Stadtsingechor zu Halle

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Stadtsingechor zu Halle
Stadtsingechor zu Halle
Seat: Halle (Saale) / Germany
Carrier: City of Halle (Saale)
Founding: 1116
Genus: Boys' choir
Head : Clemens Flämig
Voices : ( SSAATTBB )
Website : www.stadtsingechor.de

The Stadtsingechor zu Halle is a boys' choir from Halle (Saale) in Saxony-Anhalt with a choral tradition going back more than 900 years. It was founded in 1116 and is one of the three oldest boys' choirs in Germany, after the Aachen Cathedral Choir and the Regensburger Domspatzen . In addition, it is considered to be the oldest choir in Central Germany and is sometimes referred to as the “oldest secularized boys' choir in the world”. The fame of the city singing choir is based primarily on its choir direction , which has filled many outstanding musicians and composers over the centuries, including Samuel Scheidt , Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach . The students of the Stadtsingechore included the composer Carl Loewe around 1809 and the two singers Ivan Rebroff and Gothart Stier in the 20th century .

history

The history of the Stadtsingechore zu Halle can be traced back to the 12th century. It was first mentioned in a document in 1116 when the Neuwerk monastery was founded . The boys' choir from Halle is therefore the third oldest boys' choir in Germany and the oldest boys' choir in Central Germany, after the Aachen Cathedral Choir and the Regensburger Domspatzen . The monastery students and students of the parish schools (formed from 1210 under the supervision of the Neuwerk monastery ) had the task in the boys' choir of giving music to the Holy Masses in the Neuwerk monastery and in the parish churches of the city of Halle. This gave it a new status and made itself organizationally independent.

The Stadtsingechor zu Halle is closely linked to the history and events of the city of Halle. Over the centuries he sang again and again at public events. On July 24, 1506, the top of the Red Tower was erected in a festive setting; in addition, the boys' choir sang Te Deum Laudamus on Hallesches Marktplatz . In the course of the Reformation , the Neuwerk monastery ran into difficulties, from 1520 the Archbishop of Magdeburg and Cardinal Albrecht von Brandenburg began building his new residence (Stift), the center of which was the Halle Cathedral . The Neuwerk monastery was dissolved and some of the monastery buildings were reused for the new residence. The boys' choir lost its home. From 1531, Cardinal Albrecht von Brandenburg let him sing in his new collegiate church, thus ensuring the continued existence of the choir as a church choir.

After the merger of the parish schools “Our Dear Women”, “St. Ulrich "and" St. Moritz ”with the school from the former barefoot monastery to the new Lutheran Gymnasium in Halle in 1565, the boys' choir took up its home there, submitted to the rector of the gymnasium and was given the task of organizing the musical services of the three main churches in Halle. As a result, it came a little later to today's name "Stadtsingechor". Until 1808 he remained without his own musical director. During the services, the city music directors conducted the city choir. All extra-church activities such as the regular rehearsals, the "corpse singing", the singing in the streets of the city and the affairs of the carolers were the responsibility of the prefects and adjuncts .

Samuel Scheidt , one of the most important composers of the 17th century, found a job as the city's music director in Halle between 1628 and 1630, played the organ in the Marktkirche and led the city choir during church services. At the age of 20, Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow was elected organist of the Marktkirche in Halle in 1684 and also led the city choir in church services. Georg Michael Bach (1703–1771), a relative of Johann Sebastian Bach , who worked for almost forty years as a cantor and teacher at the grammar school with the City Singing Choir since 1732 , is one of the cantors of the St. Ulrich Church . Between 1746 and 1764 Wilhelm Friedemann Bach was music director and organist at the Marktkirche and also directed the Stadtsingechor zu Halle.

With the dissolution of the "Lutheran Gymnasium zu Halle" and the takeover of the choir by the Francke Foundations , the office of choir director for the city choir was created in 1808 . The first director was the university music director Daniel Gottlob Türk in the same year . In the 19th century, Johann Friedrich Naue led the Stadtsingechor for more than forty years and had a lasting influence on the development of the boys' choir and the musical life of the city of Halle. Since 1946 the choir has been run by the city. Important choir directors of the 20th century included Karl Klanert and in particular Dorothea Köhler , who from 1968 to 1990 succeeded in rebuilding the city choir into an internationally sought-after concert and oratorio choir. Frank-Steffen Elster also did important development work from 2007 to 2014 . His successor Clemens Flämig took over this position in November 2014.

After 1990, the choir developed more international concert tours, including to Belgium , Spain , Switzerland , Great Britain , 2001 to Russia and Estonia , 2003 to the USA , 2005 to Denmark , 2009 to China , 2013 to Lithuania and 2015 to Finland .

In 2016 the Stadtsingechor zu Halle celebrated its 900th anniversary. Especially for this anniversary and the anniversary concert in May 2016, the Halle composer Thomas Buchholz wrote his composition Nongenti of 900 bars. It tells the story of the city singing choir. As part of the various anniversary events, the choir also initiated a sheet music sponsorship campaign. To support the choir, 900 music sponsors were sought who would give the city singing choir a bar in Nongenti for the price of 50 euros .

description

The focus of the choir work of the municipal boys' choir in Halle is the cultivation of the sacred choral music of Central German music tradition with works by Georg Friedrich Händel , Johann Sebastian Bach , Samuel Scheidt and Heinrich Schütz for the motets in the Marktkirche Halle and in the Merseburg Cathedral . The lively cooperation with the Staatskapelle Halle also plays a major role in the work of the choir .

