Berlin Mozart Choir
| Berlin Mozart Choir | |
|---|---|
| Seat: | Berlin / Germany |
| Founding: | 1922 |
| Genus: | Children's choir , youth choir |
| Founder: | Erich Steffen |
| Head : | Sabine Fenske |
| Voices : | approx. 25/20 ( one to two voices / SATB ) |
| Website : | http://www.berliner-mozart-chor.de |
The Berlin Mozart Choir is the oldest youth choir in Berlin . It is made up of 1–2 children's choirs, graduated according to age, and the youth choir. Children and young people between the ages of 5 and 28 sing here. The repertoire includes German and foreign folk songs as well as smaller choral symphonic works, especially by Mozart . For the founder Erich Steffen it was a concern to get the children off the streets of the big city, to give them a stop by turning to music and by means of travel and to make them “receptive to everything good and beautiful”. From the beginning, the name Mozart did not mean that the choir was only dedicated to the work of Mozart, but was intended to clarify the intention to combine youth and music, but also to represent artistic standards. The choir is a member of the Berlin Choir Association and the German Choir Association .
stages
The Berlin Mozart Choir is divided into three levels: the Mozart Children's Choir (BMKC) for children aged 5-9, the Mozartini (11-14 years) and the youth choir (up to approx. 35 years).
History 1922 to 1945
The Berlin Mozart Choir was founded in the spring of 1922 by Erich Steffen as the Berlin-Weißensee school choir at the school in Wörthstrasse, today Smetanastrasse. The rehearsal location was the high school auditorium in Woelckpromenade until 1931, when the school on the corner of Parkstrasse and Amalienstraße received a new building with a music room, where rehearsals were now held. The line-up of the choir corresponded to a children's choir , the choir sang in unison. The children were between 8 and 14 years old and soon belonged to other schools.
In 1923 the first concert took place in the building of the Berlin Singakademie, today Maxim-Gorki-Theater . In the summer of 1923 the choir and 120 children went on their first concert tour to Mecklenburg and Pomerania. On the concert tours, the choir members were housed in private quarters at the concert venues. Each choir member had a “guide book” in which the neighborhood parents wrote something to remember, but were also asked to comment on the behavior of the choir member. These first trips and concerts were followed by more. The destinations of the trips were initially in Germany, later also in affiliated areas such as Silesia and Sudetes, often one traveled by train in 3rd or 4th class compartments.
Motto of the choir:
Happy songs let's sing
You for joy, us for pleasure.
Nobody can bring a nice greeting
as a song from fresh breast.
In 1925 the city of Berlin took over the patronage of the “Berlin Mozart Youth Choir”. Erich Steffen was released from school service as a teacher. From 1925 to 1937, the respective Lord Mayor of Berlin was the first chairman of the choir:
In 1927 the choir gave its 250th concert in Berlin at the Musikhochschule, and in 1933 it gave its 500th concert in the Berlin Singakademie. In 1937 the choir of the Hitler Youth was forcibly incorporated. After the entry into force of the "Second Implementing Ordinance to the Law on the Hitler Youth" (Youth Service Ordinance) of March 25, 1939, every young person in the Hitler Youth had to do service; “With the closed takeover of the choir it is connected that the participation in the choir rehearsals, in concerts etc. is 'service', the 'duty' is thus paid. … In this way I escaped the usual Hitler Youth service, ”wrote Hermann Prey. The members of the Mozart Choir were supposed to learn to play an instrument in 1938 if possible, and in 1939 Erich Steffen also became director of the city's “youth music school in Berlin-Mitte”. As a result, there were now instrumental contributions to the concerts, especially chamber music. The choir was now used for radio broadcasts, together with the radio game crowd. In 1941 the first concert tour abroad took place in Denmark and Norway. In 1942 the Berlin Mozart Choir gave its 1000th concert at the Berlin Singakademie. In 1943 the Mozart Choir was evacuated to Küstrin as part of the Kinderland deportation ; in 1945 the choir fled Küstrin. In 1945 the Russian occupying power interned Erich Steffen because the activity as a choir director was misunderstood as a "corps leader". Erich Steffen remained in custody in the Sachsenhausen internment camp until 1950.
History 1945 to 1973
From 1945 to 1950 the remaining singers tried to hold choir rehearsals under changing leaders and partly formed the core of the re-establishment of the “Berlin Youth Choir”.
