Michael Hermesdorff

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Michael Hermesdorff

Michael Hermes Dorff (* 4. March 1833 in Trier ; † 18th January 1885 ) was a German Catholic priest , Dommusikdirektor , organist , composer , musicologist , music educator , choral researcher , editor and publisher .

youth

Michael Hermesdorff was the seventh child of the tailor Matthias Hermesdorff and his wife Margarete nee. Schömann. Michael showed an extraordinary musical talent early on, so that his older brother Matthias, who worked as a music teacher and organist in the parish of St. Gangolf , began to instruct him in organ and piano playing. It is said that Michael, who was barely ten years old, was able to represent his brother on the organ at church services.

From 1844 he attended the Jesuit grammar school , today's Friedrich Wilhelm grammar school in Trier. A spinal column that was crooked from birth made it impossible for him to complete his schooling, so that he had to leave the grammar school again in 1851.

Activity as a music teacher

As early as 1852 he took up a position as organist and music teacher in Ettelbrück in the neighboring Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, as well as managing the local men's choir and music club. It was here that Hermesdorff's first larger, well-preserved compositions, such as B. a mass for male choir in C major, two masses (in D minor and F major) with instrumental accompaniment as well as a large number of motets and various occasional compositions .

Seminary

In 1855 he returned to Trier and entered the seminary there. In addition to his theological studies, he dealt intensively with Trier chant, a - as it initially seemed - a diocesan variant of Gregorian chant handed down in the diocese of Trier . As early as 1857, while still a student, he was officially commissioned by Bishop Wilhelm Arnoldi to research the old codices because of his already great reputation as a choral connoisseur .

In addition to the chorale, he also got to know works of polyphonic church music , which have been part of the repertoire of the Trier Cathedral Choir since the cathedral music director Stephan Lück took office , who had collected and edited a large number of such compositions. Since joining the seminar Hermes Dorff also often represented the ailing cathedral organist Jakob Polch (1807-1862) at the large, until 1837 newly built Breidenfeldorgel the Trier Cathedral .

Chaplain in Bernkastel

The Cusanus Hospital Cues. Hand-colored aquatint by Franz Hegi after Karl Bodmer

After completing his theology studies, Hermesdorff was ordained priest on August 28, 1859 by Wilhelm Arnoldi . His Mass in F major for solos, choir, strings and organ and the motet Accepta tibi sit Domine were probably premiered on the occasion of his first session on September 5th .

Immediately after his consecration, Hermesdorff was ordered by Bishop Arnoldi as chaplain to Cues and Bernkastel to study the valuable choral manuscripts in the library of the Cusanus monastery . On the basis of these documents and of the sighted by him already in Trier manuscripts of the Trier Cathedral Treasury and the municipal library it should be a gradual issue. The edition of such a chorale book, which is binding for the entire diocese of Trier, had already been considered by the diocese leadership since the 1840s.

Introit of the III. Christmas fair "Puer natus" from the Graduale Trevirense Michael Hermesdorffs

It appeared in 1863 - Hermesdorff had meanwhile succeeded Polch as cathedral organist after his death - in print as Graduale juxta usum Ecclesia Cathedralis Trevirensis . Also after the old Trier manuscripts, he published the prefaces , an antiphonal and a kyrial a little later .

Based on this, the edition of the six-volume Harmonia cantus choralis followed, on which Hermesdorff worked for three years and in which a large part of the liturgical chants for the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours are arranged in four parts for organ or choir .

Cathedral organist, singing teacher at the seminary & cathedral music director

The organ of Trier Cathedral by Heinrich Wilhelm Breidenfeld (built in 1837, III / 51), at which M. Hermesdorff officiated

After Michael Hermesdorff had provisionally taken over his office on October 8th, 1862 due to the illness of the cathedral organist Jakob Polch, whom he had already represented during his seminar time, after his death on November 8th, 1862 he became his successor as cathedral organist of the high Trier Cathedral appointed. From then on he was also responsible for singing lessons at the Cathedral Music School as well as at the seminary. He continued to teach the seminarians secretly during the Kulturkampf , which was threatened with severe penalties. Some of the seminarians closely connected to him copied the handwritten supplements of the magazine Cäcilia for the members of the Hermesdorff'schen Choralverein.

