Choir of St. Boniface (Wiesbaden)

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Choir of St. Boniface
The choir and members of the Hessian State Orchestra , October 3, 2018, Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem
Seat: Wiesbaden / Germany
Carrier: St. Boniface
Founding: 1862
Genus: mixed choir and two children's choirs
Founder: Johann Schickel
Head : Roman Twardy
Voices : 107 (choir), 24 (children's choir) (as of 2012)
Website : Choir

The choir of St. Bonifatius is a mixed choir, the church choir of the community of St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden . It was founded in 1862 as a male choir. From 1981 to 2018 it was directed by Gabriel Dessauer . The choir sang the German premiere of John Rutter's Mass of the Children . Colin Mawby wrote the Missa solemnis Boniface Mass for the choir , which premiered on October 3, 2012. The choir went on concert tours to Azkoitia , San Sebastián , Görlitz , Memphis (Tennessee) , Bruges , Macon (Georgia) and Rome . Since 2019 the choir has been led by Roman Twardy , who conducted Dvořák's Stabat Mater in the first concert .

history

St. Bonifatius, the main Catholic church of Wiesbaden , the state capital of Hesse , was consecrated in 1849. In 1862 a men's choir was founded by Johann Schickel (1862–1876) to provide a model for community singing. Heinrich Link led the choir from 1876, but resigned when boys were to be admitted in 1887. Jakob Speyer carried out this restructuring. From 1899 women's voices were included. A program for the 50th anniversary in 1912 announces the oratorio “The Holy Elisabeth” by August Wiltberger .

From 1919 to 1929 the choirmaster was Franz Xaver Schmitz. To mark its 60th anniversary in 1922, the choir sang mass “Mater admirabilis” by Peter Griesbacher in high mass . Hermann Massenkeil directed the choir from 1929 to 1952 , but he was drafted in World War II and was represented by his predecessor during this time. Massenkeil especially cultivated the a cappella singing. He kept detailed records of the choir's work, for example on November 19, 1933 the oratorio "Die Heilige Elisabeth" by Joseph Haas or on January 16, 1938 a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the church choir under the motto of the founding fathers Praise the Lord, sings Psalmen his name ", which in the pontifical office offered works from the" medieval heyday of a cappella singing "and in a devotion an overview of the" church music work of contemporary composers of the Cologne, Munich, Berlin and Vienna schools ", for example Hans Lang's laudation Domino or Franz Philipps Tantum Ergo . The organ gallery of the church was destroyed in a bombing raid, so the choir had to sing from the altar until Easter 1949. During the “festival week for the 100th anniversary of the church”, the choir performed, among other things, Palestrina's mass “O admirabile commercium” and Bruckner's Locus iste , as well as in a “church music ceremony for the restoration of the Bonifatiuskirche” on May 7, 1950, the third part of the oratorio Das Lebensbuch Gottes by Joseph Haas and a Marienkantata by Carl Thiel . Massenkeil recorded the review: "The choir sings well-balanced and full of substance with great certainty and eager attention, not least thanks to the good pronunciation and great urgency". The chronicle for the 100th anniversary in 1962 sums up: "The artistic events recorded since 1929 now give such overwhelming testimony to the lively participation of the choir and its leadership in the general religious, liturgical, church music and general cultural issues of this time ...".

In 1952 Günther Nierle took over the direction of the choir, who had previously been organist at Breslau Cathedral from 1935 and organist at St. Bonifatius from 1950. He performed works such as Hans Leo Haßler's Missa “Dixit Maria”, Handel's Dettinger Te Deum or Mozart's Coronation Mass . From 1962 to 1980 Peter Kempin directed the choir. He performed works by Monteverdi, Pergolesi, Schütz, Bach, Cherubini, Mendelsohn, Bruckner and Hindemith, some of them in premieres. Under his direction, the choir sang the world premiere of the Deutsche Messe with standard songs for mixed choir, six brass instruments and community singing (1965) by Friedrich Zehm on September 15, 1968 in the Pontifical Office for the Limburg Cross Week, with members of the Hessian State Orchestra . Kempin conducted the world premiere of Christoph Straus' Requiem from the 17th century, for solos, choir and orchestra.

