Bruno Kittel (musician)

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Bruno Kittel (born May 26, 1870 in the forester's lodge Entenbruch, Czarnikau district , Posen province , † March 10, 1948 in Wassenberg near Cologne ) was a German choir director and violinist .

Bruno Kittel seated with members of the performance of Judas Maccabaeus , Berlin (October 16, 1926)
Rehearsal of the Bruno Kittelscher Choir. Bruno Kittel standing, Werner Liebenthal sitting at the piano.

Life

His father was a forester. Kittel studied in Berlin with Émile Sauret and Gustav Exner (violin), with Robert Radecke , Ludwig Bussler and Arno Kleffel (music theory and conducting) and with Jenny Meyer and Franz Betz (singing).

From 1896 to 1901 he worked as a violinist in the orchestra of the Royal Court Opera in Berlin , from 1901 to 1907 Kittel was the conductor of the local royal theater orchestra. 1901 to 1914 also worked as director of the Brandenburg Conservatory for Music in Berlin. From 1907 onwards, the conservatory's choir was invited to give concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker several times .

His appointment in 1928 as head of the university choir at the Hochschule für Musik soon turned into the case of Bruno Kittel : after Alexander von Zemlinsky left , with whom he initially shared the direction, the Prussian Ministry of Culture refused to give him the position for an unlimited period transferred, although the university management supported Kittel. In 1930 Kittel resigned.

In May 1933, Kittel became a member of the NSDAP . In May 1935 he was appointed director of the Conservatory of the Reich capital Berlin , the former Stern Conservatory . In 1936 he took up this post and held it until 1945. In April 1936, Adolf Hitler was appointed professor . From 1939 head of the choir leader in the music education department of the Reichsmusikkammer .

Bruno Kittelscher Choir

Bruno Kittelscher Choir with Bruno Kittel, recorded possibly around 1926 in Berlin

In 1902 he founded the Bruno Kittelschen Choir (also Bruno Kittel Choir ), which quickly developed into one of the most respected choir associations in Europe. One of the first great achievements of Kittel and his choir were the first two complete performances of Felix Draeseke's Mysterium Christus : on 6/13/20. February 1912 in Berlin and on 5./12/16. May 1912 in Dresden . After Hitler came to power, the choir was increasingly supported with representative concerts. In 1942 the choir was renamed the German Philharmonic Choir (Bruno Kittel Choir) . A performance of Mozart's Requiem in November 1944 is the choir's last recorded concert.

Quote

For years, another choir association had developed in Berlin, originally from small beginnings, the youngest of this genre, which gained importance during this time. At first Bruno Kittel had gathered around him only a few young girls and young men with pretty, fresh voices, with whom he initially only carefully studied small, undemanding works. In a relatively short time a stately, mixed choir of youthful, unspent voices was created, which one noticed the joy of making music. Soon larger tasks could be tackled, and the “Kittelsche Choir” with its radiantly pure, excellently trained voices gradually moved up to the front row of the choir associations. After the death of Siegfried Ochs, the Kittel choir was often called in to participate in the Philharmonic concerts. Even if Kittel was not important as an orchestra conductor, he did outstanding work as a choir teacher.

Edith Stargardt-Wolff (1880–1967) in Wegbereiter Großer Musik , 1954.

Bruno Kittel played Mozart's "Requiem" in the romantic tradition with a large choir and orchestra. Kittel seems little influenced by the simultaneous efforts of Karl Straube in Leipzig ... Nevertheless, the "St. Matthew Passion" and the Mozart "Requiem" in the interpretation of Bruno Kittel are impressive. His choir merged into a unified, symphonic ensemble in accordance with Richard Wagner's ideal, so that the choir and orchestra form a seamless unit. With the slowness of the tempos, they emphasize the seriousness and gravity of Mozart's music.

