Oratorio Choir Ulm

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oratorio Choir Ulm
The oratorio choir together with the Symphonic Wind Orchestra Ulm at a performance of Carmina Burana in the Pauluskirche in Ulm
Seat: Ulm / Germany
Carrier: independent association
Founding: 1890
Genus: mixed choir
Head : Thomas Kammel
Voices : 120 ( SATB )
Website : http://www.oratorienchor-ulm.com

The Ulm Oratorio Choir is a mixed concert choir , which was founded in Ulm in 1890 as an independent association and is composed of amateurs , which rehearses and performs works of choral music. In addition to classical church music, the repertoire also includes secular oratorios . With nine world premieres, contemporary choral works are also among the focus. The choir, which consists of around 120 singers, works with professional orchestras and professional soloists. The association was mainly shaped by six organists and cantors from the Ulm Minster , who took over the office of conductor one after the other.

history

Cultural and historical background and beginnings

The founding goes back to the choir movements of the 19th century, which had their origin in the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin , founded in 1791 . These early mixed choirs were an expression of the bourgeois enlightenment , which made equal participation of women and men in a choir possible. Characteristic was the amalgamation of a large number of singing lay people of their own free will, without ties to princely cantories or church chapels. The amateur orchestras, however, decreased in importance compared to the 18th century, so that especially the large choirs worked together with orchestras made up of professional musicians. The choir movement led to a significant decrease in the number of professional choirs, which were filled with far fewer singers.

The association for classical church music , which was co-founded by the composer Immanuel Faißt in Stuttgart in 1847 and directed until 1891, was the first of these associations with a church music orientation in Württemberg . His performances are considered exemplary for the time. During his time as conductor of the Liedertafel in Ulm, Wilhelm Speidel founded an Ulm association for classical church music based on the Stuttgart model , which is seen as the predecessor of the later oratorio choir. However, he fell asleep when Speidel went to Stuttgart in 1857, where he founded the Stuttgart Music School together with Sigmund Lebert , Faißt and other musicians . The tradition of performing larger sacred choral works was continued by the organist of the Ulm Minster , Johann Friedrich Dieffenbacher , until his death in 1882.

Development from 1890

The foundation of the association goes back to the celebrations on the occasion of the completion of the minster tower.

A new beginning resulted from Johannes Graf , who was appointed Münster organist in 1889 , who put together a choir of 320 singers, who performed the romantic oratorio Elias by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy with great success on June 29, 1890 to celebrate the completion of the cathedral tower . Johannes Graf, who had already founded an oratorio association at Kilian's Church during his time in Heilbronn , then recommended the establishment of an Ulm association for classical church music. This proposal led to the founding of the association under this name in December 1890 with Karl Weitzel, the rector of the girls' college, as the first chairman. The first performance of the cantata Bleib bei uns took place on December 14, 1890 , because it will be evening of Johann Sebastian Bach and the setting of the 100th Psalm by Georg Friedrich Handel in the Trinity Church in Ulm .

Before 1945, most of the performances took place in the Dreifaltigkeitskirche.

After Johannes Graf was unable to continue his work as a choir director since 1916 due to a stroke and Eugen Breining, the organist of the Trinity Church, took over this position, a successor was found in 1919 with Fritz Hayn . Fritz Hayn, who had been the conductor of the Ulmer Liedertafel since 1912, united both choirs in a performance of the German Requiem by Johannes Brahms to commemorate the dead of the war, thus continuing a tradition of collaboration between the choirs, which in 1893 was still performed under Johannes Graf the seasons of Joseph Haydn had begun. After Fritz Hayn took over the post of Münster organist in 1923, he became a defining figure in Ulm's musical life until he retired in 1956.

During the time of National Socialism , the freedom of movement was restricted after the concert system largely fell under the control of the community Kraft durch Freude and the direction of the concerts had to be shared with the city's music director Karl Hauff. On the initiative of the then Mayor of Ulm Friedrich Foerster one was Urban Chorvereinigung founded. After it was promised that the musical direction would remain with Hayn, the association joined this association and renounced independent activity. On December 6, 1937, the choral work Segen der Erde by Hermann Grabner was performed as part of this association . After that, the performance of two choral works was planned, the creation by Haydn under the direction of Hauff and the German Requiem by Brahms under the direction of Hayn. In February 1938, the Lord Mayor Foerster arranged for Hayn's rehearsals for the German Requiem to be suspended . This led to the absence of many choir members in protest, so that the municipal choir association was dissolved and the association resumed its independent activity in autumn 1938 with the performance of the German requiem .

After Karl Neufischer took over the chairmanship of the association in 1939, the association was renamed the Ulm Oratorio Choir , as the repertoire encompassed much more than just the field of classical church music. The first public appearance under the new name took place on January 14, 1940 with the seasons of Haydn. Since the club consistently refused to sing at National Socialist events, the city grants were canceled, which the club got into financial difficulties. Nevertheless, in the anniversary year of its 50th anniversary, two more performances were made thanks to a successful fundraising campaign. The performance of Bach's Johannes Passion planned for Good Friday 1943 was declared “undesirable” by the NSDAP . In May 1944, under the direction of Hubert Reichert, who represented the called up Hayn, the last performance before the end of the war was the Messiah of Handel. The rest of the rehearsal work came to a standstill due to the occupation of all rooms by the military and in particular due to the devastating bomb attack on December 17, 1944.

