Rudolf Kelber

Rudolf Kelber (* 1948 in Traunstein , Upper Bavaria) is a German organist , harpsichord player , conductor and church musician .

Life

Rudolf Kelber attended the Nuremberg Conservatory while still at high school and received lessons in the subjects of piano, organ, cello and music theory. From 1967 to 1974 he studied at the Musikhochschule Munich in the subjects of "Church Music" (A-Exam: 1971) , "Kapellmeister" and "Master Class Organ". Teachers were u. a. Karl Richter and Franz Lehrndorfer (organ), Maria Landes-Hindemith and Erik Then-Bergh (piano) as well as Jan Koetsier and Kurt Eichhorn (conducting).

After completing his studies, Rudolf Kelber worked as a theater music director in Gelsenkirchen (1974–1976) and Heidelberg (1976–1982). At the same time he dealt with chamber music and historical performance practice (courses with Alan Curtis , Gustav Leonhardt and Nicolaus Harnoncourt ).

In 1982 Rudolf Kelber was appointed to succeed Heinz Wunderlich as cantor and organist at the St. Jacobi Church in Hamburg, where he was appointed church music director in 1993.

Kelber initiated the fundamental restoration of the Arp Schnitger organ in the main church of St. Jacobi , which was completed in 1993. In 2008, at his instigation, the second organ in St. Jacobi ( Kemper 1960/1968) was restored.

The term of office of Rudolf Kelber at the main church St. Jacobi ended in 2015. He continues to perform and composes as organist , harpsichordist and jazz pianist.

organist

The climax of the concert activities as an organist was the three performances of the entire organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1985, 1994 and 2000.

Kelber has made guest appearances as an organ soloist in the USA, Japan, Israel and almost all European countries with a broad repertoire: In addition to the old masters prescribed by the historical organ , he B. also Liszt, Reger and Messiaen as well as arrangements of symphonies or parts from operas, tangos and blues. He has accompanied silent films improvising several times.

conductor

In addition to the great passions, oratorios and requies, Rudolf Kelber has also conducted many symphonic works from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern periods.

Under his musical direction, staged performances of operas and oratorios by Cavalieri, Monteverdi, Stradella, Purcell, Handel, Gluck and Mozart were performed in Heidelberg and Hamburg.

In 2005 the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar was produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber in St Jacobi.

For the Zeit-Stiftung , Kelber conducted five baroque operas from the repertoire of the Hamburg Gänsemarktoper in concert performances at the Bucerius Kunst Forum from 2005 to 2009 .

Premieres

• Andrew Lloyd Webber : Requiem (North German premiere 1987)
• Ernst-Ulrich von Kameke : Moabit Requiem "In Tyrannos" (first performances in Hamburg (1999, main church St. Michaelis) and in Hanover as part of the world exhibition Expo 2000 )
• Edward Elgar : The Apostles (Hamburg premiere 2005)
• Olivier Messiaen : La Transfiguration de notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Hamburg and Bremen premiere 2008)

Works

Compositions

• Missa super Cantus Lennonenses McCartnesque (mixed choir a cappella, 2001)
• Cantata in honorem Henrici Sagittarii (soprano, vibraphone, mixed choir, 2006)
• Paul Gerhardt Cantata (mezzo-soprano solo, choir, brass, 2007)
• I Bambini di Sant 'Anna (mixed a cappella choir, 2014)
• "Obersalzberg" - music theater about Sigmund Freud and Adolf Hitler 1929 in Berchtesgaden (2016)

Reconstructions and compilations

• Claudio Monteverdi: Arianna (1997)
• Johann Sebastian Bach: Markus Passion (1998)
• Claudio Monteverdi: Vespro secondo (1999, compilation)
• Modest Mussorgsky: Glagolitic Mass (2005)
• Johann Sebastian Bach: St. Luke Passion (2011, pasticcio)

Awards

• 1972: Richard Strauss Prize of the City of Munich
• 2015: Arp Schnitger Merit Medal of the Arp Schnitger Society
• 2018: Awarded the Senator Biermann Ratjen Medal

Teaching

Rudolf Kelber taught organ playing from 2003 to 2015 at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen and from 2008 to 2015 at the University of Music and Theater Hamburg .

Discography

• European organ music of the 17th and 18th centuries - Arp Schnitger organ (1993)
• Johann Sebastian Bach - Arp Schnitger organ (1997)
• Nu ward veel dusend Lichter hell - Low German Christmas carols (1998)
• JS Bach, Markus Passion BWV 247 in the reconstruction by Rudolf Kelber (1999)
• Monteverdi: Vespro secondo (new compilation of psalms / 1999)
• Organ improvisations based on sketches by Hans Henny Jahnn (2000)
• Stranger Birds - Missa Super Cantus Lennonenses McCartnesques for a cappella choir, tangos, blues, ragtimes for organ and harpsichord (2003)
• Bouris Goudenow, opera by Johann Mattheson (live recording of the world premiere on January 29, 2005 in the Bucerius Kunstforum)
• "The betrayed state love" or "The unfortunate Cleopatra", opera by Johann Mattheson (live recording October 2006 in the Bucerius Kunstforum)
• Praise God, this is our office - St. Jacobi Choir Hamburg 1958–2008 - Concert recordings (2008)
• The gaze wanders eastwards: Mussorgsky, Glagolitic Mass and Kodály, Missa brevis (2010)
• JS Bach, St. Luke Passion in the reconstruction by Rudolf Kelber (2011)
• North German organ master and Bach - Arp Schnitger organ (2013/2014)

Web links

• Rudolf Kelber with Bach Cantatas (English)
• Official website of Rudolf Kelber