George Christopher Biller

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Georg Christoph Biller (2008)

Georg Christoph Biller ( September 20, 1955 in Nebra – January 27, 2022 in Leipzig ) was a German conductor . From 1992 to the end of January 2015 he was Thomaskantor in Leipzig.

Life

Georg Christoph Biller was born in Nebra in 1955, the son of a pastor. He received his first musical training from 1965 to 1974 as a Thomaner under Erhard Mauersberger and Hans-Joachim Rotzsch . As a choir prefect , he gained his first experience in conducting here. After graduating from the Thomasschule in Leipzig in 1974 , he studied orchestral conducting with Rolf Reuter and Kurt Masur from 1976 to 1981 , as well as singing at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music and Theater in Leipzig . In 1976 he founded the Leipzig Vocal Ensemble .

From 1980 to 1991 he conducted the GewandhausChor Leipzig. At the same time he taught as a lecturer in choral conducting at the church music school in Halle . In 1982 the male voice sextet "Arion-Collegium" was founded. In the same year he obtained the diploma in orchestral conducting at the International Summer Academy Mozarteum Salzburg . From 1983 he was a member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin. In 1985 he was awarded the Osaka Music Prize. From July 1990 to July 1992 Georg Christoph Biller was interim cantor at the town church of Naunhof . In 1991/1992 he was a lecturer in choral conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt am Main and the University of Music in Detmold .

In 1992 he was appointed Thomaskantor in Leipzig, making him the sixteenth Thomaskantor after Johann Sebastian Bach . In his work with the Thomanerchor, Biller continued the church music tradition of his predecessors. He attached great importance to a liturgical structure of the motets and concert programs, in which the entire choral tradition from the Gregorian beginnings to the modern age was reflected. He was closely associated with many contemporary composers , was active as a composer himself and was a guest conductor of prominent orchestras such as B. the New York Philharmonic , Konzerthausorchester Berlin and Sydney Symphony Orchestra .

In 1992 he began to perform all of Bach's surviving cantatas in cycles in chronological order with the Thomaner and the Gewandhaus Orchestra , with the cantatas being assigned to the corresponding Sunday in the church year. In 1994 Georg Christoph Biller was appointed professor for choral conducting at the Leipzig University of Music. From 2009 he taught there as a professor for orchestra conducting.

In 2013 he set new accents with the Thomaner Choir, with a special focus on historical performance practice . He cast three or four voices and positioned the singers in front of the orchestra on the gallery railing. He also had the choir sing from reproductions of the original manuscripts.

In mid-January 2015, Biller announced that he would be resigning from his position as Thomaskantor for health reasons at the end of the month. On June 18, he was bid farewell in a ceremony by the city of Leipzig, accompanied by the Thomanerchor and the Gewandhaus Orchestra. The following Sunday he performed with his newly founded ensemble, the Leipzig Bach Soloists, and the Leipzig Baroque Orchestra in a benefit concert for refugees in Tröglitz . As Biller announced, the 18 singers stood in front of the orchestra “like in Bach's day”.

Biller continued to work as a guest conductor, choir teacher and composer . He was patron of the Schönberger Musiksommer and the Leipzig Bach Festival, as well as an honorary member of the Richard Wagner Society in Leipzig in 2013 . Since the beginning of the 2000s, he has been pursuing the vision of the Forum Thomanum , an educational campus around the Thomasschule and the Thomanerchor. As part of the "Leipziger Romantik" festival, he initiated the Regeriade, which takes place annually in Leipzig on the anniversary of Max Reger's death.

Biller set various texts by Carola Moosbach to music , such as the cantata Friedenmachen in 2014 . In 2019 his work Irritationen zum Michaelisfest was premiered.

Georg Christoph Biller was married to the actress Ute Loeck. His older brother is the church musician Gottfried Biller .

Georg Christoph Biller died on January 27, 2022 after a long, serious illness at the age of 66 in Leipzig.

honors and awards

factories

compositions

In 2015 Georg Christoph Biller founded his "Biller-Werk-Index" (BiWV), in which all his published compositions are listed. A publishing house in Berlin publishes selected compositions and arrangements from this oeuvre as a series of notes.

  • The Apostolic Blessing / Benedicamus. 2011
  • Naunhofer choir book.
  • responsories . 2012
  • Songs based on words by Clemens Brentano .
  • 7 songs from silence.
  • Psalms of David.
  • A little Thomas music. 2000
  • The Nebra Heavenly Psalm.
  • Res severa verum gaudium. Canon.
  • Lord, open my lips.
  • Grant us peace graciously. Male Choir (TTBB) a cappella, 2015
  • In a belief. 2009
  • Congregational hymn phrases and hallelujah verses. In: The New Thomas Gradual. Phonus, 2014.
  • Our father in the Heaven. vocal set. 2013
  • Job's message. for solo baritone, mixed choir and bass instrument ad libitum, 2014.
  • Irritations. 2019
  • Songs based on words by Clemens Brentano
  • St. Thomas Easter Music (festival music for the 800th anniversary of the Thomana) 2012/2013
  • Air. Dona nobis pacem, arrangement of Air from Orchestral Suite No. 3, for mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
  • Make peace , little cantata based on a poetic commentary by Carola Moosbach on the Bach cantata BWV 114
  • 2018 St Thomas Motet , for solo baritone, mixed choir and bass instrument ad libitum
  • Messages from Isaiah , for mixed choir and bass instrument ad libitum

