing choral music with orchestra.
The first international tours were conducted in the 1960s to the (then) DDR, CSSR
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, the first tour to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
followed in 1968. In 1976 the choir sang with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is the leading symphony orchestra in Israel. It was originally known as the Palestine Orchestra, and in Hebrew as התזמורת הסימפונית הארץ ישראלית The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit...
the first performance in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
of Brahms's A German Requiem. Tours of the 1980s took the group to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
Gächinger Kantorei and Bach-Collegium Stuttgart have performed at festivals such as the "Musikfest Stuttgart" of the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart
Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart
Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart is a foundation in Stuttgart, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1981 to foster international concerts and workshops, namely Musikfest Stuttgart, dedicated especially to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach in relation to present day composition.-Musikfest...
, Salzburg Festival
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...
, Lucerne Festival
Lucerne Festival
- History :The festival was founded in 1938 with a series of concerts in the gardens of Wagner's villa conducted by Arturo Toscanini, who had formed an orchestra with members of different orchestras and soloists for the concert...
or the Prague Spring. In 2004 they celebrated their 50th year by performing Bach's Mass in B minor at the Oregon Bach Festival
Oregon Bach Festival
The Oregon Bach Festival is an annual celebration of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and his musical legacy, held in Eugene, Oregon, United States, in late June and early July. The artistic director is German organist and conductor Helmuth Rilling and the Executive Director is John Evans,...
. They have appeared at the Rheingau Musik Festival
Rheingau Musik Festival
The Rheingau Musik Festival is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres...
and recorded Mozart's Great Mass in C Minor in 2006.
Music
During the first years the Gächinger Kantorei performed a cappella works of Buxtehude, Schütz, Pachelbel, Lasso, Hassler, Bach, Caspar OthmayrCaspar Othmayr
Caspar Othmayr was a German Protestant priest, theologian and composer.Othmayr was born in Amberg, Upper Palatinate, and studied in Heidelberg as a pupil of Lorenz Lemlin, among others. Later, he became rector of the monastery school of Heilsbronn near Ansbach...
and Leonhard Lechner
Leonhard Lechner
Leonard Lechner was a German composer and music editor who worked with Orlando de Lassus.-Life:Lechner's exact place of birth is unknown. The by-name he occasionally used, "Athesinus", refers to origins in the Adige Valley in what is now the Italian province of South Tyrol....
, and music of 20th century composers such as Hugo Distler
Hugo Distler
Hugo Distler was a German organist, choral conductor, teacher and composer.-Life and career:...
, Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
, Kurt Hessenberg
Kurt Hessenberg
Kurt Hessenberg was a German composer and professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt am Main.- Life :...
, Willy Burkhard
Willy Burkhard
Willy Burkhard was a Swiss composer.Willy Burkhard was an extremely influential composer of the 20th century...
, including premieres of works by Johann Nepomuk David
Johann Nepomuk David
Johann Nepomuk David was an Austrian composer.He began his musical career in the monastery of Sankt Florian, and was a composition student of Joseph Marx....
, Evangelienmotetten (motets on the Gospel) in 1959 and Psalm 139 in 1961.
Gächinger Kantorei and Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, conducted by Rilling, completed the first complete recording of Bach's cantatas
Bach cantata
Bach cantata became a term for a cantata of the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach who was a prolific writer of the genre. Although many of his works are lost, around 200 cantatas survived....
and oratorios, a project of 15 years in collaboration with the Hänssler Verlag, on 21 March 1985, the composer's 300th birthday. The recording was awarded a Grand Prix du Disque
Grand Prix du Disque
The Grand Prix du Disque is the premier French award for musical recordings. The award was inaugurated by l'Académie Charles Cros in 1948 and offers prizes in various categories. The categories vary from year to year, and multiple awards are often made in any one category in the same year...
.
The choir premiered works such as the Messa per Rossini
Messa per Rossini
The Messa per Rossini is a Requiem Mass composed to commemorate the first anniversary of Gioachino Rossini's death. It was a collaboration between 13 Italian composers, initiated by Giuseppe Verdi...
(1988), Litany of Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt is an Estonian classical composer and one of the most prominent living composers of sacred music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-made compositional technique, tintinnabuli. His music also finds its inspiration and influence from...
(1994), the Requiem of Reconciliation
Requiem of Reconciliation
The Requiem of Reconciliation was a collaborative work written to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. It sets the Roman Catholic mass for the dead in fourteen sections, each written by a different composer from a country involved in the war...
(1995) or Wolfgang Rihm
Wolfgang Rihm
Wolfgang Rihm is a German composer.Rihm is Head of the Institute of Modern Music at the Karlsruhe Conservatory of Music and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Salzburg Festival...
's Deus Passus (Passionsstücke nach Lukas) in 2000 and Creatio in 2009. They explored different repertoire in 2004, in a premiere performance and recording of Mendelsohn's opera Die beiden Neffen
Die beiden Neffen
Die beiden Neffen , also known as Der Onkel aus Boston , is a three act Singspiel by Felix Mendelssohn to a libretto by Johann Ludwig Casper.-Background:...