Since he took office as cathedral organist on October 8, 1862, in addition to singing lessons at the Trier Cathedral Music School, he was also unofficially responsible for managing this institute, which was officially assigned to him on August 17, 1874 when he was appointed Cathedral Music Director.

Hermesdorff was responsible for the musical part of the new edition of the Trier diocesan song book (1871) and also edited the four-part edition (1872) for four voices and organ.

In addition to his musical duties at the cathedral, he also worked as a bell and organ auditor for the diocese of Trier and from 1872 took over the office of render of the cathedral factory, which he would also hold until his death. He also took on pastoral duties in parishes that were orphaned during the Kulturkampf.

In the spring of 1884, after he had to resign all musical offices at the cathedral for health reasons, he was appointed cathedral vicar in recognition of his services. Until shortly before his death he studied new works with the cathedral choir. He died on January 18, 1885 at around three o'clock in the morning in his curia located on the corner of Dominikanerstrasse and Predigerstrasse and was buried on January 21st in the cloister of Trier Cathedral.

Diocesan President of the Trier Diocesan Cäcilien Association

With great commitment, Hermesdorff endeavored, particularly in the area of ​​choral singing, but also with regard to the situation of the church choirs, organ maintenance and the training and further education of the church musicians of the diocese, to permanently improve the church music conditions of his diocese. One year after the establishment of the General Cecilia Association (ACV) on the Catholic 1868 in Bamberg by Franz Xaver Witt Hermes Dorff called in the summer of 1869 the Trier diocesan Cecilia club to life, which he held until his death as Präses board. This association was regarded as an exemplary organized sub-association of the ACV and was numerically one of its most important groups.

Hermesdorff shaped the organizational structure of the umbrella organization through constructive proposals such as B. at the general assembly in Regensburg , which was based on his experience in organizing the Trier diocesan association. They were recommended for imitation in the organs of the ACV and are still effective today.

To train the church musicians of the diocese, he set up a catalog of the library of the branch association of the library of the General German Cäcilien-Verein for the diocese of Trier , in which the church musicians have access to historical and theoretical writings as well as sheet music on works of the classical polyphony and the Cecilians should be done.

In this context, Hermesdorff arranged 12 motets based on well-known works by old classical masters in a very simplistic way, in order to introduce even less capable choirs to the old classical vocal polyphony. He was also responsible for the second greatly expanded edition of the collection of excellent compositions for the Stephan Lück church , which, alongside Carl Proskes Musica divina, was probably the most important early collective edition of compositions from the 15th to 17th centuries. Century, which he made shortly before his death. Volume IV, the edition of which he was unable to complete himself, was submitted by Heinrich Oberhoffer , who in turn died soon after it went to press.

Translations of medieval treatises & textbooks

Chapter XV. of the Micrologus Guidonis in the translation by Michael Hermesdorff

The important treatises Guidos von Arezzo , the Micrologus de disciplina artis musicae as well as the Epistola Guidonis Michaeli monacho de ignoto cantu directa , in which various aspects of the "guidonic" notation and the medieval music practice are illuminated, he translated and commented later himself, other writings became edited by Raymund Schlecht or Peter Bohn .

In addition, Hermesdorff had set up a singing school that was specifically intended for the training of church choirs and was based on his many years of experience as a singing teacher at the cathedral music school. This singing school was widely used and was used, among other things, for the training of the novices of the Beuron Benedictine monks who emigrated to the Belgian Abbey of Maredsous and the Emmauskloster in Prague during the Prussian Kulturkampf . The Beuron monks with their first cantor Ambrosius Kienle , who was friends with Hermesdorff, were widely regarded as the most important administrators of Gregorian chant on German soil, their ancestral seat Beuron as a German Solesmes .

