Rudolf Mauersberger was a German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 choral conductor and composer.

Professional career

After positions in Aachen

Aachen

Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...

 and Eisenach

Eisenach

Eisenach is a city in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated between the northern foothills of the Thuringian Forest and the Hainich National Park. Its population in 2006 was 43,626.-History:...

, he became director of the renowned Dresdner Kreuzchor

Dresdner Kreuzchor

The Dresdner Kreuzchor is the boys' choir of the Kreuzkirche in Dresden. It has a seven century history. Today the choir has about 150 members from the age of 9-19 from Dresden and the surrounding region. Most of the boys live in a boarding school. The Choir Boys are also called "Kruzianer". The...

 in 1930, a position he held until his death. In May 1933, Mauersberger became a member of the NSDAP; there are strong indications though that he tried to minimize the influence of the NS-Ideology and in particular of the Hitler-Jugend

Hitler Youth

The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...

 onto the choir. He refused to stage NS-songs with the choir, and continued to perform the works of banned composers such as Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Günter Raphael

Günter Raphael

Günter Raphael was a German composer. Born in Berlin, Raphael is the grandson of composer Albert Becker. His first symphony was premiered by Wilhelm Furtwängler in 1926 in Leipzig. From 1926 to 1934 he taught in Leipzig, but illness and the rise of National Socialism - he was declared a half-Jew -...

, at least as late as 1938.

Probably his most famous work is the hymn Wie liegt die Stadt so wüst (How desolate lies the city), written after the destruction of Dresden

Bombing of Dresden in World War II

The Bombing of Dresden was a military bombing by the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force and as part of the Allied forces between 13 February and 15 February 1945 in the Second World War...

 in February 1945. The text is taken from the Lamentations of Jeremiah, verses 1,1.4.9.13; 2,15; 5,17.20-21. The work is often seen as a bemoaning of the destroyed city, but given the biblical context, it can also apply to the whole of Germany and her people, the destruction of the country being punishment for its iniquities. Mauersberger's Dresdner Requiem also reflects the destruction. He wrote a Passion music after St Luke, Passionsmusik nach dem Lukasevangelium, and the Dresdner Te Deum.

Works

Choral cycles for soloists and mixed choir a capella

• Tag und Ewigkeit, 1943
• Weihnachtszyklus der Kruzianer (Christmas Cycle of the Kreuzchor), 1944-1946, including "Kleiner Dresdner Weihnachtszyklus" (excerpts), 1951 (de)
• Chorzyklus Dresden (Choral Cycle Dresden), 1945-1950, finished 1955, including Wie liegt die Stadt so wüst (de)
• Erzgebirge, 1946-1954
• Der kleine Jahreskreis, 1950

Geistliche Werke

• Christvesper mit Turmgesängen, 1932-1963
• Christmette, 1936
• Fangt euer Tagwerk fröhlich an, 5 kleine Spruchmotetten 1940, 1943
• Ostermette, 1941
• Dresdner Te Deum, 1944/45
• Passionsmusik nach dem Lukasevangelium, 1947
• Dresdner Requiem, 1947/48 (de)
• Geistliche Sommermusik, 1948
• Eine kleine Weihnachtskantate (Christmas cantata), 1948
• Motette vom Frieden, 1953
• Evangelische Messe, 1954
• Gesänge für die Kreuzkapelle zu Mauersberg, 1954-1956 (de)

Secular works

• Maiwärts, Frühlingsode (Ode for spring), 1917/18
• Pfeifen, 1942
• Kritik des Herzens, 1958
• Habt Ruh und Frieden, Gedächtnisgesang, 1943
• Drei Jahreszeitengedichte, 1965/66

Instrumental music

• Piano trio in C minor, 1913/14
• Introduktion, Ciaconna und Choral E minor for organ, 1912-1914
• Introduktion und Passacaglia A minor for organ, 1912-1914
• Präludium und Doppelfuge (prelude and double fugue) D minor for organ, 1912-1914
• Freie Orgelwerke, 1914-1916
• Symphony E minor ("Tragische"), 1914-1916

Recordings

with the Dresdner Kreuzchor

Dresdner Kreuzchor

The Dresdner Kreuzchor is the boys' choir of the Kreuzkirche in Dresden. It has a seven century history. Today the choir has about 150 members from the age of 9-19 from Dresden and the surrounding region. Most of the boys live in a boarding school. The Choir Boys are also called "Kruzianer". The...

:

• Bach: Mass in B minor
• Schütz
  Heinrich Schütz
  Heinrich Schütz was a German composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and often considered to be one of the most important composers of the 17th century along with Claudio Monteverdi...
  
  : Geistliche Chormusik 1648
• Schütz: Psalmen Davids

with the Kreuzchor and the Thomanerchor

Thomanerchor

The Thomanerchor is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. At present, the choir consists of 92 boys from 9 to 18 years of age...

, conducted together with Erhard Mauersberger

Erhard Mauersberger

Erhard Mauersberger was a German choral conductor, conducting the Thomanerchor as the fourteenth Thomaskantor since Johann Sebastian Bach...

• Bach: Matthäuspassion

Further reading