Church musician
A church musician is a musician , who in a church as organist operates or choral conductor. This can be full-time, part-time or voluntary . A church job title is also used as a cantor or, in the older spelling, cantor. This name comes from the older church tradition including the synagogues and is derived from the Latin cantare "to sing". The cantor was and is a singer or cantor with special liturgical tasks within the service or the mass , such as the psalm song . This then resulted in the choir conducting with all the tasks of choir education such as voice training , rehearsal technology and conducting, sometimes including orchestra conducting. The profession of church musician emerged from the amalgamation of all activities (organist and choir director or in music education ) . A separation of the two offices of “organist” and “cantor”, as is common, for example, in larger churches in France, is rather rare in Germany.
education
Germany
The professional qualification is divided into four levels:
- D-examination: Church musicians with training in the church district and examination.
- C-examination: approximately two years of attending a C-seminar or studying at a church music school with a subsequent C-degree for the part-time, independent church music service; in Bavaria by visiting a vocational school for music to buy
- B-exam: four-year studies with a B-exam at a church music school, music college or academy for full-time service
- A-exam: 4- to 6-year A-course or 2-year additional course for B-church musicians, each with an A-exam for full-time service at main churches with special artistic focuses, for example in choir work or organ playing as well as management tasks ( church music director / Regional cantor ) in church districts
The training canon of a full-time church musician usually includes the subjects of organ literature playing , liturgical organ playing , piano , singing , choir conducting , orchestral conducting , score playing , figured bass , musical composition , ear training , liturgy , hymnology , history of music , historical musicology , organ building , ecclesiastical studies and increasingly ecclesiastical Training centers also include Christian popular music .
Austria
In Austria it is possible to take the C, B or A examination at conservatories . The training up to the B examination begins with the one to two year elementary level, which prepares for the subsequent basic level. In the basic level, which lasts two to four years, you deepen your knowledge of the elementary level. The expansion stage completes the training. It also usually lasts two to four years. The exams are recognized in both Austria and Germany.
tasks
Today the church musician is increasingly also a music teacher in the community . In addition to liturgical and artistic tasks (for example conducting concerts for choir and orchestra or organ concerts), music-pedagogical support for laypeople in choirs and groups takes up a large part, in some cases up to early musical education in the parish and kindergarten . In addition, the training of young church musicians for employment as part-time / honorary church musicians (piano and organ lessons as well as choir direction) is one of the tasks, especially for full-time church musicians.
The respective focus of the church music work is determined by the church community leadership or the church district (depending on the employee), often the financial possibilities are also decisive.
Job situation
While there has been a widespread expansion of studies, especially in Germany since around 1950 (organist schools became "church music schools", church music schools became academies and universities with appropriately qualified degrees), the above job titles became permanent positions with a corresponding budget for church music. This development established the profession in Germany compared to many other countries as a (protected) profession in all artistic, liturgical and music-pedagogical areas. After a significant decline in full-time employment between 1990 and 2005, the number of A and B positions in the Protestant church has remained more or less stable since 2006. Newly created positions often have more supra-congregational components (multiplier function as district cantor, dean's office cantor, district cantor, regional cantor) and include the training and support of part-time and honorary organists / choir directors as well as project work as additional work focuses. The remuneration has been increased significantly in recent years, most Protestant regional churches now pay church musicians according to TV-L in the wage groups 11 to 14.
Although the profession of church musician is strongly tailored to the requirements and competence profile within the institution of the church, there have recently been - as in other cultural areas - institutionally independent freelancers who then often see themselves as performing musicians or as secular musical service providers. The professional spectrum ranges from independent choir directing or singing to concert organists and musicological speakers.
statistics
| 1994 | 2007 | 2015 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| full-time positions | 2270-2350 | 1988 | 1924 |
| of which A positions | 25% | 26% | 27% |
| Proportion of 100% positions | not recorded | 54% | 59% |
| part-time jobs | 16,500 | approx. 17,000 | approx. 18,000 |
At the beginning of 2006, around 1,600 full-time and 8,000 part-time church musicians were active in the Roman Catholic Church in Germany. In 2004 around 400 Protestant and around 300 Catholic students were enrolled at church music colleges. In autumn 2016 there were 378 Protestant students.
Rules and Regulations
- exemplary order of the C-examination diocese of Münster (PDF file; 551 kB)
- Training and examination regulations for church musicians on a part-time basis (PDF file; 86 kB)
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Training on the website of the Graz Conservatory
- ↑ Examples of this more recent development are e.g. Johannes Vetter , Christian Bauer ( Memento of the original from December 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Christoph Schlechter ( Memento of the original from January 18, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Bettina Strübel or Ute Weitkämper .