Editor of the magazine Cäcilia

Founded already in 1862 by Heinrich Oberhoffer in Luxembourg church music magazine Cecilia , whose editorial board had taken over as the organ of trie step diocesan Cecilia Association Hermes Dorff at the beginning of 1871, became the mouthpiece and the Choral Association, annexed to it, facsimile Choral supplements for members of the Choral Society served for the publication and discussion of the comparative material sent in by the members of the association as well as the treatment of questions relating to choral studies, which made the journal one of Europe's leading journal for choral research. He published Cäcilia until 1878, but had to give it up in January after long and strenuous efforts to continue it because of major financial and health problems. From then on, the Gregoriusblatt published by Heinrich Böckeler in Aachen , for which Hermesdorff continued the supplements for his chorale association until shortly before his death, took over the duties of Cecilia . His influence now extended across Germany, the European continent and as far as America.

Association for the research of old choral manuscripts

Until 1871, Hermesdorff had mainly concentrated his efforts on the church music issues of his home diocese of Trier, with a particular focus of his efforts on restoring the Trier chant, but with the knowledge based on this he gained influence through his work for the restoration of the original Gregorian chant to developments that had far-reaching consequences for the liturgy of the universal Church.

In order to bring together as many scholars as possible regarding the research of the traditional Gregorian chant chants, who in turn should copy the chorale manuscripts accessible to them and thus enable comparative studies of them, he called for the establishment of an "Association for the research of old choral manuscripts for the purpose of restoring Gregorian chant". The important Eichstadt musicologist Raymund Schlecht and the court conductor and director of the Brussels Conservatoire, François-Auguste Gevaert, joined this association as founding members a. a. the following other personalities:

In addition, more or less large parts of the cathedral chapters of Trier, Eichstätt and Ermland as well as the Benedictines of Beuron in their entirety joined the association. The French musicologist Edmond de Coussemaker also contributed to the implementation of the research project in the direct vicinity of the association's headquarters . Michael Hermesdorff took over the chairmanship of the association until his death in January 1885, after his death the chairmanship was passed on to his closest colleague, the former treasurer of the association, Peter Bohn.

Conflict with the editors of the Medicaea

When researching the Trier chorale manuscripts, Hermesdorff had already recognized that the so-called "Trier chorale" was by no means just a special, diocesan-specific way of singing, but that it was rather a variant of the original, authentic way of singing the Gregorian repertoire. At the time of its creation, this had corresponded in this form for the entire Gregorian repertoire throughout Europe with only insignificant deviations, so that consequently all codices of the early Middle Ages that Hermesdorff now through the members of the choral society from various regions of Germany, Luxembourg and France , Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland had to match. This realization and Hermesdorff's subsequent efforts to maintain and edit the authentic Trier chorale melodies should subsequently trigger the so-called "Trier Choral Controversy", which later resulted in a whole Europe-wide conflict about the correct way of singing and the edition of the Gregorian chant in general and in which Hermesdorff, based on the knowledge gained through his research, vehemently opposed the Neo- Medicaea published by Franz Xaver Haberl and the Regensburg publishing house Pustet with papal approval as a binding version of the Gregorian chant for the Catholic Church .

Graduale ad normam cantus S. Gregorii

Beginning of the introit of the third mass of Christmas "Puer natus" from the gradual ad normam cantus S. Gregorii by Michael Hermesdorff

As a result of the research work of the choral society and also as Hermesdorff's main musicological work, the "Graduale ad normam cantus s. Gregorii" could be presented from 1876, which was not continued after the 11th delivery due to financial difficulties. Nonetheless, the unfinished work - in particular due to the neural characters added via the square notation, for which Hermesdorff had developed a printing system for the first time, the "prototypes" of which he had made himself for the casting - is rightly regarded and represents the forerunner of the Graduel neumé des Eugène Cardine For the time it was undoubtedly a very noteworthy scientific achievement. Hermesdorff has done essential preparatory work for the renewal of Gregorian chant by editing Gregorian chants based on old manuscripts at a time when choral research was still in its humble beginnings.

