Diethard Hellmann (28 December 1928 – 14 October 1999) was a German Kantor and an academic in Leipzig, Mainz and Munich.

Professional career

Born in

Grimma Grimma ( hsb, Grima) is a town in Saxony, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany, on the left bank of the Mulde, southeast of Leipzig. Founded in 1170, it is part of the Leipzig (district), Leipzig district. Location The town is in ...

, Dietmann Hellmann was a member of the

Thomanerchor The Thomanerchor (English: St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig) is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. The choir comprises about 90 boys from 9 to 18 years of age. The members, called ''Thomaner'', reside in a boarding scho ...

. He studied church music in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

with

Günther Ramin Günther Werner Hans Ramin (15 October 1898 – 27 February 1956) was an influential German organist, conductor, composer and pedagogue in the first half of the 20th century. Ramin, the son of a pastor, was born in Karlsruhe, Germany. At the a ...

. Hellmann was the organist for early recordings of

Bach cantata The cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, known as Bach cantatas (German: ), are a body of work consisting of over 200 surviving independent works, and at least several dozen that are considered lost. As far as known, Bach's earliest can ...

s by Ramin. He was Kantor at the Friedenskirche in Leipzig from 1948 to 1955. At the same time, he was a teacher for organ at the Musikhochschule Leipzig, conducting the choir of the Hochschule, and until 1951, a teacher at the Fürstenschule in Grimma. In 1950, he won a prize for organ at the first

International Bach Competition The International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition (german: Internationaler Bach Wettbewerb Leipzig, links=no) is a music competition in Leipzig, Germany, held by the Bach-Archiv Leipzig. It was founded in 1950 and was held every four years from 1 ...

. He started teaching choral conducting in 1952 and was appointed vice director of the department for church music in 1954. In 1955, he became Kantor of the Christuskirche in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

, where he conducted the Kantorei, which in 1965, was named the Bachchor . In November 1955, he performed a concert of Bach cantatas. In 1958, he was awarded a prize by German broadcaster Südwestfunk (SWF) for his composition ''Musik auf Christi Himmelfahrt'' (''Music for Ascension''). Hellmann was a teacher for Protestant church music at the

Peter Cornelius Conservatory The Peter Cornelius Conservatory (''Peter-Cornelius-Konservatorium der Stadt Mainz'', PCK) is the conservatory in Mainz, the capital of the German state Rhineland-Palatinate. It dates back to a first conservatory founded around 1882. It is named ...

of Mainz, and from 1963, at the

Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 stud ...

as well. He published sheet music, including reconstructions of Bach's '' Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht, BWV 186a'' for the Third Sunday in Advent, ''

Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 190 (Sing a new song to the Lord), , is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He wrote it in Leipzig for the New Year's Day and first performed it on 1 January 1724 as part of his first cantata cycle. He adapted it in 1730 to , for the celebrat ...

'' and the '' St Mark Passion''. Hellmann took the Bachchor on concert tours to France, Poland and Israel. He collaborated with singers such as

Peter Schreier Peter Schreier (29 July 1935 – 25 December 2019) was a German tenor in opera, concert and lied, and a conductor. He was regarded as one of the leading lyric tenors of the 20th century. Schreier was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor conduct ...

, Aldo Baldin,

Ria Bollen Ria Bollen (born 11 February 1942) is a Flemish contralto, who had an international career as a concert singer between 1965 and 1992. Her broad repertoire included Bach's Passions, Mozart's Requiem, Beethoven's ''Missa solemnis'', especially work ...

Ursula Buckel Ursula Buckel (11 February 1926 – 5 December 2005) was a German soprano singer, known for singing works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Career Born in the Thuringian town of Lauscha, Ursula Buckel studied singing in the School of Church Music in B ...

, Eva Csapó,

Agnes Giebel Agnes Giebel (10 August 1921 – 24 April 2017) was a German classical soprano. She was born in Heerlen, in the Netherlands, where she lived the first years of her life. She studied at the Folkwangschule in Essen and made her first public appe ...

, Julia Hamari,

Ernst Haefliger Ernst Haefliger (6 July 191917 March 2007) was a Swiss tenor. Biography Haefliger was born in Davos, Switzerland, on 6 July 1919 and studied at the Wettinger Seminary and the Zürich Conservatory. Later he became a pupil of Fernando Carpi in G ...

Philippe Huttenlocher Philippe Huttenlocher (born 29 November 1942) is a Swiss baritone. Life and career He was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. He first studied violin at the conservatory in Neuchâtel, and then voice in Fribourg. In 1972, he won the international ...

, Georg Jelden, Helena Jungwirth, Siegfried Lorenz,

Adalbert Kraus Adalbert Kraus (born 27 April 1937 in Aschaffenburg) is a German tenor in opera and concert, known for singing the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Career Adalbert Kraus first graduated in German studies, theology, and philosophy and in 1967, ...

Horst Laubenthal Horst Laubenthal (born 8 March 1939), real name Horst Neumaier, is a German operatic tenor and academic voice teacher. He is known internationally, both as an opera singer especially in Mozart roles such as Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Belmont ...

