Kronstadt Bach Choir
| Kronstadt Bach Choir | |
|---|---|
| Seat: |
 Kronstadt
|
| Carrier: | Evangelical parish church of Kronstadt |
| Founding: | 1933 |
| Genus: | mixed choir |
| Founder: | Victor Bickerich |
| Head : | Steffen Schlandt |
| Website : | www.honterusgemeinde.ro |
The Kronstadt Bach Choir was in 1933 in the Transylvanian Brasov (German: Kronstadt), Romania established.
Historical outline
Church music at the Black Church has always been an important part of the spiritual life of the Black Church and a link in the interdenominational and intercultural area. As early as the 15th century, merchants from the Orient were brought to the Black Church to listen to the sounds of the organ, among other things. Later, it was important personalities such as Gregorius Ostermayer, Daniel Croner, Martin Schneider, Lucas Hermann, Johann Lucas Hedwig, Rudolf Lassel and Victor Bickerich who, as cantors and organists, made this place a center of church music in Transylvania. In the choral area, it was the student church choir and the Bach choir, founded in 1933, which made it possible to perform regularly in church services and concerts and who succeeded in performing the oratorical masterpieces.
The foundation of the choir
The initiator of the establishment of a Bach choir in Kronstadt was Victor Bickerich , born in Lissa Silesia in 1895, studied from 1918 at the Academy for Church and School Music and Organ with F. Heitmann in Berlin. In 1921 he was appointed from the Kronstadt presbytery as Rudolf Lassel's successor in the office of organist, music director and high school music teacher of the Evang. City parish elected in Kronstadt. Bickerich rebuilt the boys' choir, which had been orphaned since Lassel's death, went on tours with him and organized regular “motets” in the Black Church from 1923 onwards . As early as 1924, Bickerich conducted the Southeastern European premiere of JS Bach's St. Matthew Passion in Kronstadt, followed by the St. John Passion in 1931. As an admirer of Bach, he founded the Bach Choir of the Black Church in 1933, with which he was able to perform the great vocal works and in 1935 organized the memorable Bucharest premiere of Bach's St. Matthew Passion and the first Transylvanian Bach Festival (1936 Bucharest premiere of the St. John Passion) , appeared on the radio and went on a major tour of Germany in 1937 (Mozart Requiem). As the successor to Paul Richter, Bickerich also took over the leadership of the Kronstadt Philharmonic Orchestra in 1935. At the same time he taught at the Astra Conservatory from 1928. In 1962 he withdrew from concert life.
Bickerich became Kronstadt's musical authority alongside and after Paul Richter. Universal humanistic education and his basic attitude focused on the spiritual made him a strong educator at the same time. He promoted and shaped - with radiations in the Romanian Altreich - decisively the musical life in his adopted home. The practice of church music in Kronstadt reached an artistic level that has not been surpassed to this day. As an active supporter of the liturgy organization represented by pastor K. Möckel in the spirit of the Berneuchen movement, Bickerich advocated a musical reorganization of the service.
The choir between 1945 and 1989
The consequences of the war caused a sensitive cut in the structure and performance of the Bach choir. Due to political pressure and harassment, the choir suffered a severe setback and it would be several years before major performances could be restarted.
The Kronstadt Bach Choir today
In the changed image of the Protestant congregation in Romania and also in Kronstadt, this choir has a non-denominational structure, as only about 50 percent of the singers are members of the congregation. Linguistic and denominational differences, however, have enlivened the community in the choir in recent years and confirmed the typical Transylvanian cultural exchange. With around 40 regular singers, the choir is able to perform larger works in a cappella formations or with orchestral accompaniment. During the year, the choir performs around ten times in church services, plus the major performances at Christmas, Easter, Whitsun and on the Sunday of the Dead.
The youth Bach choir
The Youth Bach Choir was founded in 1993 by Eckart Schlandt, the director of the Kronstadt Bach Choir at the time, in order to work out a repertoire with the younger members of the choir that is appealing and motivating. Since then, this small choir has always changed, and the line-up is now a completely new one.
The youth choir has made a name for itself as the help and support of the large choir, and has appeared on its own in numerous appearances. Steffen Schlandt, the current director of the Kronstadt Bach Choir, has also been leading the youth choir since 2004. Together, the singers have developed a repertoire that contains 4-8 vocal sacred and secular settings from the Middle Ages to the modern. The approx. 20 members come from 6 denominations and speak 3 mother tongues. In 2006 the CD “Praise God, the Lord” was recorded on the occasion of the trip to Germany. In December, a television appearance in the Black Church followed as part of the German TVR1's Christmas program.