Act

Hermesdorff has "pushed the chorale research the furthest in Germany and [...] made a significant contribution to choral reform," which led to the edition of the Editio Vaticana published in Solesmes in France and its binding introduction for the Catholic Church. This development already began to emerge at the congress for liturgical singing in Arezzo , which Hermesdorff helped to prepare , in which he himself could no longer take part for health reasons. The most prominent participant in the congress was Giuseppe de Sarto, who, as Pope Pius X, initiated this publication by the monks of Solesmes, introduced the books as binding in 1904/05 and presented his views on liturgical chant in his apostolic letter Tra le sollecitudini .

Although Hermes Dorff believed to have convinced those in charge of the diocese of the authentic version of the Gregorian chant, were his books a year after his death by his successor Philipp Jakob Lenz, who under the influence of Regensburg reformer to Lenz's teacher Franz Xaver Haberl was , given up in favor of the Regensburg Medicaea edition. However, 15 years later, this setback was finally overtaken by the overall church development through the edition of the Editio Vaticana by the monks of Solesmes and its binding introduction.

Writings & magazines

  • Singing school for the systematic teaching of church choirs. Lintz, Trier 1874.
  • Cecilia. Organ for cath. Church music, ed. by Michael Hermesdorff. Years 11–17, Trier 1872–1878.

Compositions (selection)

  • Missa in D minor for 4 solos, 4stg. according to Choir & strings;
  • Missa in F major for 4 solos, 4 parts. according to Choir, strings, (wind instruments ad. Lib.) & Organ;
  • Missa in B flat major (op. 1) for 4 solos, 4 parts. according to Choir & Organ, Trier, Grach;
  • Missa Sacerdotes tui in B flat major for 4 parts. according to Choir a capella, Trier 1874, self-published;
  • Graduale O salutaris hostia for 4stg. according to Choir a capella
  • Motet Joseph, filii David for 4 parts. according to Choir a capella
  • Motet Justorum animae for 4 parts . according to Choir a capella
  • Motet See what a love for 4stg. according to Choir, (strings?) & Organ
  • Offertory Accepta tibi sit, Domine for 4 parts . according to Choir & Organ in D major
  • Offertory Verbum supernum prodiens for 4stg. according to Choir a capella
  • Regina caeli for 4stg. according to (or men's) choir & organ
  • Veni, creator spiritus for 4stg. according to Choir a capella
  • 10 small organ pieces plus a fugue for the full work

Choral editions & hymn books

  • Graduale juxta usum Ecclesiae Cathedralis Trevirensis , Grach, Trier 1863
  • The accentus of the Trier'schen Church , Trier, Lintz
  • Præfationes in cantu Trevirense , Leistenschneider, Trier 1863
  • Antiphonale juxta usum Ecclesiae Cathedralis Trevirensis , Grach, Trier 1864
  • Harmonia Cantus Choralis , Lintz, Trier 1865–68
  • Kyriale , Lintz, Trier 1869
  • Missa Pro Defunctis
  • Lamentationes for 4stg. Choir or male choir, Lintz, Trier
  • Revision of the Trier diocesan song book, 1stg. & 4stg., Lintz, Trier 1871 & 1872;
  • Graduale ad normam cantus S. Gregorii (in delivery), Wagner, Leipzig 1876–82 (canceled after the 11th delivery)

