Loh Orchestra Sondershausen

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The Loh Orchestra Sondershausen is an orchestra from Sondershausen founded around 1600 . It influenced the music scene in Germany in the 19th century by helping the music of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt to break through.

The Loh-Orchester Sondershausen has been part of the Theater Nordhausen / Loh-Orchester Sondershausen GmbH since 1991 . Director and managing director since August 2016 is Daniel Klajner . Michael Helmrath has been the conductor and general music director since 2016 .

Origin of name

From 1806 the open air concerts were also open to the general public. They took place in Lohpark, to the northwest, below Sondershausen Castle. A certain time rhythm set in, so that they were soon called "Lohpark Concerts". The park used to be an oak forest. From the bark of the trees was Gerberlohe won for tanning animal skins.

In 1918 the prince had to abdicate and the “Princely Chapel” was renamed the “Loh Orchestra”.

history

From the 17th to the end of the 19th century

A development in music began in the Thuringian residences in Sondershausen and Rudolstadt , which is known as the emergence of “music courts”. After 1600 the Sondershäuser Hof had employed instrumentalists who were paid equal to higher clerical dignitaries. To do this, they had to be ready to play wherever the court was at any time. They did not yet form a court orchestra, as they were closely linked to the tasks of church music. The vocal ensemble in the church brought its singers from the city school choir. Particularly capable young men were given lessons in playing string and wind instruments at the expense of the court. After completing their training, they could be accepted into the court orchestra. The conductor was given the title of “Princely Capellmeister”.

In 1617 Michael Praetorius came to the court of Sondershausen and reorganized the band. To her he dedicated his Polyhymnia exercitatrix in 1619 . 1619 is therefore considered to be the founding date of the Lohorchester. The first court trumpeters were hired in 1644/1645. It was used for the first time at the inauguration of the town church (St. Trinity) in 1699 (the ensemble consisted of eight trumpeters and an army drummer). They also had to act as the prince's honorary escort and to "blow the elevator". They have not yet been included in the court chapel.

Well-known court musicians from the early days of the orchestra are: Johann Friedrich Holtzer (1659), Jeremias Koch (1662), Elias Christoph Stock (1686). A sing-ballet composed by Stock was a small opera with dance (ballet) under the title In honor of the great Pan . The text was written by the Swedish scholar Carl Gustav Heraeus employed at the court . Prince Christian Wilhelm zu Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was celebrated as Pan on his 55th birthday in 22 scenes . He himself took on a role as a dancer. The one-time performance was on January 6, 1702. The sheet music is no longer available.

The orchestra's heyday began under the direction of the special house Johann Balthasar Christian Freißlich (1687–1764). He led the band until 1731, then went to Gdansk as musical director of the opera . Freely composed cantatas , secular festival music and an operina Die verliebte Nunne . The composer Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (1690–1749) applied for the position in Sondershausen after Stock's death. But he did not get it because Freißlich was preferred as a local. After his departure, Prince Stölzel tried to woo away from the Gotha court. But since he did not succeed, he commissioned him with compositions, the majority of which were premiered in Sondershausen. Stölzel's works were kept in the Sondershäuser Castle while they were destroyed in Gotha. Stölzel's works in Sondershausen include 339 church cantatas, passion music, secular cantatas and a passion oratorio. A large part of it was composed for the Gothaer Hof. A musical stage play in the style of an opera under the title Irene and Apollo was written in 1733 for Prince Günther I , a music-savvy patron of the arts .

After Günther I's death, the “Kapellführer” changed frequently without any loss of quality in the musical life of the Sondershäuser Hof. In addition to the commitment of the princes, citizens of the city, such as Ernst Ludwig Gerber and Hofrat Suckow, increasingly advocated music, also through the effects of the French Revolution. As a result, Prince Friedrich Carl I allowed the general public to take part in public concerts from 1806.

Scheppig's Lohhalle

In 1801 the clarinetist Johann Simon Hermstedt (1778–1846) had formed the Upper Boist Corps of 12 musicians from the Princely Guard Music Corps . They made music in military uniform in the Lohpark in the so-called "half moon", a place south of the later Lohhalle. The “Loh Hall” was built in 1837 by redesigning the entire square. It served the concert business until 1967 and was demolished in 1971. Today it could no longer be used for concerts because of the B4 trunk road running behind it . The musicians of the Hermstedt Hautboistenkorps not only mastered wind instruments, but also string instruments. Her participation in the court orchestra raised its musical level. At the beginning of the 19th century, the court orchestra was not only occupied by professional musicians, but also by capable laypeople from the bourgeoisie and civil servants. It was not until the 1840s that the court orchestra consisted exclusively of professional musicians.