In addition to its commitments in the city of Halle, the choir also regularly goes on concert tours at home and abroad, e.g. with its 900-year anniversary tour across Germany (2016). Regular participation in the Handel Festival in Halle led to collaboration with international artists such as Trevor Pinnock , Stephen Simon and Alessandro De Marchi .

The Stadtsingechor zu Halle is a member of the Association of German Concert Choirs (VDKC).

Life and education

For musically gifted boys between 9 and 19 years of age, the Stadtsingechor zu Halle combines comprehensive musical training at a high level with a demanding school education at the Latina State High School .

Unlike most boys' choirs, the Halle City Singing Choir is not a boarding school choir . Boarding school accommodation is offered to applicants from outside the Francke Foundations.

Preschool age

The Stadtsingechor zu Halle offers boys of preschool age a trial visit to music lessons at the Stadtsingechor. Through targeted searches in day care centers in the city of Halle, interested children are tested for their musical aptitude. The main focus of early musical education is singing. But also trying out musical instruments, concentrating on listening to music, moving to the music, studying instruments and playing listening training is made possible during the weekly music lessons at the Stadtsingechor.

Elementary school age

All interested boys in grades 1–4 have the opportunity to attend the “August Hermann Francke” elementary school. In the afternoon they can be looked after in the after-school care center of the Francke Foundations and come to the choir for lessons and rehearsals.

If they are interested and have appropriate musical and vocal aptitude, boys of primary school age in the 1st and 2nd grade will be accepted into the aspirant area. In a weekly lesson they then receive lessons in elementary music pedagogy (singing, voice training on songs, making music with instruments, playful teaching of music theory and listening training). In another, pure singing lesson, they can gain their first experience in a choir community. The work with the 2nd class serves to intensively prepare the boys for the following musical work in the city choir. Therefore, the practice lessons have a stronger focus on music theory. In the aspirant choir, the boys are prepared for later choir work and small appearances, e.g. B. at the Handel Festival, where they hold the Advent service in the Ev. Organize the Halle-Beesen church musically and traditionally perform a spiritual singspiel at the end of the school year in various churches in the city of Halle.

At the end of the second school year, the boys' vocal and musical development as well as the school aptitude are checked at an audition. Admission to the Stadtsingechor usually takes place at the beginning of the 3rd school year.

In the 3rd grade, the boys are introduced to the great tasks of the city choir. They rehearse separately, for a reduced number of hours, and take part in the concerts and motets with selected pieces. In this way they slowly grow into the choir and gradually increase their weekly rehearsals in the 4th grade.

High school age

From the 5th grade onwards, the choirboys will be accepted into the music specialty of the Latina State High School. The basic requirements are good to very good academic performance in primary school and the recommendation from the grammar school. In a musical aptitude test, the vocal aptitude, musical hearing ability and music theory basics are checked. In addition to the generally accepted subjects, the students receive a four-hour weekly special musical training in the subjects of musicology, voice training and music theory. This training is supplemented by working in the choir. The development of solo tasks is a desirable goal for many singers. In addition to choral tasks, suitable boys from the city choir regularly take part in the design of performances at the Halle Opera House and other projects.

All boys are looked after in detail by their voice instructors, even while they are changing their voices. In the Abitur level, the singer is given the opportunity to prepare for a later vocal study at an early stage and very intensively by choosing the profile subject singing.

Awards

With the dissolution of the Lutheran grammar school and the takeover of the choir by the Francke Foundations , the office of choir director was created for the Stadtsingechor zu Halle in 1808 . The following musicians and composers held this position:

Well-known former singers

literature

  • Walter Serauky: Music history of the city of Halle. Second volume, second half volume From Wilhelm Friedemann Bach to Robert Franz. Max Niemeyer Verlag, Halle 1942, pp. 465–473.
  • Konstanze Musketa : The city singing chorus as an "annexum" of the Francke Foundations in Halle , writings of the Handel House in Halle 7, Halle 1991
  • Festival program 890 years of the Stadtsingechor zu Halle, Halle 2006 (self-published)
  • Concert schedule / Hallesche Philharmonie with Robert-Franz-Singakademie and Stadtsingechor , Verlag Halle: Hallesche Philharmonie, 1976
  • Sing on, boys, continues singing . 900 Years of the City Singing Choir in Halle, ed. by Cordula Timm-Hartmann with greetings from Reiner Haseloff , Bernd Wiegand , Angela Genske, Thomas Müller-Bahlke and Josep Caballé-Domenech, 160 pages, 1st edition, Verlag Janos Stekovics, 2016 978-3-89923-362-9

Web links

Commons : Stadtsingechor Halle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Francke Foundations: Stadtsingechor zu Halle | Francke Foundations. In: www.francke-halle.de. Retrieved June 15, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Choir and Concert, 2016 annual edition, p. 37.