Paul Joseph Metschnabl

Corpus Christi celebration on the cathedral square in Bamberg

Paul Joseph Metschnabl (born June 29, 1910 in Weismain ; † November 19, 1996 in Bamberg ) was a German theologian and cathedral music director at Bamberg Cathedral .

Life

His childhood in Burgkunstadt was shaped by the First World War . In 1928 he first decided to study medicine . After four semesters, however, the desire to study theology to become a priest prevailed . Like Albert Schweitzer , Metschnabl's life is shaped by the three poles: theology , medicine and music . In 1936 he was ordained a priest in Bamberg Cathedral and then became chaplain of the Nuremberg parish of St. Josef. Nuremberg , a media center of the National Socialist movement , was a challenge for the young pastor . During the Second World War , his talent enabled him to inspire others for music and to turn the Catholic youth movement of the Nuremberg City Church into an antithesis to the National Socialist youth movement .

1946 appointed him Archbishop Joseph Otto Kolb to the vicar and successor of Bamberger Kapellmeister Franz Karl Rössert. Metschnabl had studied the fundamentals of choral conducting with Domkapellmeister Schrems, the director of the Regensburger Domspatzen . A learner, a tireless student, he remained for life. He is one of the trailblazers in Rathgeber research and he was also interested in the works of Johann Jakob Schnell . He traveled regularly to Munich to look at the scores of both composers in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek .

Cathedral Kapellmeister Metschnabl at the choir rehearsal

Metschnabl succeeded in rebuilding the cathedral choir, which had been weakened by the war . First he worked with the boys' voices, who learned the entire repertoire from scratch. With the male voices already trained later, the cathedral choir grew to 120 people. Due to the lack of space, the rehearsals were initially held in his private apartment until the Bamberg vicar general Heinrich Straub took care of suitable rehearsal rooms. Choir trips such as the pilgrimage to Rome in 1950 took him regularly to other European countries.

Paul Joseph Metschnabl was shaped by the liturgical movement and the Second Vatican Council . In his work as cathedral music director, it was important to him to create appropriate compositions for the renewed liturgy . He backed Latin masses with German texts, created passions based on all four evangelists , which were published by Anton Böhm Verlag in Augsburg , as well as numerous masses, offers and proprias for male and mixed choirs. His musical style, like that of his contemporaries Erhard Quack and Fritz Schieri , is shaped by the spirit of liturgical reform. His aim was liturgy-appropriate music that lets the spirit of the renewed liturgy become sound. That is why there are no lengths in Metschnabl's compositions.

As chairman of the church music commission of the Archdiocese of Bamberg, he accompanied the process of musical renewal in the liturgy throughout the bishopric, and was able to fall back on a practice of cultivating German hymns that was already well-established throughout the bishopric. With the publication of the Bamberg prayer and hymn book, the impulses of the liturgical movement emanating from Hans Kulla , Jupp Schneider and Paul Joseph Metschnabl were implemented. It contained a wide range of chants for Eucharistic celebrations with children, German hymns and numerous German-language mass chants, which could be implemented and tried out in the congregations, so that the diocese was well prepared for the new hymn book for God's praise that was published in 1975 . In the post-conciliar phase Metschnabl advocated the further expansion of church music by hiring full-time church musicians. The founding of the Secretariat and later Office for Church Music in 1970 is a reaction to the demand of the Council for the professionalization of church music.

For his services Metschnabl was 1974 by Pope Paul VI. appointed Papal Honorary Chaplain . In 1980 he was retired, but remained active until his death on November 19, 1996 as a priest, diocesan president of the General German Cecilia Association and advisor to the cathedral choir. On June 27, 2010 Metschnabls was commemorated on the occasion of the 100th birthday by his successor Domkapellmeister Werner Pees and the Bamberg Cathedral Choir in a service in the Bamberg Imperial Cathedral.

Publications (selection)

• Missa O esca viatorum , Bamberg 1972.
• Motet Coenantibus illis , published by the Office for Church Music, Bamberg.
• Motet Panis autem, quem ego dabo , publication by the Office for Church Music, Bamberg.
• Mark Passion , Anton Böhm Verlag, Augsburg.
• St. Matthew Passion , Anton Böhm Verlag, Augsburg.
• St. Luke Passion , Anton Böhm Verlag, Augsburg.
• St. John Passion , Anton Böhm Verlag, Augsburg.
• Insurmountably strong hero , choral setting, publication by the Office for Church Music, Bamberg.
• I know that my Redeemer lives , Chorsatz, Bamberg 1969.
• Yours saints, transfigured by the Lord , hymn of God's praise, diocesan annex No. 902, St. Otto Verlag, Bamberg 1975.
• Friends of God, we worship , hymn book Gotteslob, diocesan annex No. 903, St. Otto Verlag, Bamberg 1975.
• I know that my Redeemer lives , Hymns Praise God, Diocesan Appendix No. 922, St. Otto Verlag, Bamberg 1975.

Awards

• 1971 Awarded the Bamberg Altenburg Medal
• 1974 appointment to the papal honorary chaplain

literature

• Retired Domkapellmeister Paul Joseph Metschnabl on his 85th birthday. In: Bamberger Bistumskorrespondenz 18, Bamberg, June 27, 1995.
• Fatherly friend with the baton. In: Kirchenmusik im Erzbistum Bamberg 16, Bamberg, July 1995, pp. 28-29.
• Ludger Stühlmeyer : At the intersection of the council - the cathedral band masters Paul Joseph Metschnabl and Wolfgang Wünsch. In: Stations of church music in the Archdiocese of Bamberg. Bamberg 2007, pp. 69-70.
• Werner Pees: Choir teacher, counselor and fatherly friend. Cathedral Kapellmeister Paul Joseph Metschnabl on his 100th birthday. In: Franconian Day , Bamberg, June 25, 2010.
• Ludger Stühlmeyer: The kind Capello - on the 100th birthday of Paul Joseph Metschnabl. In: Heinrichsblatt 9, Bamberg, June 27, 2010.

Web links

• Entry in the BLO