Michael Witt

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Michael Witt (born February 28, 1940 in Saloniki ; † March 21, 2012 in Berlin ) was a German church musician at the main Catholic church of the Archdiocese of Berlin , St. Hedwig's Cathedral .

Live and act

Witt grew up in Bautzen . There he sang in the choir at St. Petri Cathedral from the age of 10 . While studying Protestant theology at the Humboldt University in Berlin (1st state examination in 1963), he led the choir of the Protestant student community and passed the C examination as a church musician . After the state examination, he began studying at the church music school in Halle (Saale) . After the A-exam in 1968 he continued his education in the subjects of choir, orchestra and ensemble conducting as well as harpsichord at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" Berlin (state examination 1972).

As a cantor and organist at the Berlin Pentecostal Church (1965–1975), he performed extensive choir and ensemble work. In 1975 the episcopal ordinariate in Berlin appointed the evangelical church musician Michael Witt as cathedral organist and choirmaster of St. Hedwig's Cathedral, where he re-established the St. Hedwig Cathedral Choir - the majority of the choir singers were separated from Karl Forster after the Wall was built the cathedral, remained in the western part of the city, where it continued as the choir of St. Hedwig's Cathedral. Since that time, Witt, who was awarded the title of Domkapellmeister by Cardinal Joachim Meisner in 1983 , has been building a regulated, multi-part church music appropriate to the cathedral church of the Diocese of Berlin with great organizational talent, pedagogical skill and musical flexibility. Until his retirement in July 2005 he was also head of a choral school, an ensemble for early music, a boys 'and girls' choir, a youth choir and a favorite and wind choir. He was particularly committed to promoting young talent. He founded the Domsingschule , which he was appointed director in 1993. His greatest merit was to have re-established the church music tradition at St. Hedwig's Cathedral in divided Berlin. On September 1, 1998, Michael Witt was entrusted with the direction of the choir of St. Hedwig's Cathedral by Cardinal Georg Sterzinsky . In January 2006, in retirement, he founded the Ecumenical Seniors' Choir Berlin as an institution of the Berlin-Mitte church district.

The maintenance of early music and its historical performance practice was a special concern of his work throughout his life. To this end, he founded various instrumental ensembles such as the Berlin Gamba Quartet and a chamber orchestra, which fed from Berlin music students and assisted the cathedral choir in the performances of vocal symphonic works and oratorios . He is rightly considered one of the pioneers of historical performance practice in Berlin. He was also committed to the world premiere of contemporary compositions, such as the choral works by the Berlin composer Helge Jung .

His musical diversity and the breadth of his knowledge have a fruitful effect on the Berlin church music and early music scene through the musicians who worked with him.

Awards

  • On February 27, 2000, Michael Witt was awarded the highest honor of the Archdiocese of Berlin , the "Silver Hedwig Medal ", on the occasion of his 60th birthday and 25th anniversary of service from Georg Cardinal Sterzinsky .

literature

  • Alexander Osang: Rome doesn't feel responsible. In: Berliner Zeitung , October 2, 1998 [1]
  • Alexander Osang: Arrival in the new center. Reports and portraits. Links, Berlin 2000, ISBN 978-3861531753 , pp. 85-94.
  • Ekkehard Schwerk: Michael Witt has 25 years of service and 60th birthday. In: Der Tagesspiegel , February 25, 2000. [2]
  • Johanna Schell : Cathedral Kapellmeister Michael Witt. In: Musica Sacra , 03/2000, p. 10 [3]
  • Dietmar Hiller: Experienced music history. In: Strong Church. Morusverlag May 2000, p. 9.
  • Michael Witt: The legacy of church music is one thing. In: Music and Church , Jan./Febr. 2001 [4]

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archdiocese of Berlin mourns Michael Witt ( Memento of the original from December 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Archdiocese of Berlin on March 22, 2012, accessed on December 15, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.erzbistumberlin.de
personal data
SURNAME Witt, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German church musician
DATE OF BIRTH February 28, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Saloniki
DATE OF DEATH March 21, 2012
Place of death Berlin