After the Second World War

The work that began after the war was hampered by the extensive destruction of the city and negotiations with the American military government , which insisted that all parties involved must first be politically checked. The first performances took place with Mozart's Requiem in 1946 in the Martin Luther Church and Brahms Requiem on July 6, 1947 in Ulm Minster.

Since 1970 the performances have primarily taken place in the Pauluskirche , which was completed in 1910 .

Fritz Hayn completed his activities as a conductor with the performance of the Ave verum and Mozart's Requiem on Good Friday 1956, after which Hans Jakob Haller took over. During his time the repertoire was expanded significantly. Handel's Dettinger Te Deum , Bruckner's Mass in E minor , Mozart's Great Mass in C minor , Cantatas IV to VI of Bach's Christmas Oratorio and Dvořák's Stabat Mater were performed in quick succession . With the world premieres of the symphonic cantata by Rudolf Mors in 1963 and the symphonic cantata Ein Any Ding hat seine Zeit by Hans Chemin-Petit in 1967, contemporary works also came into play. Beginning with the performance of Bach's Christmas Oratorio on November 29, 1970, the association moved the concerts to the Pauluskirche , which offered better acoustics. Haller's service ended on December 12, 1971 with Mozart's Vesperae and Bach's Magnificat .

In 1972, Albrecht Haupt , cantor at the Martin Luther Church, and the newly elected cathedral cantor Edgar Rabsch applied as successors . Haupt performed Bach's St. Matthew Passion on Palm Sunday in collaboration with the Ulmer Kantorei , while Rabsch rehearsed Brahms' Requiem, which was performed on Dead Sunday. In December 1972, the Rabsch club elected Haller's successor. Rabsch turned to contemporary music even more than his predecessors. For Summer Concert 1974 were Missa Brevis and the Te Deum by Zoltan Kodaly and Palm Sunday 1975, the factory Introitus, Choral and Fugue on a Theme by Bruckner of Johann Nepomuk David of Mass no. 3 in F minor, preceded by Bruckner. This was followed on June 26, 1976 with the psalm cantata Hallelujah by Chemin-Petit, another world premiere. In 1977, on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the Ulm Minster, there were two world premieres of the cantatas The Hut of God by Karl Michael Komma and How friendly are your apartments by Edgar Rabsch, in addition to the first performance of Stravinsky’s psalm symphony .

Together with the Swabian Symphony Orchestra Reutlingen, the Mathis der Maler symphony by Paul Hindemith and Bruckner's Mass in F minor were performed at the beginning of the 90th anniversary in 1980 . On October 5, 1980, the cantata Leihe Gunst mir, Gott composed by Edgar Rabsch was premiered as part of the ceremony . In 1984, a collaboration with the revealed Ulmer Theater with the performance of the work , the closed book of Franz Schmidt , with the participation of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis on 30 September 1986, the Symphony No. 2 in C minor by Gustav Mahler was continued .

Edgar Rabsch died on July 17th only shortly after Elias von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was performed again on June 2, 1990 for the 100th anniversary. After Mathias Husmann stepped in as a conductor in the meantime, the association selected Friedrich Fröschle, another cathedral cantor, as its new conductor in 1992 . On April 12, 1992, Bach's St. Matthew Passion was performed under Fröschle . In addition to maintaining the previous repertoire, there were again performances by contemporary artists such as the 1994 Requiem by Andrew Lloyd Webber or the 1997 work Zeitektiven by Tobias Wahren . Lesser-known works such as Mors et Vita by Charles Gounod or the Mass in E minor by Heinrich von Herzogenberg were also performed. One of the unusual performances was the incompletely preserved St. Mark's Passion by Bach. Instead of completing the missing parts with other music by Bach, Fröschle decided to use the music from Gospel Music by Volker Bräutigam, composed in 1981 .

In January 2010 Friedemann Johannes Wieland - from this point also first organist and cantor at Ulm Minster - took over the direction of the Ulm Oratorio Choir. In 2014 he resigned from this position and was replaced by Thomas Kammel in September 2014 .

On the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the completion of the cathedral tower, Marios Joannou Elia commissioned a composition for an Ulm oratorio to be performed on May 29 and 30, 2015, entitled Kreuzblume - Eine Turmfantasie with over 400 participants, in which, in addition to the oratorio choir also the Münsterkantorei, the Ulmer Spatzen, the Junge Bläserphilharmonie and numerous soloists should be involved. In March 2015, however, the contract was terminated because, according to the city of Ulm, Elia was in default and the "emergency brake [had] to be pulled".

reception

The performances of the oratorio choir received largely positive reviews from the regional press, which confirm the high standard of the choir. The press rarely welcomed throughout the performance played oratorios such as the Requiem by Antonin Dvorak with the Free Kammersinfonie Karlsruhe:

The very good attendance of the performance of the Dvorák Requiem by the active oratorio association in the Pauluskirche proved that a sacred work that is rarely heard can meet with great interest in Ulm. Which at the same time rewarded the singers' extraordinary efforts.
From the splendid hymn of praise “Te decet hymnus” to the whispering, plaintive “Kyrie eleison” to the mighty “Dies irae”, in which naturalistic cries of fear mingle with the gloomy song, climax followed climax.