.
Gächinger Kantorei have also performed new versions of works, such as Mozart's unfinished Great Mass in C minor completed by Robert D. Levin
Robert D. Levin
Robert D. Levin is a classical performer, musicologist, and composer, and is the Artistic Director of the Sarasota Music Festival.-Education:...
. In 2009 they performed Bach's Christmas Oratorio
Christmas Oratorio
The Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 incorporating music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a...
in St. Thomas Church, Leipzig where it had been premiered 275 years before.
The choir has performed with notable guest conductors such as Masaaki Suzuki
Masaaki Suzuki
is a Japanese organist, harpsichordist and conductor, and the founder and musical director of the Bach Collegium Japan.He was born in Kobe to parents who were both Christians and amateur musicians...
. Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki , born November 23, 1933 in Dębica) is a Polish composer and conductor. His 1960 avant-garde Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra brought him to international attention, and this success was followed by acclaim for his choral St. Luke Passion. Both these...
conducted his Credo on the occasion of Rilling's 70th birthday, 29 May 2003, with the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, programmed with Bach's setting of these words in the Symbolum Nicenum from his Mass in B minor, Rilling conducting Gächinger Kantorei and Bach-Collegium Stuttgart with Sibylla Rubens
Sibylla Rubens
- Biography :Sibylla Rubens studied voice at the Staatliche Musikhochschule in Trossingen and at the Hochschule für Musik in Frankfurt and in master classes with Edith Mathis....
, Ingeborg Danz
Ingeborg Danz
Ingeborg Danz is a German mezzo-soprano and alto concert singer.- Biography :Ingeborg Danz studied school music at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold and voice with Heiner Eckels...
and Christian Gerhaher
Christian Gerhaher
Christian Gerhaher is a German baritone and bass singer in opera, concert and notably Lied.- Biography :Christian Gerhaher studied with Paul Kuen and Raimund Grumbach at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, and Lied with Friedemann Berger, already together with his accompanist for decades...
. Sir Roger Norrington
Roger Norrington
Sir Roger Arthur Carver Norrington, CBE is a British conductor. He is the son of Sir Arthur Norrington and his brother is Humphrey Thomas Norrington....
chose the choir for his recording of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
with Camilla Nylund, Iris Vermillion, Jonas Kaufmann
Jonas Kaufmann
Jonas Kaufmann is a German operatic tenor. Although he has sung a variety of leading roles including both the Mozart and Wagner repertoire, he is particularly known for his performances in spinto roles such as Don José in Carmen, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur, and the title...
, Franz-Josef Selig and the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart. Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman is a conductor, organist and harpsichordist.Koopman had a "classical education" and then studied the organ , harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam...
conducted Haydn's The Seasons
The Seasons (Haydn)
The Seasons is an oratorio by Joseph Haydn .-Composition, premiere, and reception:Haydn was led to write The Seasons by the great success of his previous oratorio The Creation , which had become very popular and was in the course of being performed all over Europe...
with soloists Klara Ek, Jörg Dürmüller
Jörg Dürmüller
Jörg Dürmüller is a Swiss classical tenor in concert and opera.- Biography :Dürmüller studied violin and voice at the conservatory of Winterthur and took voice master classes with Edith Mathis, Christa Ludwig and Hermann Prey....
and Klaus Mertens
Klaus Mertens
Klaus Mertens is a German bass and bass-baritone singer who is known especially for his interpretation of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach.-Professional career:Klaus Mertens took singing lessons while attending school...
in 2009.
In 2009 the Gächinger Kantorei sang under Rilling with the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
Handel's Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
in Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall is a concert hall, in New York City and is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex. It is the home of the New York Philharmonic, with a capacity of 2,738 seats.-History:...
in New York with soloists Annette Dasch
Annette Dasch
Annette Dasch is a German soprano. She performs in operas and concerts.- Biography :Annette Dasch studied voice at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München with Josef Loibl....
, Daniel Taylor
Daniel Taylor (countertenor)
Daniel Taylor is a Canadian countertenor and early music specialist. He completed his undergraduate studies in English, philosophy, and music at the the Faculty of Music of McGill University and his graduate work in religion and music at the Université de Montréal...
, James Taylor
James Taylor (tenor)
James Taylor is an American tenor, known for singing the Evangelist in works of Johann Sebastian Bach.- Biography :James Taylor grew up in Houston. He studied singing with Arden Hopkin at the Texas Christian University...
and Shenyang.
Literature
- Andreas Bomba (Hrsg.): „Singet se noh...?“ (50 years Gächinger Kantorei 1954–2004). Internationale Bachakademie, Stuttgart 2004
External links
- Gächinger Kantorei on the website of the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart (in German)
- Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart on bach cantatas (2001)
- Entries for recordings of the Gächinger Kantorei on WorldCatWorldCatWorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...
- Bruckner masses review by Michael Cookson, 2004
Interactive Hypermedia
- Johann Sebastian Bach Mass in B Minor (Flash)