Herfried Mencke

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Herfried Mencke, 2011

Herfried Mencke (born April 3, 1944 in Posen ) is a German composer , organist and cantor .

Life

Mencke got early musical impressions as a singer (also as a soloist) in the St. Johannis boys' choir (Lüneburg) under the direction of Hanns Heintze. After graduating from the Johanneum Lüneburg , he studied school music , classical philology and church music in Hamburg. In 1967 he passed the state examination for teaching at grammar schools, in 1970 the A-examination for cantors and organists, and in 1973 the concert examination in the subject organ "with distinction". His organ teachers included Hans-Jochen Schnoor , Martin Günther Förstemann and Gaston Litaize . He studied choral conducting with Ulrich Baudach and Wilhelm Ehmann , composition with Hans Poser and Diether de la Motte , and piano with Ursula Weber.

After smaller cantor positions in Lüneburg (Paul Gerhardt Church) and Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg (Emmaus Church), he took over the A position at the Reconciliation Church in Hamburg-Eilbek in 1972 and was there among other things as the initiator of the “Eilbeker Sunday Concerts” " active. In 1979 he became cantor and organist of the Petruskirche in Gießen (A-position) and provost choirmaster for Upper Hesse , as well as initiator, among other things, of the "International Church Music Festival" which takes place at longer intervals. He has been retired as a cantor since 2011, but still works as a lecturer for organ playing at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen and as a composer.

He has given concerts as an organist in European countries and the United States , including in Stockholm , Helsinki (Cathedral) , Oslo (Cathedral) , Warsaw , St. Petersburg , Moscow , London , Winchester (Cathedral) , Ely (Cathedral) , Hamburg (Music Hall ) , Berlin , Lübeck (Dom), Ulm (Münster), Munich , Paris (Notre-Dame), Prague and Basel as well as at international festivals in Kristiansand , Sorö , Toulon , Zug and Madrid . He gave concerts on historical organs by Arp Schnitger , Gottfried Silbermann , Andreas Silbermann and Karl Joseph Riepp . Four of his concert tours have taken him to the United States (including New York City , Washington, DC , Boston , Atlanta and Saint Petersburg ), where he also led master classes at several universities . He also made radio, vinyl and CD recordings.

The Gießener Petrus-Kantorei and the Gießener Kammerchor performed under his direction, in addition to their regular worship duties, major works of church music, including well-known works such as Bach's B minor Mass , Beethoven's Missa solemnis and the Messa da Requiem , but also works that can be heard less often. The Kantorei went on concert tours to Hamburg, Berlin, Bremen (Cathedral) , Braunschweig (Cathedral) , Bonn, Frankfurt am Main (Cathedral) , Worms (Cathedral) , Strasbourg (Münster) and Warsaw as well as to the International Church Music Festival in Radom.

Mencke invited to organ concerts in the Petruskirche in Giessen, for example, Jean Langlais ( Ste-Clotilde (Paris) ), Gaston Litaize (Paris St. Francoix-Xavier), Naji Hakim (Paris St. Trinité), Olivier Latry (Notre-Dame de Paris) , Johannes Ernst Koehler (Weimar), Lionel Rogg (London) and David Pizarro (New York).

His choir and organ compositions, partly inspired by his worship improvisation practice, have been performed in churches in Europe and the United States.

Works (selection)

Choral works

  • 2011: Our Father, Father in Heaven, Father on Earth. Motet for solos, 4 parts according to Choir, oboe and organ. Strube-Verlag, Munich.
  • 2012: O Lord, make me a tool. Motet for choir and organ. Strube-Verlag, Munich.
  • 2013: Our Father, Father in Heaven, Father on Earth. Motet for children's or women's choir, oboe and organ. Strube publishing house.
  • 2014: Golgotha. Cantata for mixed Choir, wind instruments and organ. Strube publishing house.

Organ works

  • 2002: Choral preludes for the Hessian regional part of the Evangelical Hymnal (Ed. And Comp.). Strube publishing house.
  • 2005: Choral book for town and country. (Ed. And comp.). Strube publishing house.
  • 2015: Choral symphony Souvenir romantique over 5 hymns and a three-tone motif. Strube publishing house.
  • 2016: Adieu Souvenir romantique . Strube publishing house.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mencke, Herfried
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer, organist and cantor
DATE OF BIRTH April 3, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Poses