Helmut Kruse (church musician)

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Helmut Kruse (born April 18, 1936 in Nordhausen ; † January 25, 2009 in Braunschweig ) was a German Protestant church musician .

Life

Kruse was born the fourth of seven children (five brothers, one sister) to a Lutheran pastor and grew up from 1938 to 1947 in Lingen im Emsland , then in Helmstedt . His second oldest brother is the former Berlin bishop Martin Kruse .

From the mid-1950s, Helmut Kruse studied school music at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg im Breisgau , majoring in the organ in the master class of Prof. Walter Kraft . In 1960 he continued his studies at the University of Music and Theater in Hanover , as well as at the church music school in Hanover, where he passed the A-exam and concert exam for organ in 1965.

Helmut Kruse had worked as a cantor in Hanover since 1963 and was then provost cantor of St. Stephani in Helmstedt from 1965 to 1972 . In 1965, on his initiative, the Helmstedt Bach Choir was founded, which Kruse directed until he left. In 1968 he also took over the management of the Helmstedt Music School, which he co-founded. This was followed by a five-year commitment in Rotenburg an der Wümme . In 1976 Kruse was appointed church music director and cathedral choirmaster at Braunschweig Cathedral , where he founded the Braunschweiger Cathedral Singing School in the same year .

With the various choirs in the Cathedral Singing School and the Cathedral Chamber Orchestra, especially with the Braunschweiger Cathedral Choir , Kruse developed an extraordinarily varied musical repertoire, to which, in addition to the great oratorios by Johann Sebastian Bach , Mozart , Beethoven , Brahms and Verdi , lesser-known compositions are quite important Composers were made heard. This also included thematically oriented events, such as “A weekend for Rudolf Mauersberger ” on the 100th birthday of the composer and Dresden Kreuzkantor in November 1989. a. the Dresden Requiem was performed.

After leaving the cathedral choirmaster in 1999, Kruse was committed to the rediscovery and re-performance of the compositional work of Louis Spohr . In 2001 he founded the "Louis Spohr Initiative" to reintroduce the "Louis Spohr Music Prize of the City of Braunschweig", which was awarded between 1953 and 1994.

His grave is located in the main cemetery in Braunschweig on Helmstedter Straße, it is provided with a tombstone that was modeled on the works of the sculptor Gigi Porceddu and made by the ceramicist Gabriele Leonhardt from Evessen.

Awards

In 1988 Kruse received the Lower Saxony Culture Prize.

Discography (selection)

Helmut Kruse as organist:

  • Organ points - Braunschweig Cathedral. LP (1981), music production Dabringhaus and Grimm - E 1050
Girolamo Cavazzoni - Missa De Beata Virgine
Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude and Fugue In D major BWV 532
Adolf Friedrich Hesse - Fantasy In F Minor Op.57 / 1
Hendrik Andriessen - Toccata
  • The Brunswick Cathedral - the bells and organs. LP
Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude and Fugue in G major, BWV 541
Jean-François Dandrieu - O filii et filiae, variations on an old Easter song
Dieterich Buxtehude - Magnificat primi toni, BuxWV 203
  • Ingeborg Hischer sings in the Brunswick Cathedral. Recordings from 1982, with Helmut Kruse, organ, Wolfgang Kissling, flute, Richard Groocock, violoncello, CD-Sicus Klassik (2009)
André Campra - “Domine, Dominus noster”, cantata for soprano, flute and basso continuo
Gian Francesco de Majo - “Sicut cerva, quae per valles” for soprano and concert organ
Jean Langlais - "Missa" in simplicitate "" for one voice and organ.

Helmut Kruse as choir director:

  • International youth choir festival of contemporary choral music in Rotenburg (Wümme) 1977 - 1998. 6 CD (Verlag Jürgen Binder, Landshut, 1999), including a recording of an event from 1977 with the international festival choir Rotenburg / Wümme under the direction of Helmut Kruse:
Carl Orff - Carmina Burana
  • Festival concert for the 15th anniversary of the Braunschweiger Domsingschule , 2 CD (Verlag Jürgen Binder, Landshut, 1993)
Otto Nicolai - Christmas overture on the chorale "From heaven high, there I come"
Heinrich von Herzogenberg - “ The Birth of Christ ”, church oratorio for six solo voices, several choirs, congregation, organ and orchestra, op. 90
Almuth Kroll (soprano)
Michaela Stumm (alto)
Jörg Erler (tenor)
Thilo Himstedt (tenor)
Werner Kraus (bass)
Frederick Martin (bass)
Andreas Pasemann (organ)
Children's choir III and IV, youth choir, capella of the Braunschweiger Domsingschule
Brunswick Cathedral Choir
Brunswick Cathedral Chamber Orchestra
(Recording of a performance on December 6, 1992 in Braunschweig Cathedral)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Special tomb in Braunschweig. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 26, 2015 ; Retrieved July 26, 2017 . on kunstwerk-online.de
personal data
SURNAME Kruse, Helmut
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant church musician
DATE OF BIRTH April 18, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Nordhausen
DATE OF DEATH January 25, 2009
Place of death Braunschweig