The Meiningen Court Orchestra (Ger:Hofkapelle) is one of the oldest and most traditional orchestras in Europe. The now 68-member orchestra is part of the Meininger Theater and in addition to their performances at opera performances regularly give symphony concerts and youth concerts. The music director (GMD) since 2010 is Philippe Bach

Philippe Bach

Philippe Bach , is a Swiss conductor and current music director of Meiningen's Hofkapelle and Theatre.-Biography:Bach was born in Saanen, Switzerland, and studied Horn in Bern and Genève and conducting in Zürich...

.

The court orchestra was founded in 1690 by Duke Bernhard I. With the departure of Emil Büchner as court music director in October 1880, the most successful period of the chapel began, when it developed into an elite European orchestra under the direction of Hans von Bülow. Bulow brought Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...

 to Meiningen to cooperate with the court orchestra and to occasionally conduct. In a letter to Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen

Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen

Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen , was the penultimate Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, reigning from 1866 to 1914.-Family and early life:...

, Brahms wrote "Bülow must know that the smallest rehearsal in the smallest Meiningen hall is more important to me than any Paris or London concert, and ...how good and comfortable I feel amidst the orchestra, I could sing aloud a long song of praise about it..."

Timeline of musical directors

• (1690-1702) Duke Bernhard I
• (1702-1707) Georg Caspar Schürmann
  Georg Caspar Schürmann
  Georg Caspar Schürmann was a German Baroque composer. His name also appears as Schurmann and in Hochdeutsch as Scheuermann.-Life:...
  
  
• (1711-1731) Johann Ludwig Bach
  Johann Ludwig Bach
  Johann Ludwig Bach was a composer and violinist.He was born in Thal. At the age of 22 he moved to Meiningen eventually being appointed cantor there, and later Kapellmeister...
  
  
• (1865–1880) Emil Büchner
  Emil Büchner
  Emil Adolf Büchner was a German conductor and bandmaster of the 19th Century. He wrote an important number of compositions , including operas, chamber music, choral works and symphonies....
  
  
• (1880–1885) Hans von Bülow
  Hans von Bülow
  Hans Guido Freiherr von Bülow was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. He was one of the most famous conductors of the 19th century, and his activity was critical for establishing the successes of several major composers of the time, including Richard...
  
  
• (1885–1886) Richard Strauss
  Richard Strauss
  Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
  
  
• (1886-1903) Fritz Steinbach
  Fritz Steinbach
  Fritz Steinbach was a German conductor and composer who was particularly associated with the works of Johannes Brahms. Born in Grünsfeld, he was the brother of conductor Emil Steinbach. He studied at the Leipzig Conservatory and in Vienna. Among his teachers were Martin Gustav Nottebohm and Anton...
  
  
• (1903-1911) Wilhelm Berger
  Wilhelm Berger
  Wilhelm Berger was a German composer, pianist and conductor.-Life:Berger's father, originally a merchant from Bremen, worked in Boston as a music shopkeeper and made a name for himself as an author after the family had returned to Bremen in 1862. Early on, his son showed signs of musical interest...
  
  
• (1911–1914) Max Reger
  Max Reger
  Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger was a German composer, conductor, pianist, organist, and academic teacher.-Life:...
  
  
• (1926-1930) Heinz Bongratz
• (1945-?) Peter Schmitz
• (1956-1961) Rolf Reuter
• (1961-1967) Olaf Koch
• (1967-1995) Wolfgang Hocke
• (1995-1999) Marie-Jeanne Dufour
• (1999-2004) Kirill Petrenko
  Kirill Petrenko
  Kirill Petrenko is a Russian conductor.The son of a violinist, Petrenko studied piano as a youth, and made his public debut as a pianist at age 11. At age 18, he and his family emigrated to Austria, where his father played in the Vorarlberg Symphony...
  
  
• (2007-2010) Hans Urbanek
• (2010–Present) Philippe Bach
  Philippe Bach
  Philippe Bach , is a Swiss conductor and current music director of Meiningen's Hofkapelle and Theatre.-Biography:Bach was born in Saanen, Switzerland, and studied Horn in Bern and Genève and conducting in Zürich...
  
  

World premier of works

• Brahms - Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op.98 (October 25th 1885)
• Strauss - Suite in Bb major (suite for wind) Op. 4 (November 18th 1884)

Notable Instrumentalist

• Richard Mühlfeld
  Richard Mühlfeld
  Richard Mühlfeld was a German clarinettist who inspired Johannes Brahms and Gustav Jenner to write chamber works including the instrument...
  
   - Violinist (1873-1876), Principle clarinetist (1876-?)
• Gustave Knoop - Cellist
• Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer
  Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer
  Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer was a German cellist and composer.-Life:Born in Haselrieth, near Hildburghausen, to a father who was a church music minister, he learned at a young age to play a number of instruments, including piano, double bass, violin, clarinet, and horn...
  
   - Cellist (1801-1805)
• Richard Bruno Heydrich
  Richard Bruno Heydrich
  Richard Bruno Heydrich was a German opera singer , and composer.-Early career:...
  
  - Contrabassist