Johann Baptist Singenberger

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Johann Baptist Singenberger (born May 25, 1848 in Kirchberg SG ; † May 29, 1924 in Milwaukee as John Singenberger ) was a Swiss composer , church musician , music teacher and editor .

Life

Johann Baptist Singenberger was born on May 25, 1848 in Kirchberg in the canton of St. Gallen. He attended the St. Georgen seminary in St. Gallen, where he made friends with Sebastian Gebhard Messmer , who later became the Archbishop of Milwaukee . After both of them had finished the seminar in 1861, Singenberger continued his training at the Jesuit college Stella Matutina in Feldkirch , where he studied piano, organ and composition with Winnebald Briem, among others.

Further studies led him to Carl Greith , a widely recognized composer of sacred works, at the University of Innsbruck . Greith, who also came from Switzerland, together with the founder of the General German Cäcilienverein , Franz Xaver Witt , Heinrich Oberhoffer and Utto Kornmüller, formed the panel of speakers of this association, which recommended musically and liturgically suitable compositions for the divine service in the Cäcilienverein catalog.

In 1872 Singenberger continued his studies with Witt himself, whom he had probably already met on his trip to Gaschurn and Feldkirch in 1871. During his stay in Regensburg, Singenberger's first collection of hymns was published by the Pustet publishing house, which is closely associated with the association . This publication established a lifelong friendship between Singenberger and the Pustet family.

In April 1873 Singenberger emigrated to the USA , where he was from then on worked as a professor of music at the Catholic normal school in St. Francis (Wisconsin) . Soon after arriving in the United States, he founded the American Cecilia Society, a predecessor of the Church Music Association of America , and chaired it for more than thirty years. With this association, church music in the United States should be improved according to the ideals of his friend and teacher Franz Xaver Witt and the example of the association he founded. Singenberger was also a member of the association founded by Michael Hermesdorff to research ancient choral manuscripts . After he had rejected plans to have the magazine Cäcilia , which he published in Trier , translated into English, also appear in America, Singenberger founded his own magazine of the same name as the organ of the American association. This monthly magazine was under his editorial management for more than 50 years.

For his services, Singenberger was awarded the Order of Gregory by Pope Leo XIII .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Music bag - Singenberger . Retrieved December 16, 2010.
  2. ^ JM Kasel: Professor Johann Baptist Singenberger. In: Caecilia, LI, 7–8 (July – August, 1924), p. 28.
  3. ^ J. Vincent Higginson: Professor John B. Singenberger. In: The Catholic Choirmaster, XXVII, 3 (September, 1941), p. 101.
  4. ↑ Blow. In: The Catholic Encyclopedia, XII, p. 583.
  5. ^ A b Howe: Hundred Years of Music in America: An Account of Musical Effort in America , p. 282.
  6. ^ Paul C. Echols: Early music revival . In: The New Grove Dictionary of American Music, Volume II: EK , pp. 2-6.
  7. ↑ Christoph Lickleder: The tradition of the Cäcilienverein. On the 100th anniversary of Franz Xaver Witt's death. (1834-1888). In: Negotiations of the historical association for Upper Palatinate and Regensburg. 129. Volume, Regensburg 1989, p. 258.
  8. ↑ cf. on this, Hermesdorff's correspondence with Raymund Schlecht
  9. ↑ partially archived at https://musicasacra.com/journal/archives/
  10. ^ FG Boerger: An Appreciation of John Singenberger. In: Caecilia, LX, 6 (June, 1933), p. 196.
personal data
SURNAME Singenberger, Johann Baptist
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Singenberger, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss composer, church musician, music teacher and editor
DATE OF BIRTH May 25, 1848
PLACE OF BIRTH Kirchberg
DATE OF DEATH May 29, 1924
Place of death Milwaukee