The demands of the music theater played an essential role in the development of the “Princely Chapel”. There were also operas here and there in the 18th century. At the beginning of the 19th century, operas by Mozart , Cherubini , Dittersdorf and Weber were on the program . After opera performances had always taken place in rooms prepared for this purpose, Prince Carl Günther I had a court theater built next to the palace in 1825. From 1825 to 1830 there were 295 opera performances.

Hofkapellmeister Eduard Stein from Kleinschirma near Freiberg in Saxony has merits in concert music, but especially in opera music. He made the compositions of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt popular. Major singers from major German cities gave guest performances. The orchestra with its concert performances and the theater as an opera stage became well-known throughout Germany. Heads of the court orchestra according to Stein were: Friedrich Marpurg (1864), Adolf Blaßmann (1865), Max Bruch (1867–1870), especially Max Erdmannsdörfer (1871–1880) in the theater . Wagner's Fliegender Holländer in 1871 was an outstanding success . The singer of "Erik" later became a hero tenor at the Vienna Court Opera. In 1891, 23 opera productions were staged, including Tannhäuser , Fidelio and Lohengrin .

Another important orchestral conductor alongside Max Bruch was Carl Schroeder , who was court conductor from 1881 to 1885 and 1890 to 1907. In the meantime he was first conductor of the Royal Orchestra in Berlin and then director of the Hamburg Opera. In 1883 he founded the Music Conservatory in Sondershausen. In 1886 he headed the Tonkünstler Assembly in Sondershausen. Franz Liszt was the honorary president. Liszt stayed in Sondershausen for several days each year.

20th century to the present

After the Second World War , the orchestra was in an existential crisis. The commitment of the population and support from the authorities made it possible to continue. Today the orchestra is called Loh-Orchester Sondershausen. The orchestra no longer bears the name “Max Bruch Philharmonie”. 56 professional musicians make music there (May 2007). It has been part of the Theater Nordhausen / Loh-Orchester Sondershausen since 1991 . The sponsors are the cities of Nordhausen and Sondershausen as well as the districts of Nordhausen and Kyffhäuserkreis . The orchestra toured Japan in October 2004 with its general music director, Hiroaki Masuda.

The Loh Orchestra has three regular series of concerts: 6 symphony concerts, 3 palace concerts and 5 Loh concerts per season. In addition, New Year's concerts, concerts at the turn of the year, opera galleries and carnival concerts have become tradition. It plays as a theater orchestra in the Nordhausen Theater.

From 2004 to 2016, Lars Tietje was artistic director and managing director.

Kapellmeister of the court orchestra and conductor of the Loh orchestra

Johann Simon Hermstedt
Gottfried Herrmann
Max break
Max Erdmannsdörfer
  • 1659–1682: Johann Friedrich Holtzner
  • 1682–1692: Jeremias Koch
  • 1692–1718: Elias Christoph Stock
  • 1718–1731: Johann Balthasar Freislich
  • 1731–1758: Heinrich Johann Bona
  • 1758–1766: Leopold August Abel
  • 1766: August Friedrich Rothe
  • 1780: Haussmann Krause
  • 1802–1839: Johann Simon Hermstedt
  • 1839–1843: Wilhelm Kirchhoff
  • 1843-1844: Louis Huth
  • 1844: Louis Bohnhardt
  • 1844–1852: Gottfried Herrmann
  • 1852–1864: Eduard Stein
  • 1864–1866: Friedrich Marpurg
  • 1867: Adolf Blaßmann
  • 1867–1870: Max Bruch
  • 1871–1880: Max Erdmannsdörfer
  • 1880: Heinrich Frankenberger
  • 1881: August König
  • 1881–1886: Carl Schroeder
  • 1886–1890: Adolf Schultze
  • 1890–1907: Carl Schroeder
  • 1907–1910: Traugott Ochs
  • 1910–1911: Rudolf Herfurth
  • 1911–1934: Carl Corbach
  • 1934–1939: Otto Wartisch
  • 1940–1945: Carl Maria Artz
  • 1945–1948: Georg Karl Winkler
  • 1948–1949: Erich Glückmann
  • 1949–1950: Wilhelm Buschkötter
  • 1950–1951: Walter Schartner
  • 1951–1957: Paul Dörrie
  • 1957–1958: Armin Pickerodt
  • 1958–1959: Paul Diener
  • 1959–1970: Gerhart Wiesenhütter
  • 1970–1978: Horst Förster
  • 1978–1995: Karl Heinz Richter
  • 1995–1999: Anton Kolar
  • 1999–2002: Peter Stangel
  • 2002-2008: Hiroaki Masuda
  • 2008–2016: Markus L. Frank
  • Since 2016: Michael Helmrath