Gabriel Dessauer (1981-2019)

Kempin's successor was Gabriel Dessauer in 1981, who expanded the choir to around 107 members (as of 2012) and founded two children's choirs.

Choir and Children's Choir of St. Boniface, 2011

The choir sings mainly in church services, including regular orchestral fairs at Christmas and Easter. In addition to well-known masses by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, Mass No. 1 in B flat major was sung by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (2011) and usually accompanied by members of the Hessian State Orchestra.

Every year the choir sings a choir concert, since 1997 regularly on October 3rd. Mendelssohn's Elias , Ein deutsches Requiem von Brahms, and Verdi's Messa da Requiem were performed, among others . Choir and children's choir appeared together in Hermann Suters Le Laudi (1998 and 2007) and in 2004 in the German premiere of John Rutter's Mass of the Children . In 2006, Dessauer conducted Karl Jenkins' Requiem from 2004. In 2010 the choir sang works by Bach, his Mass in G minor and choral movements from the cantatas BWV 140 , BWV 12 , BWV 120 and BWV 29 . In 2011, Haydn's The Creation was performed , with the children's choir reinforcing the choral soprano.

Colin Mawby and Gabriel Dessauer in front of St. Bonifatius, 2011
Rehearsal on September 1, 2012 for the Boniface Mass

For the choir's 150th anniversary in 2012, Dessauer commissioned the English composer Colin Mawby to compose a festive mass. In agreement between the conductor and the composer, the Missa solemnis Bonifatius Mass for soprano, choir, children's choir, oboe and organ was created in 2011 , which was premiered on October 3, 2012 in the presence of the composer. Organist was Ignace Michiels , organist at the cathedral in Bruges , soprano Natascha Jung, oboist Leonie Dessauer. A second performance of the Boniface Mass will take place on November 3rd in Frankfurt Cathedral , then with the organist Andreas Boltz . In 2013 Schubert's Mass No. 6 in E flat major was sung. In the 2014 concert, John Rutter's Magnificat was heard . In 2016 the choir performed Mendelssohn's Elias , this time in church. In 2017 they performed Der Messias , Mozart's adaptation of Handel's Messiah . In 2018 the choir sang again A German Requiem by Johannes Brahms.

The choir traveled to the Basque Country in 1986 and sang concerts in Azkoitia and San Sebastián , in two churches with a Cavaillé-Coll organ. In 1987 the choir performed in Limburg Cathedral , in 1990 in St. Jakobus Cathedral, Görlitz , and in 1996 in Memphis, Tennessee , and Macon, Georgia . On a trip to Rome in 2008, the choir organized a concert in San Paolo entro le mura with Vivaldi's Gloria and Haydn's Nelson Mass as well as a mass in St. Peter's Basilica .

Projects

In 1995 Dessauer prepared the choir for a memorial concert 50 years after the end of the war, together with the Schiersteiner Kantorei , Wiesbaden, an English choir and one from Macon, Georgia , Britten's War Requiem , conducted by Martin Lutz . A year later the choir took part in a performance of the work in Macon.

In 1999 the Choir of St. Boniface sang together with the Choir Cantores from Bruges . The two choir directors, Dessauer and Michiels, wanted to bring a century of violence to a close with the project. A concert was performed both in Bruges and Wiesbaden, with Michiels on the organ and Dessauer on the podium. The concert in Bruges on October 23, 1999 was called Eeuw van zinloos Geweld (Century of Senseless Violence). The program included Van Nuffel's In convertendo Dominus , Rudolf Mauersberger's How is the city so desolate , and Duruflé's Requiem . The concert in Wiesbaden was called the Reconciliation Concert at the End of the Century .

Recordings

Roman Twardy (2019)

Dvořák: Stabat Mater , concert on October 26, 2019

Roman Twardy has been the choir's interim director since 2019 . With an emphasis on a cappella singing, he introduced music of the 20th century: Knut Nystedt's Missa brevis , Józef Świder 's Missa angelica and Arvo Pärt's The Deer's Cry . His first choir concert on October 26, 2019 was dedicated to the Stabat Mater von Dvořák, again with members of the Hessian State Orchestra, and under the soloists Betsy Horne (soprano) and Johannes Hill (bass). One review highlighted good intonation and rhythmic precision as the result of months of hard work.

