Dresden Kapellknaben – Wikipedia
The Dresden Kapellknaben are a boy choir. At the center of the work of the Kapellknaben is the every week’s musical design of the high office in the Catholic Hofkirche, the cathedral of the diocese of Dresden-Meißen.
16./17. century [ Edit | Edit the source text ]
The chores’ roots were in 1548. At that time, Elector Moritz von Sachsen issued a “cantore regulations” and thus established a court cantore for the court service. The court chapel (now Saxon State Chapel) and the Kapellknaben emerged later.
Johann Walter, the “Evangelical Urcantor”, was commissioned to found and management of the Electoral Court Chapel. He was followed by Mattheus Le Maistre, who had 18 singers from the old to the bass and 13 chapel boys, as well as 3 organists and 1 valley. At that time, the cantore consisted exclusively of male singers, since women in the church had “silence” (cf. 1 Cor 14: 34).
When Heinrich Schütz became the Kapellmeister in 1615, the court chapel was considered the leading German ensemble. Schütz, who remained chapel master until his death in 1672, also helped the court chapel to a European reputation.
In the Large Dresden court singing book for cantors and organists Shows a contemporary copper engraving by David Conrad (1619 – after 1681) Schütz with his “Cantorey” in the Dresden Castle Chapel: The men sing together from a large choir book that lies in the middle on a desk. Instrumentalists accompany the vocals from the gallery (in the amount of the main organ and the two positive). The singing and harp playing King David stands at the levels of the altar. [first]
18./19. century [ Edit | Edit the source text ]
The year 1697 is a turning point in the history of the court chapel: the Saxon Elector Friedrich August (August the Strong) converted to be able to become King of Poland; Saxony, on the other hand, remained a Protestant. August’s court in Dresden comprised both Catholics and Protestants, each claiming courtly services in their denomination. As a result, a reorganization of the court chapel, i.e. H. A division into a Protestant (cf. Evangelical Kapellknaben) and a Catholic group.
For the Catholic Court Service, singing boys were recruited in Bohemia, which became the origin of the Catholic chapel boys. In 1709, the Dresden Kapellknaben developed as an independent institution. The Kapellbnaben moved into an institute conducted by Jesuits; The first instructor of this institute was Jan Dismas Zelenka, who had come to the Dresdner Hof in 1710 as a double bass player from Bohemia and was increasingly transferred responsibility for church music.
The courtyard boys, which actually only consisted of boys up to the 20th century, were only very limited to perform polyphonic works. Their ordinary service in the court services therefore consisted essentially of Gregorian singing; Nevertheless, in addition to singers and orchestras of the court chapel, they also participated in the performances of larger church music. Until well into the 19th century, only works that had been composed for the Dresden Hof were performed by Johann Adolf Hasse, Johann Gottlieb Naumann or Carl Maria von Weber. It was only after 1880 that the efforts of the bandmaster Franz Wüllner also found works by other masters such as Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven in the repertoire.
20th century [ Edit | Edit the source text ]
When the Saxon king abdicated in 1918, the court chapel boys became the “Dresden Kapellknaben” and the court chapel to the state chapel. However, the traditional church music care at the Hofkirche could be continued, as the conductor Karl Maria Pembaur succeeded in signing the state band as well as soloists and choir singers of the State Opera for Church Musical Services. This cooperation was sufficient until 1937; Then it was banned by the National Socialists. Joseph Wagner, who also initiated the new beginning after the end of the Second World War, took over the management of the Kapellknaben.
A new turning point resulted in 1956 when the Kapellknaben could obtain the recurrent vincentiusstift. The boarding school offered space for 50 boys, so that for the first time the choir could also be expanded to include male voices. The focus of the work continued to be the service in the Hofkirche, but now with a stronger weight on polyphonic choral literature. The tradition of performing church music works together with the state band and the opera soloists was also resumed.
Under the direction of Konrad Wagner, the choir established itself despite adverse conditions in the GDR on an ensemble known beyond the borders of Dresden and Saxony. Since 1961, concert tours have also been carried out regularly, especially within the GDR, but also to Austria, Italy, West Germany and France. The trip to Rome in 1982 with a visit to Pope Johannes Paul II in 1982.
