Ambrosius Kienle

Father Ambrosius Kienle in Eichstätt in July 1884

Ambrosius Kienle OSB (* May 8, 1852 in Laiz near Sigmaringen as Christian Kienle ; † June 18, 1905 in Beuron ) was a German choral researcher , hymnologist and reformer of church music .

Life

Kienle came from a merchant family. He completed his school career until 1872 at the Jesuit- run grammar school in Hedingen . Shortly afterwards, immediately after starting to study Catholic theology in Mainz , he met Benedictines of the Beuron Archabbey and then entered this abbey on January 14, 1873, where he made his profession on August 15 .

In 1880 he was given the office of cantor in the Emaus monastery in Prague , where the Beuron monks had to emigrate during the Prussian culture war . From 1890, when he returned to Beuron, he also held this position here as well as that of librarian and novice master . His intensive turn to Gregorian chant began early in his studies; a longer stay in the French monastery of Solesmes , which was so important for the restoration of the chant and to which the abbot of Beuron at the time, Maurus Wolter, as well as the cantor Benedikt Sauter , who had spent his novitiate in Solesmes, were on friendly terms, shaped him and his conception of chant deep.

In the following years he joined the direction of this monastery, represented by Dom Joseph Pothier , who was researching in Solesmes , and which had set itself the task of restoring the chorale according to the oldest manuscripts. The exploration and revitalization of the chorale in theory and practice also became Kienle's real life task. Despite his great enthusiasm for Pothier's scientific method in restoring the old readings and his respect for his outstanding intellect and deep knowledge of the matter, Kienle criticized individual aspects of the practical execution of the chant by the monks trained in Solesmes.

A deep friendship connected him with the Eichstätter choral researcher and polymath Raymund Schlecht and the choral researcher Michael Hermesdorff, who worked in Trier . In 1872 he founded an association for the research of Gregorian chant, which the Archabbey of Beuron joined as an institution. At Schlecht's request, Kienle, Sauter and Wolters brokered contact with Pothier, who then also joined the Hermesdorff Choral Society and henceforth worked closely with the German researchers.

From then on Kienle also advocated the restoration of the chant based on historical sources. Numerous choral courses in Beuron and a number of independent, sometimes idiosyncratic and sometimes highly controversial publications served this goal. His "Choral School" (1884, 1893; French : Tournai 1895) and above all the publication "Maß und Milde in Kirchenmusikalischen Dingen" (1901) made his name widely known. He also translated Pothier's epoch-making work, " Les Mélodies grégoriennes " (1880, German translation 1881), in which he presented his findings on research into medieval manuscripts and the aesthetics based on them for the performance of the chant.

After Hermesdorff's death, Kienle, along with Pothier, Schlecht and Peter Bohn, vehemently advocated the preservation of the original Gregorian chant, also restituted by Hermesdorff, and against the mutilated chorale edition of the Medicaea published by Franz Xaver Haberl in the Regensburg publishing house Friedrich Pustet KG .

Not least through the work of Kienle, the Beuron Choral School achieved a similar importance for Germany as that of Solesmes for France.

Works

• As a translator: The Gregorian chant, its original form and historical tradition by Dom Joseph Pothier . Published by Desclée, Lefebvre et Cie, Tournay 1881.
• Choral school. A handbook for learning choral singing. Herdersche Verlagshandlung, Freiburg im Breisgau 1884; 3rd, verb. Edition, ibid. 1899, DNB 361052863 .
• About Ambrosian liturgy and Ambrosian chant. Raigerner Benedictines , 1884.
• The high mass of Gregory the Great: a liturgical picture of the time according to the Ordo Romanus I, 1885.
• Small church music manual for the introduction of the new Diocesan hymn book: Magnificat. Herder, 1893.
• Measure and mildness in matters of church music. Thoughts on our liturgical music reform. Herdersche Verlagshandlung, Freiburg im Breisgau 1901, DNB 361052871 .

literature

Obituaries

• Journal of the International Music Society. 6, 1904/1905, p. 454.
• Michael Horn: † Ambrosius K. In: Gregorianische Rundschau. 4, 1905, ZDB -ID 527132-0 , pp. 127-129.
• P. Ambrosius K. †. In: Gregorius-Blatt. Organ for Catholic Church Music. 30, 1905, DNB 534535-2 , p. 92.
• St. Benedict Voices. 29, 1905, pp. 314-318.
• The Catholic church singer. 18, 1905, OCLC 310965351 , pp. 59-62.

Scientific literature

• Franz Xaver Witt : The PAK Choral School In: Musica sacra . 18, 1885, pp. 43-46, pp. 129-133.
• Philipp Jakob Lenz: A journey in choral matters. In: Pastor bonus. Journal for Church Science and Practice. Edited by the professors of the Episcopal Seminary in Trier. 11, 1898/1899, pp. 27-32.
• Lucas Kunz: Two Beuron Cantors - Sketches and Notes. In: Johannes Overath (Ed.): Musicae Sacrae Ministry. Contributions to the history of church music. Renewal in the XIX. Century. Festgabe for Karl Gustav Fellerer (= General Cecilia Association for the German-speaking countries: Series of publications of the General Cecilia Association for the German-speaking countries. Volume 5). Among employees of his students and friends ed. by Johannes Overath. General Cäcilien-Verband, Cologne 1962, DNB 453387004 , pp. 91-109.
• Kurt Küppers: Diocesan hymn and prayer books of the German-speaking area in the 19th and 20th centuries. History, bibliography (= liturgical scientific sources and research. Volume 69). Aschendorff, Münster (Westphalia) 1987, ISBN 3-402-03855-2 , pp. 10, 84.
• Stephan Klaus Petzolt: The founding and development history of the Abbey of Beuron as reflected in its liturgy (1863-1908). Dissertation. University of Würzburg, Würzburg 1990, DNB 901297836 , esp. Pp. 358-422.
• Adalbert Kienle: The chorus lion from Beuron - Father Ambrosius Kienle OSB (1852–1905) (= Beuroner Profile. Volume 1). Beuroner Kunstverlag, Beuron 2017, ISBN 978-3-87071-355-3 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Chorallöwe von Beuron. Beuroner Kunstverlag, accessed on October 13, 2017.