Statements by celebrities

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote to his son August after listening to the Hautboistencorps in Bad Tennstedt in 1816: “The music director Hermstedt von Sondershausen blows the clarinet excellently. He had brought with him all the harmony, that is, over a dozen blowing artists; they did their job well. "

In 1856, Hans von Bülow wrote for the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik : “It seemed as if the size of the task had increased the strength to conquer it. The execution (Liszt-Mazeppa) was admirable for its lively conception and technical endurance. The special houses Capelle can claim the fame of the initiative without the concern of being outdone by another in this beautiful achievement. "

Franz Liszt in a letter to Freiherr Thüna: "The band that he (Max Erdmannsdörfer) conducts is one of the most renowned in Germany, and rightly so, because nowhere have the orchestral works been performed with so much cleverness, precision and power."

Max Bruch to Clara Schumann (August 7, 1867): “… I have a fixed salary of 1000 Thaler and even enjoy the inestimable title of“ Hofkapellmeister ”, I have a lot of time to work, I conduct an excellent court orchestra, and I am almost with the band Together every day, I perform all the good music that exists, I am completely independent in determining the programs, and I am sure of the full approval of our music-loving princess for all undertakings. "

Richard Wagner in a letter dated May 3, 1858 from Zurich to the conductor Eduard Stein regarding the performance of Lohengrin in the Sondershausen Court Theater on March 26, 1858: “... I have just read a report about your performance of my Lohengrin, and I see from it that I I was so happy to meet in you one of those rare friends whose beautiful and uplifting sympathy alone does not make me regret having given my work to the public, where they so often and usually experience the lot of mischief and mockery. [...] Your dear orchestra, as well as the singers unknown to me, who distinguished themselves so well at Lohengrin, my greatest thanks and best regards! […] Thanks, thanks for the joy you made me! "

From a letter from Max Bruch to Johannes Brahms on June 15, 1870: “… The princely orchestra is very good, one of the prettiest orchestras in Germany. There is excellent discipline; the people are willing and enthusiastic. The most difficult things can be brought out very well without much effort with this wonderfully well-rehearsed orchestra. Nowhere in Germany are there so many orchestral novelties during the concert season as here ... Communication with the band is easier and more pleasant. I am on the best of terms with people and will always remain in the friendliest relationships with them even after my divorce. "

literature

  • G [ünther] Lutze: The Princely Court Chapel at Sondershausen from 1801–1901. Festschrift for the centenary of the wage concerts in 1901. Eupel, Sondershausen 1901.
  • Günther Lutze: From school comedies to court theater. In: From Sondershausen's past. Third volume. Aug. Eupel, Sondershausen 1919, p. 140.
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Beinroth: Music history of the city of Sondershausen from its beginnings to the end of the 19th century. University publishing house Wagner, Innsbruck 1943.
  • Carl Schleicher: The music city Sondershausen. In: Northern Thuringia's local history. Issue 2, Sondershausen 1950.
  • Richard Lang: Personalities in Sondershausen. Cultural Office of the City of Sondershausen, 1993.
  • Manfred Fechner: Instruments of representation and evidence of art understanding. The court chapels at Thuringia's residences in the 17th and 18th centuries. In: newly discovered. Essays. Thuringia - land of residences. Edited by Konrad Scheuermann u. Jördis Frank. Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2004, ISBN 3-8053-3321-8 , p. 280.
  • Residence town Sondershausen. Contributions to the history of music. Edited by Karla Neschke and Helmut Köhler. Sondershausen 2004. ISBN 3980846563

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Kyffhäuser News . Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  2. ↑ Theater-Nordhausen / Michael Helmrath (General Music Director)
  3. ^ Statement by Michael Maul , Bach Archive Leipzig, cited above. after the Loh orchestra older than previously assumed. In: Thuringian General . 17th January 2013 .;
  4. ↑ Music and mountain town Sondershausen / Loh orchestra Sondershausen
  5. ↑ Richard Wagner, Complete Letters. Volume 9. Leipzig 2000. ISBN 3370003619 , p. 256.
  6. ^ Letters on the history of music in Sondershausen. In: Sondershäuser Heimatecho, H. 1/2008, p. 10.