literature

  • Gustav Bereths: Contributions to the history of the Trier cathedral music . Mainz 1974.
  • Peter Bohn: Contribution to the question of chorale books. Trier 1891, Trier City Library, 11/1002 8 ° mp. (unprinted).
  • Marcus Dahm : The Trier cathedral music director Michael Hermesdorff (1833-1885) and his work for the church music restoration. Thesis at the Catholic University for Church Music St. Gregorius Aachen, Aachen 2004.
  • Andreas Heinz: Under the spell of the Roman unified liturgy. The Romanization of the Trier diocese liturgy in the second half of the 19th century. In: Roman Quarterly Bulletin, 79, Freiburg 1984
  • Wolfgang Hoffmann: Michael Hermesdorff and the church music reform in Trier. In: Kirchenmusikalisches Jahrbuch 79 (1995).
  • Dominikus Johnen: Michael Hermesdorff and the Trierische Choral. Term paper, unpublished. Trier 1942.
  • Josef Komp, Stephan Lück and his collection of church music. Trier 1940. Ms. in the Trier seminary (Z 843 p. 7/8).
  • Ferdinand Laven: Michael Hermesdorff, the great church musician, memorandum for his 100th birthday. In Trierischer Volksfreund of March 4, 1933.
  • Hans Lonnendonker: Michael Hermesdorff. In: Ehrenpforte Rhenish Musicians , Vol. 3, Cologne 1962.
  • Jean-Pierre Schmit: History of the Gregorian Choral Singing , Paulinus-Verlag Trier 1952.
  • Paul Schuh : The Trier Choral Controversy. In: Musicae sacrae Ministry - Contributions to the history of church music renewal in the 19th century, Festgabe for Karl Gustav Fellerer on the completion of his 60th year of life on July 7, 1962. Cologne 1962. pp. 125–138.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ferdinand Laven, Michael Hermesdorff, the great church musician, memorandum for his 100th birthday , in Trierischer Volksfreund of March 4, 1933
  2. ↑ Ferdinand Laven, Michael Hermesdorff, the great church musician, memorandum for his 100th birthday , in Trierischer Volksfreund of March 4, 1933.
  3. ↑ Dominikus Johnen, Michael Hermesdorff and the Trierische Choral Trier 1942.
  4. ↑ Gustav Bereths: contributions to the history of the Trier Cathedral Music. Mainz 1974
  5. ↑ Gustav Bereths: contributions to the history of the Trier Cathedral Music. Mainz 1974
  6. ^ Andreas Heinz: Under the spell of the Roman unified liturgy. The Romanization of the Trier diocese liturgy in the second half of the 19th century. In: Roman Quarterly Bulletin, 79, Freiburg 1984
  7. ↑ Hans Lonnendonker: Michael Hermesdorff in: Ehrenpforte Rheinischer Musicians , Vol. 3, Cologne 1962
  8. ↑ Gustav Bereths: contributions to the history of the Trier Cathedral Music. Mainz 1974.
  9. ↑ Dominikus Johnen: Michael Hermesdorff and the Trierische Choral. Trier 1942. Seminar paper, unpublished.
  10. ↑ Gustav Bereths: contributions to the history of the Trier Cathedral Music. Mainz 1974
  11. ↑ Martin Persch: The Trier Diocesan Song Book from 1846 to 1975 - A Contribution to the History of the Trier Diocese Liturgy (Trier Theological Studies 44), Trier 1987, pp. 231 & 236
  12. ↑ Hans Lonnendonker: Michael Hermesdorff in: Ehrenpforte Rheinischer Musicians , Vol. 3, Cologne 1962
  13. ↑ Ferdinand Laven, Michael Hermesdorff, the great church musician, memorandum for his 100th birthday , in Trierischer Volksfreund of March 4, 1933
  14. ↑ Hans Lonnendonker, Michael Hermesdorff; in: Honor gate of Rhenish musicians. Vol. 3, Cologne 1962
  15. ↑ cf. Fliegende Blätter, 4th year 1869, No. 10, p. 91
  16. ↑ cf. the list of the members of the choral society in the magazine Cäcilia is kept continuously.
  17. ↑ cf. Paul Schuh : The Trier Choral Controversy. In: Johannes Overath (Ed.): Musicae sacrae ministerium. Festival ceremony for Karl Gustav Fellerer. Cologne 1962, pp. 125-138.
  18. ↑ Hans Lonnendonker: Michael Hermesdorff in: Ehrenpforte Rheinischer Musicians , Vol. 3, Cologne 1962
  19. ↑ Hans Lonnendonker: Michael Hermesdorff. In: Ehrenpforte rhein. Musician. Volume 3. Cologne 1962

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hermesdorff, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German organist and choral researcher
DATE OF BIRTH March 4, 1833
PLACE OF BIRTH trier
DATE OF DEATH January 18, 1885
Place of death trier