Franzpeter Messmer in the booklet to the CD release of the Requiem , 1998

Audio documents

  • Johann Sebastian Bach : St. Matthew Passion . With: Tilla Briem (soprano), Gusta Hammer (alto), Walther Ludwig (tenor ), Hans Hermann Nissen (baritone), Fred Drissen (bass). Bruno Kittelscher Chor, Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Professor Bruno Kittel. Recorded August and September 1942. Gramophone 67951 - 67968. CD: Gebhardt records JGCD 0055
  • Ludwig van Beethoven : 9th Symphony . With: Lotte Leonard (soprano), Jenny Sonnenberg (alto), Eugen Transky (tenor), Wilhelm Guttmann (bass) and Bruno-Kittel-Chor. Members of the orchestra of the State Opera, Berlin. Conductor: Oskar Fried . Recorded in 1927. Gramophone 66657 - 66663. CD: Naxos Historical 8.110929
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: 9th Symphony. With: Tilla Briem (soprano), Elisabeth Höngen (alto), Peter Anders (tenor), Rudolf Watzke (bass). Bruno Kittelscher Choir. Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Wilhelm Furtwängler . Recorded March 1942. Recorded by the Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft . CD: Tahra FURT 1036/37, Pristine Classical PASC 250
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: 9th Symphony. With: Erna Berger (soprano), Gertrude Pitzinger (alto), Helge Rosvaenge (tenor), Rudolf Watzke (bass). Bruno Kittelscher Choir. Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Wilhelm Furtwängler. Recorded April 1942. Radio recording. CD: Archipelago ARPCD 0270
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Missa solemnis . With: Emmy Land and Lotte Leonard (soprano), Eleanor Schlosshauer-Reynolds (alto), Eugen Transky (tenor), Wilhelm Guttmann and Hermann Schey (bass); Bruno Kittel Choir and the Berlin Philharmonic. Conductor: Bruno Kittel. Recorded in 1927 and 1928. Gramophone 95146 - 95156. CD: Universal Japan. First complete recording of the work
  • Georg Friedrich Handel : Hallelujah from Messiah . Recorded in 1927. Bruno Kittel Choir with the Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin. Conductor: Bruno Kittel. Gramophone 66896
  • Georg Friedrich Handel : Hallelujah from Messiah . Recorded September 1936. Bruno Kittel'scher choir with large orchestra (members of the Staatskapelle, Berlin), conductor: Prof. Bruno Kittel. Odeon O-7913
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Requiem . With: Tilla Briem (soprano), Gertrud Freimuth (alto), Walther Ludwig (tenor), Fred Drissen (bass); Bruno Kittel Choir with the Berlin Philharmonic. Conductor: Professor Bruno Kittel. Recorded October 1941. Gramophone 67731 - 66739. CD: DGG 459 004-2
  • Richard Strauss : Olympic Anthem. Bruno Kittelscher choir with large orchestra (members of the Staatskapelle Berlin). Head: Professor Bruno Kittel. Recorded September 1936. Odeon O-4741.

literature

  • Festschrift by the Bruno Kittelschen Choir Berlin to celebrate its 25th anniversary . Berlin 1927.
  • Else Schön: Bruno Kittel and his work: on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Bruno Kittel choir. Berlin 1942. <10 p .; machine-copied>

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fred K. Prieberg names German musicians 1933–194 in his handbook ; P. 3678 Wassenberg as the place of death
  2. ^ Alfred Einstein : The new music lexicon . Berlin: Hesse 1926, p. 330
  3. ^ Dietmar Schenk: The Berlin University of Music . Stuttgart: Steiner 2004. ISBN 3-515-08328-6 . Pp. 219-221
  4. ^ Fred K. Prieberg: Handbook of German Musicians 1933–1945 , CD-ROM edition 2005, pp. 3678–3680
  5. ^ Peter Muck: One Hundred Years of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Vol. 3. Tutzing: Schneider 1882
  6. ↑ Wiesbaden: Bote & Bock 1954. S. 154/55. The author was the daughter of concert agents Hermann and Louise Wolff
  7. ↑ Deutsche Grammophon Centenary Collection 459 004-2
personal data
SURNAME Kittel, Bruno
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German choir director and violinist
DATE OF BIRTH May 26, 1870
PLACE OF BIRTH Forsthaus ducks break, Kreis Czarnikau , Posen
DATE OF DEATH March 10, 1948
Place of death Wassenberg , Cologne