Also difficult to singing pieces such as the Carmina Burana by Carl Orff will be well received by critics such as after the performance with the Sinfonietta Tübingen in March 2006:

Even the mighty opening choir "O Fortuna", held in Middle Latin, was gorgeous and indicated the high level. After that, the 25 sections of the work with many choir parts, vocal solos, instrumental interludes (round dance) each proved to be a direct hit.
Under the highly committed, hands-on direction of church music director Friedrich Fröschle, motor skills and rhythmic drive alternated with lyrical passages (soprano solos) in a balanced manner, to which the oratorio choir, which performed at its best, contributed a lot. Once the choir soprano was even allowed to climb up to high C.

Discography (selection)

In 1990 the first CD was recorded with the Bohemian Shepherd's Mette by Jakub Jan Ryba under the direction of Paul Kantschieder , a professor and conductor whom the choir got to know at a performance in Innsbruck in 1987. Later some live recordings were released by drrb audio production:

  • Bohemian pastoral mass by Jakub Jan Ryba: Under the direction of Paul Kantschieder together with the Mazuska Filharmonia and the soloists Johanna Rutishauser, Michaela Resch, Eric Leon Holland and Daniel Washington. Antica Classica AC 21019, 1998.
  • Missa in C minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, completed by Alois Schmitt: performance on November 25, 2001 under the direction of Friedrich Fröschle together with the Württemberg Philharmonic Reutlingen and the soloists Monika Meier-Schmid, Carmen Mammoser, Markus Schneider-Francke and Thomas Wittig. Publisher drrb audio production, 2008.
  • Elias by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Performance on July 20, 2002 in Ulm Minster under the direction of Friedrich Fröschle together with the Münsterkantorei, the Plzenský Rozhlasový Orchestr and the soloists Monika Meier-Schmid, Susanne Kraus-Hornung, Berthold Schmid and Thomas Wittig. Publisher drrb audio production, 2008.
  • How is the city so desolate by Rudolf Mauersberger and the German Requiem by Brahms: Performance on December 17, 2004 under the direction of Friedrich Fröschle together with the Ulm Minster Choir, the South German Chamber Soloists and the soloists Traudl Schmaderer and Thomas Wittig. Publisher drrb audio production, 2008.

literature

  • Oratorienchor Ulm eV (Ed.): Festschrift for the 100th anniversary on May 24, 1990 . 1990.
  • Oratorienchor Ulm eV (Ed.): 125 Years Oratorienchor Ulm - Festschrift for the anniversary year 2015 . 2015.

Web links

Commons : Recordings from the concert on March 22nd, 2009  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ See Kurt Gudewill: Mixed Choir . In: Friedrich Blume (Ed.): MGG . tape 4 . Bärenreiter Verlag, 1955, Sp. 1696-1707 .
  2. ↑ Cf. Reinhold Sietz: Faißt, Immanuel . In: Friedrich Blume (Ed.): MGG . tape 3 . Bärenreiter Verlag, 1955, Sp. 1735-1737 .
  3. ↑ Eberhard Stiefel: Ulm . In: Friedrich Blume (Ed.): MGG . tape 13 . Bärenreiter Verlag, 1955, Sp. 1041-1046 .
  4. ↑ Cf. Karl Neufischer: From the foundation to 1940 in the Festschrift and Eberhard Stiefel: Stuttgart . In: Friedrich Blume (Ed.): MGG . tape 12 . Bärenreiter Verlag, 1955, Sp. 1650-1661 .
  5. ↑ Cf. the review of a newspaper from Ulm, printed in the Festschrift: The conductor, Herr Musikdirektor Graf, passed the first major test of his skills with yesterday's performance.
  6. ↑ See Südwest Presse : No Bach Museum , April 8, 2003.
  7. ^ Short biography of Thomas Kammel, website of the Ulm Oratorio Choir
  8. ↑ Jürgen Kanold: Preparations for "Ulmer Oratorium" are in progress. In: Südwest Presse. June 25, 2014, accessed March 5, 2015 .
  9. ↑ Hans-Uli Thierer: No “Ulm Oratorio” for the Münsterturm Festival. In: Südwest Presse. March 5, 2015, accessed March 5, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Schwäbische Zeitung on November 25, 2003: Captivatingly beautiful and of great inwardness .
  11. ↑ Südwestpresse from November 25, 2003: Great sonority .
  12. ↑ Südwestpresse of March 14, 2006: Overwhelming "Carmina Burana" .
  13. ↑ Schwäbische Zeitung on October 19, 1990: The oratorio choir plays a CD .