writings

  • with Thomas Bickelhaupt: The boys from high C. Memoirs of a Thomaskantor. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle (Saale) 2018, ISBN 978-3-95462-951-0 .
  • Georg Christoph Biller: The New Thomasgraduale based on the Evangelical Hymnal . Phonus-Verlag, Leipzig 2014 (212 pages; 24 cm × 30.5 cm; ISMN: 979-0-50232-002-7).
  • The Biller catalog of works - a selection from his compositions and arrangements. With the composer's curriculum vitae, reference to " Juister Psalmen", BiWV 1, ISMN M-50106-014-6, " Naunhofer Chorbuch", BiWV 16, ISMN M-50106-015-3, as well as an overview of live recordings on CD publications. Publisher: Verlagshaus Gotthardt, Berlin 2015.

Sound carrier (selection)

  • Ute Loeck and Georg Christoph Biller: Chansonettes with Bach - songs from Bach to the Beatles. Rondeau music production and distribution, Leipzig 2012.

DVD

  • The Thomanerchor Leipzig in the earliest film documents - between tradition and modernity. DVD with film documents of the Thomanerchor from 1941, 1942 and 2012, edited with Stefan Altner , Günter Atteln, Hans-Jürgen Bersch, Hagen Kunze and Gerhard Passolt, Altenburg 2013.

various

web links

Commons : Georg Christoph Biller  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

itemizations

  1. ↑ Helmut Mauró: The former Thomaskantor Georg Christoph Biller has died. Retrieved January 29, 2022 .
  2. ↑ Förderverein Ladegastorgel e. V. and the Evangelical-Lutheran parish of Naunhof (ed.): The Ladegast organ in the town church of Naunhof - commemorative publication for the reconsecration in September 2011 . Naunhof 2011 (page 7).
  3. ↑ The Thomaner sing on Bach's 328th birthday: concert in historically oriented performance practice. (pdf; 68 kB) In: leipzig-online.de. March 18, 2013, archived from the original on October 29, 2013 ; retrieved 28 January 2022 . Herbert Glossner: Bach Festival Leipzig 2013. In: Forum Church Music . Issue 5, 2013, p. 23.
  4. ↑ Thomaskantor resigns from office. In: leipzig.de. January 15, 2015, retrieved January 28, 2022 .
  5. ^ Ceremony for Georg Christoph Biller: Thomaner say goodbye to their cantor. In: mdr.de . 22 June 2015, archived from the original on 8 June 2016 ; retrieved 28 January 2022 .
  6. ↑ After the arson attack in April – hundreds at a benefit concert for Tröglitz refugees. In: lvz.de . 21 June 2015, retrieved 28 January 2022 .
  7. ↑ Jan Iven: Georg Christoph Biller: farewell in the Tröglitzer cultural center. In: mz.de . 19 June 2015, retrieved 16 June 2021 .
  8. ↑ The Biller catalog of works - A selection from his compositions and arrangements. Berlin 2015, p. 5.
  9. ↑ Arnt Cobbers: Interview Georg Christoph Biller: "The real problem are the girls". In: concerti.de . September 21, 2011, retrieved January 28, 2022 .
  10. ↑ Carolin Reinitz: Room for new ideas - Gottfried Biller is organizing the Quedlinburg Music Summer for the 33rd time. In: quedlinburger-musiksommer.de. June 1, 2013, archived from the original on March 4, 2014 ; retrieved 28 January 2022 .
  11. ↑ Wieland Aschinger: Alt-Thomaskantor Georg Christoph Biller died. In: musik-heute.de. January 27, 2022, retrieved January 27, 2022 .
  12. ↑ The Biller catalog of works - A selection from his compositions and arrangements. Berlin 2015, p. 5.
  13. ↑ Georg Christoph Biller. In: sadk.de . Retrieved January 28, 2022 .
  14. ↑ a b Förderverein Ladegastorgel Naunhof e. V.: Impressive church concert with the vocal ensemble of the Viennese Votive Church. (pdf; 5 MB) In: Naunhofer News. 2016 October 15, p. 14 , archived from the original on 2017 December 1 ; retrieved 28 January 2022 .
  15. ↑ DNB 1022355872
  16. ↑ Förderverein Ladegastorgel eV and Evangelical Lutheran parish of Naunhof (ed.): The Ladegast organ in the town church of Naunhof - commemorative publication for the re-inauguration in September 2011 . Naunhof 2011 (page 7).
  17. ↑ The Biller catalog of works - A selection from his compositions and arrangements. Verlagshaus Gotthardt, Berlin 2015, p. 5.
personal data
SURNAME Biller, George Christopher
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German choirmaster and Thomaskantor in Leipzig
BIRTH DATE September 20, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Nebra (Unstrut)
DATE OF DEATH January 27, 2022
PLACE OF DEATH Leipzig