Cäcilienchor Frankfurt

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Cäcilienchor Frankfurt
Cäcilienchor in the Frankfurt Opera (November 2008)
Seat: Frankfurt am Main / Germany
Founding: 1818
Genus: Oratorio choir
Founder: Johann Nepomuk Schelble
Head : Christian Kabitz
Voices : approx. 100 ( SATB )
Website : http://www.caecilienchor.de

The Cäcilienchor Frankfurt is one of the oldest and most traditional oratorios in Germany. In 2018 it will celebrate its 200th anniversary.

In 1818 the choir, which is dedicated to Saint Cecilia , the patroness of church music, was founded by Johann Nepomuk Schelble . Since 1821 it has been called the Cäcilienverein , but today it appears as the Cäcilien chorus to make it easier to understand .

The performance of large and important oratorios has been the focus of the choir since its foundation. The Cäcilienverein contributed to the Bach renaissance in the 19th century with the re-performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion shortly after the legendary first Berlin performance of this work in 1829 . The choir's repertoire always includes works by lesser-known and contemporary composers. Another important genre are symphonic works with a choir. The choir regularly performs at concerts by the Frankfurt Museum Society and the Alte Oper Frankfurt .

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy , who led the choir for a time and dedicated several compositions to it, wrote in 1832 about the Cäcilienverein: "People sing with so much fire and together that it is a joy."

Another outstanding event in the choir's concert life was the world premiere of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in 1937.

The Cecilia Choir has worked with many famous conductors. Concerts under Kurt Thomas , Wilhelm Furtwängler , Georg Solti , Lorin Maazel , Kurt Masur , Michael Gielen and Paolo Carignani shaped the choir. The artistic directors of the Cäcilienchor included the founder and Bruno Vondenhoff , who was appointed director of the Frankfurt Opera in 1945 . Theodor Egel led the choir in the 1960s and 1970s, and Enoch zu Guttenberg in the 1980s . Christian Kabitz has been director of the Cäcilienchor Frankfurt since 1988 .

In 2000 the choir was awarded the Binding Culture Prize.

literature

  • "People sing with so much fire ...". The Cäcilienchor Frankfurt am Main 1818 to 2018. Edited by Daniela Philippi and Ralf-Olivier Schwarz. Henrich, Frankfurt am Main 2018.

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