, Karl Markus, Barbara Martig-Tüller, Friedreich Melzer,

Klaus Mertens Klaus Mertens (born 25 March 1949, in Kleve) is a German bass and bass-baritone singer who is known especially for his interpretation of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach for bass voice. Career Klaus Mertens took singing lessons ...

Siegmund Nimsgern Siegmund Nimsgern (born 14 January 1940) is a German bass-baritone, born in Sankt Wendel, Saarland, Germany. After leaving school in 1960 he studied singing and musical education at the Hochschule für Musik Saar with Sibylle Fuchs, Jakob St� ...

Ernst Gerold Schramm Ernst Gerold Schramm (8 July 1938 – 8 June 2004) was a German baritone in opera and concert, and an academic voice teacher. He was a member of the Staatstheater Hannover and Oper Frankfurt ensembles and performed internationally. He taught at ...

, Verena Schweizer,

Jakob Stämpfli Jakob Stämpfli (23 February 1820 – 15 May 1879) was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1854–1863). He was elected to the Federal Council of Switzerland on 6 December 1854, and handed over office on 31 December 1863. ...

Ortrun Wenkel Ortrun Wenkel (born 25 October 1942) is a German operatic contralto. She notably portrayed the role of Erda in the Bayreuth ''Jahrhundertring'' (''Centenary Ring'') in 1976 and was awarded a Grammy Award as a Principal Soloist in 1983. Career ...

, Kurt Widmer and Edith Wiens. They recorded more than 100 Bach cantatas, broadcast by SWF once a week. Hellmann conducted the Requiem of Jean Gilles, Haydn's ''

Harmoniemesse The ''Harmoniemesse'' in B-flat major by Joseph Haydn, Hob. XXII:14, Novello 6, was written in 1802. It was Haydn's last major work. It is because of the prominence of the winds in this mass and "the German terminology for a kind of wind ensem ...

'', the ''

Oratorio de Noël The ''Oratorio de Noël'', Op. 12, by Camille Saint-Saëns, also known as his Christmas Oratorio, is a cantata-like work scored for soloists, chorus, organ, strings and harp. While an organist at La Madeleine, Saint-Saëns wrote the Christmas ...

'' of Saint-Saëns, Beethoven's ''

Missa Solemnis {{Audio, De-Missa solemnis.ogg, Missa solemnis is Latin for Solemn Mass, and is a genre of musical settings of the Mass Ordinary, which are festively scored and render the Latin text extensively, opposed to the more modest Missa brevis. In French ...

'', the four ''Choralkantaten'' of

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...

, and Frank Martin's ''

Golgotha Calvary ( la, Calvariae or ) or Golgotha ( grc-gre, Γολγοθᾶ, ''Golgothâ'') was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was said to have been crucified according to the canonical Gospels. Since at least the early mediev ...

''. In 1974, he was appointed professor at the

Musikhochschule München The University of Music and Performing Arts Munich (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater München), also known as the Munich Conservatory, is a performing arts conservatory in Munich, Germany. The main building it currently occupies is t ...

, where he was the director from 1981 to 1988. Among his students were

Gabriel Dessauer Gabriel Dessauer (born 4 December 1955) is a German cantor, concert organist, and academic. He was responsible for the church music at St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden from 1981 to 2021, conducting the Chor von St. Bonifatius until 2018. He is an inte ...

and Pierre Even. Hellmann died in 1999 in Deisenhofen. In a memorial service in the Christuskirche, the Bachchor performed Bach's ''Es erhub sich ein Streit'', BWV 19, because Hellmann had loved the tenor aria ''Bleibt, ihr Engel, bleibt bei mir!'' (''Stay, ye angels, stay with me'').

Selected recordings

* Bach / Pergolesi: Psalm 51 (Kurrende 1966) * Camille Saint-Saëns: ''

'' (recorded by SWF in 1976) * Bruckner: motets, Kodály: '' Laudes organi'',

Hedwig Bilgram Hedwig Bilgram (born 31 March 1933) is a German musician and educator. She was born in Memmingen. She studied piano from an early age and went on to study organ with Karl Richter and piano with Friedrich Wührer. In 1959, she won first prize at t ...

, organ (1979) * Mozart: ''Vesperae de Dominica'' (1980) * Reger: ''Choralkantaten'' (1980, later CD) * Chorales and Choruses from Bach's ''

Christmas Oratorio The ''Christmas Oratorio'' (German: ''Weihnachtsoratorium''), , is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It is in six parts, each part a cantata intended for performance on one of t ...

'' (1980) * Haydn: ''

'' (LP 1981) * Bach: '' St Mark Passion'' (1983)

References

External links

Diethard Hellmann (Conductor, Organ)
bach-cantatas.com

bach-cantatas.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Hellmann, Diethard 1928 births 1999 deaths 20th-century German conductors (music) 20th-century organists 20th-century German male musicians German choral conductors German male conductors (music) German classical organists German male organists Academic staff of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Academic staff of the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig Academic staff of the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Male classical organists