Awards

In 1971 the choir was awarded the Palestrina Medal by the General Cecilia Association for the German-speaking countries . In 1972 he received the Zelter badge , donated by Theodor Heuss for choirs that have continuously performed valuable cultural work for at least a hundred years. In 2012 the choir received the golden plaque of the state capital Wiesbaden for its 150th anniversary.

Web links

Commons : Choir of St. Boniface  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Christiane Munzel, Claudia Scheidt, Benjamin Dahlhoff: Festschrift for the 150th anniversary / Choir of St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden / 1862–2012 . St. Bonifatius (Wiesbaden) , 2012 (accessed September 15, 2012).
  2. ↑ a b Nierle, Günther, in “In the service of musica sacra / Portraits of church musicians in and from the Diocese of Limburg” (PDF) Church music section in Limburg. Pp. 26, 37. 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  3. ↑ Catalog raisonné / B vocal music . Friedrich Zehm . Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  4. ↑ Volker Milch: The Bonifatius Choir founded 150 years ago in Wiesbaden celebrates with a new mass . Wiesbaden courier . September 27, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2012.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.wiesbadener-kurier.de
  5. ↑ a b The choir of St. Boniface sings the "Theresienmesse" on December 25th under Gabriel Dessauer's direction . Lampertheim newspaper . December 22, 2017. Accessed March 27, 2018.
  6. ^ Gabriel Dessauer . St. Boniface (Wiesbaden) . 2010. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved on September 10, 2012.
  7. ↑ Richard Hörnicke: A touching message of faith - Bach's Mass in G minor under the brisk direction of Gabriel Dessauer . Wiesbaden courier . October 5, 2010. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved on November 24, 2010.
  8. ^ Richard Hörnicke: Imposing fullness / Haydn's "Creation" in St. Bonifatius . Wiesbaden courier . October 5, 2011. Archived from the original on October 6, 2013. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  9. ↑ a b World premiere in Wiesbaden / Mass by Sir Colin Mawby will be heard for the first time on the 150th anniversary of the Boni Choir . Church music department in the Diocese of Limburg. October 1, 2012. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  10. ^ Anja Baumgart-Pietsch: The choir of St. Bonifatius in Wiesbaden celebrates its 150th anniversary . Wiesbadener Tagblatt . January 9, 2012. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved on January 10, 2012.
  11. ↑ a b Anja Baumgart-Pietsch: Golden city plaque for the choir of the Bonifatius congregation . Wiesbadener Tagblatt . October 5, 2012. Accessed October 5, 2012.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.wiesbadener-tagblatt.de
  12. ↑ Doris Kösterke: Own gift / premiere of Colin Mawby's Boniface Mass . Wiesbadener Tagblatt . October 5, 2012. Archived from the original on December 27, 2012. Retrieved on October 5, 2012.
  13. ^ Hörnicke Richard: Franz Schubert's Mass in E flat major under the direction of Gabriel Dessauer in St. Bonifatius in Wiesbaden ( German ) Wiesbadener Kurier. October 5, 2013. Archived from the original on October 6, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  14. ^ John Rutter: Magnificat ( German ) St. Bonifatius. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
  15. ↑ Wenda Manuel: Rousing Oratorio - Mendelssohn's "Elias" in St. Bonifatius . Wiesbadener Tagblatt. October 6, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  16. ↑ Wenda Manuel: Choir of St. Bonifatius sings Brahms' "Ein Deutsches Requiem" . Wiesbadener Tagblatt. October 5, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  17. ^ Claudia Scheidt: Romfahrt des Chores St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden 2008 ( Memento from March 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  18. ↑ Le laudi: the song of the sun of St. Francis of Assisi; Recording of the concert on October 3, 1998 ( English ) worldcat.org. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
  19. ↑ Manuel Wenda: Choir of St. Bonifatius sings Brahms' 'Ein Deutsches Requiem' . October 5, 2018. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  20. ^ Antonín Dvořák: Stabat Mater St. Bonifatius Wiesbaden, 2019
  21. ↑ Doris Kösterke: Goosebumps after many months of hard work / St. Boniface's choir performs Dvořák's "Stabat Mater" . In: Wiesbadener Kurier , October 28, 2019.