In 1950 Erich Steffen was released and dared to start over in connection with the "Adult Education Center of the Berlin-Wilmersdorf District". Since then the choir has been a mixed youth choir. In September 1950 the first concert took place under Erich Steffen with the participation of Hermann Prey . After that, the choir resumed its concert and travel activities. In 1951 the term “The Singing Sendbotes of Berlin” appeared for the choir for the first time, and in 1955 the choir gave its 1,500th concert in the concert hall of the Berlin University of Music.
In 1956 the "Berlin Mozartinum Society" was founded. Your task was originally to raise money for the construction of a "Berlin Mozartinum", an extracurricular musical education facility for young people with an event hall, open-air theater, classrooms, a library, a recording room and an instrument rental facility. The realization of this plan did not materialize, so that the tasks of the society were later converted into “support and promotion” of the Berlin Mozart Choir. Today the Mozartinum Society is a registered association and non-profit. In 1963 the choir gave its 2000th concert in the Haus des Rundfunks. In 1966 the Berlin Mozart Choir received the " Golden Record " for the Christmas record "Silent Night, Holy Night". In 1967 the choir traveled to the USA, in 1970 the choir gave its 2500th concert in the Auenkirche in Berlin-Wilmersdorf. In 1972 Erich Steffen fell seriously ill, Roderich Schultze-Spohr temporarily took over the direction, in 1973 the direction of the choir was handed over to Reinhard Stollreiter , himself a former "Mozartian", who continued the choir in the tradition of Erich Steffen. In 1974 the founder Erich Steffen died.
History 1973 to 1996
Under the direction of Reinhard Stollreiter, the tradition of the choir school continued to develop, the choir school I for children from 7 to 10 years and the choir school II for children from 11 to 14 years. Both groups prepared the young singers for the concert choir. Reinhard Stollreiter kept the traditional repertoire, but also performed world premieres with the choir such as B. by Anton de Beer, Wolfgang Steffen, Peter Sandloff . The choir also took part in competitions and in 1981 took 1st place in the "Jugend singt" competition and in 1984 1st place in the Berlin Choir Competition. Choir trips remained an integral part of the choir's work, e.g. B. 1986 to France and Switzerland, 1987/89 to Scotland and England and 1990 to Russia. The choir was now affiliated with the Wilmersdorf Music School and performed several times with the Berlin Mozart Orchestra. Since 1988, one year after the completion of the Chamber Music Hall of the Philharmonie, the most important concert has been the annual Christmas concert on Boxing Day. Social singing is also an important concern of the choir, as in 1993 with Hermann Prey on ZDF in “Choirs for Care”. In 1996 Sabine Fenske took over the direction of the choir.
History since 1996
In addition to concerts and trips within Germany, the choir traveled to Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Vienna and Sweden. The choir celebrated its anniversaries with large concerts such as B. 1997 "75 years", 2002 "80 years" in the chamber music hall of the Philharmonie. Every year he gives a big Christmas concert in the chamber music hall of the Philharmonie on Christmas Day.
Discography
- 1944 Engelbert Humperdinck Hansel and Gretel complete recording of Artur Rother Mozart Children's Choir Berlin Orchestra of the Reichsender
- Whom the shepherds praised dearly
- O valleys wide, o heights
- Choral music from four centuries
- Silent Night Holy Night
- Nursery rhymes
- Laudate Dominum and Ave verum with Lisa Otto
- In a cool ground
Conductors
- Erich Steffen (born February 20, 1900 in Berlin; † May 17, 1974 there) 1922–1972
- Roderich Schultze-Spohr 1972–1973 as a transition
- Reinhard Stollreiter (* 1936) 1973–1996
- Sabine Fenske (* 1969) since 1996
Famous members
Movies
- Participation of the choir in the feature film Tischlein, deck dich (1956)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Berliner Mozart Choir 1922-1973 / 74 A contribution to the history of the choir 1992 1st edition Edited by Hannes Esser
- ^ Hermann Prey, "Premierenfieber", 1983, p. 66.
- ^ Berliner Mozart Choir 1922-1973 / 74 A contribution to the history of the choir 1992 1st edition Edited by Hannes Esser
- ^ General program and repertoire booklet of the Berlin Mozart Choir, published together with the Wilmersdorf Music School
- ↑ Program of the Berlin Mozart Choir from Wednesday, April 25, 1990.