After the travel restrictions fell in 1990, the Kapellbnaben always made guest appearances throughout Germany, but also in many other countries in Europe. In 1995 the choir traveled to the United States for the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. After that, the Kapellknaben visited Cuba in March 2006. In 2008 they were able to visit Rome again and had the opportunity to take place on June 28 at the opening of the Paulus year of the Catholic Church by Pope Benedict XVI. participate. In 2009 they sang in Mallorca. In 2010, the Kapellknaben guested in Switzerland. On September 24, 2011, the Catholic boys’ choir worked at the Pope Benedict XVI, which was visited as part of the Pope’s visit in Germany, 2011. celebrated celebration of the Holy Mass at the Erfurt cathedral square. The 2012 summer concert tour leads to Rome and Manoppello and to other important church sites in Central Italy. The chapel boys are accompanied on this trip with pilgrimage character by the emeritus bishop of the diocese of Dresden-Meißen, Joachim Reinelt.
In December 2014, the Dresden Kapellknaben were one of three Saxon boys’ choirs in the list of intangible cultural heritage in Germany. [2]
Despite the concert tours, the focus is on service in the cathedral for the approximately 50 singers. The chapel boys have been under the direction of Christian Bonath since September 1, 2022. [3]
The focus of the Dresden Kapellknaben is to sing in the service. Apart from holiday times, they do their musical service in the Hochamt in the Catholic Hofkirche in Dresden on almost all Sundays and Catholic high festivals. Occasionally, the Kapellknaben also sing in church services in other churches and communities of the diocese, for example at special anniversaries and church consecration.
The repertoire in the services includes both Gregorian choral and liturgical elements (such as answer calls) as well as motets and trade fairs from Renaissance to modernity, usually a cappella or with organ accompaniment.
Services are designed several times a year in the Hofkirche services with works for the choir and orchestra, in which the Kapellknaben participates. So on New Year, Easter Sunday, Pentecost Sunday and on the 1st Christmas holidays, a requiem and a te Deum on Allenseles are on Allenseles. The repertoire focuses on the large Catholic composers (e.g. Mozart, Haydn) and composers associated with the Hofkirche (e.g. Hasse, Weber).
In addition to the liturgical service, the Dresden Kapellknaben also appear in concerts: every year in summer they complete a one-week concert tour at home or abroad; In addition, several short trips a year mostly within the diocese. Last but not least, the Kapellknaben also appear in Dresden in concerts or as part of events.
The repertoire of the concerts essentially includes spiritual A-cappella choral music from Renaissance to modernity. Occasionally and depending on the type of event, secular works are also presented.
Occasionally, the chapel boys or individuals of their singers also appear and also participated in performances by other musical institutions in Dresden. In the meantime, the tradition of integrating Kapellknaben soloically in performances by the Semperoper. It is also reminded of performances in performances by the Bach Matthäus Passion of the Dresden Kreuzchores and from Britten’s Requiem was Requiem with the Dresden Philharmonic under Herbert Kegel.
In the course of history, numerous well -known composers and artists were closely linked to the Dresden Kapellknaben:
- Franz Benda violinist, composer, chapel master
- Melchior Hoffmann, composer
- Theodor Hentschel, composer
- Bruno Knauer (1910-1977), church musician
- Konrad Wagner, choir instructor of the Dresden Kapellknaben, cathedral bandmaster
- Matthias Liebich, head of the Dresden Kapellknaben, cathedral chapel master
- Willi Papert arranger, conductor, composer, musician
- Johann Christoph Schmidt Kapellmeister, composer
- Clemens Thieme (composer)
- Johann Vierdanck composer, organist
- Voxaccord, Vokalensemble
- Winfried Wagner, actor
- Jens Daniel Schubert / Jörg Leopold (ed.): From a root: 300-year history of the Dresden Kapellknaben and the St. Benno-Gymnasium Dresden . St. Benno-Verlag, Leipzig 2009, ISBN 978-3-7462-2765-8
- Johannes König: Gregorianik and grenades. Years of a Dresden Kapellknaben. Hile Publising, Dresden 2001, ISBN 3-932858-39-5
- ↑ Saxon State Library- State and University Library Dresden (ed.): Catalog for the exhibition “Luther’s songs – language art and music from the Reformation to the present day” . 2012 ( online [PDF] p. 18 of the PDF file).
- ↑ Press release of the Conference of Ministers of Education
- ↑ | Swabian Tagblatt May 10, 2022
Intangible cultural heritage in Germany
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