Gabriel Dessauer (born 4 December 1955) is a German

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

, 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 internationally-known organ recitalist, and was an organ teacher on the faculty of the

Hochschule für Musik Mainz The Hochschule für Musik Mainz (HfMM, Mainz School of Music) is a university of music, part of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz. It is the only such institution in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. History The institution was ...

. In 1985, he founded the German-English project choir,

Reger-Chor The Reger-Chor is a German-Belgian choir. It was founded in Wiesbaden in 1985 and has been conducted by Gabriel Dessauer in Wiesbaden. Since 2001 it has grown to Regerchor-International in a collaboration with the organist Ignace Michiels of the ...

. He has lectured at international conferences, especially about the music of Max Reger, who was a member of the St. Bonifatius parish.

Career

Dessauer was born in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

, the son of

Guido Dessauer Guido Dessauer (7 November 1915 – 13 January 2012) was a German physicist, pioneer in paper engineering, business executive, writer, art collector, patron of the arts, and academic. Born into a family of paper industrialists, he worked as an a ...

and his wife Gabrielle. He received his '' Abitur'' at the Kolleg St. Blasien in 1974. He then studied church music at the Richard-Strauss-Konservatorium in Munich for a year, studying organ with

Elmar Schloter Elmar Schloter (6 March 1936 – 23 May 2011)
in the

. From 1975 to 1980, he studied church music and concert organ at the Musikhochschule München with

Diethard Hellmann 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, Dietmann Hellmann was a member of the Thomanerchor. He studied church music in Leipzig ...

and . He continued his studies with

Franz Lehrndorfer Franz Lehrndorfer (10 August 1928 – 10 January 2013) was a German organist, composer, and pedagogue. Biography Franz Lehrndorfer was born in Salzburg and spent his youth in Kempten. He received his first music lessons from his father, a cho ...

and received the ''Meisterklassendiplom'' (master class diploma) in 1982. He was a member of Karl Richter's

Münchener Bach-Chor Münchener Bach-Chor is a mixed choir for concert and oratorio in Munich. Performances, international tours and recordings with Karl Richter and the Münchener Bach-Orchester made the choir internationally known. History Heinrich-Schütz-Krei ...

. Dessauer was the organist for services at the Kolleg St. Blasien 1971–1974, then at the Akademie Tutzing for one year and conductor of the choir of the Protestant parish in

Tutzing Tutzing is a municipality in the district of Starnberg in Bavaria, Germany, on the west bank of the Starnberger See. Just 40 km south-west of Munich and with good views of the Alps, the town was traditionally a favorite vacation spot for thos ...

. From 1975 to 1981 he was cantor of St. Andreas Church, Munich.

Church music at St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden

Dessauer has been the cantor at St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden, the central

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church in the capital of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

, since 1981. He is the conductor of the 107-member Chor von St. Bonifatius, founded in 1862, of the children's choir ''Kinderchor von St. Bonifatius'', and of the Schola for

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek (language), Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed ma ...

. The church choir sings at services, including regular orchestral

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

es by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert for Christmas and Easter, accompanied by members of the orchestra of the

Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden The Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden ('Hessian State Theatre Wiesbaden') is a German theatre located in Wiesbaden, in the German state Hesse. The company produces operas, plays, ballets, musicals and concerts on four stages. Known also as the ...

, with soloists from the Hochschule für Musik Mainz such as Andreas Karasiak and students. In 2011 they performed the Mass No. 1 in B major by Johann Nepomuk Hummel, and Hans Leo Hassler's '' Missa super Dixit Maria'' in 2012. On Dessauer's initiative, the organ built in 1954 was refurbished by Hugo Mayer Orgelbau in 1985. BD 20121003-Bonifatiusmesse-A0300

Every year, typically on 3 October,

German Unity Day German Unity Day (german: Tag der Deutschen Einheit) is the National Day of Germany, celebrated on 3 October as a public holiday. It commemorates German reunification in 1990 when the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) joined the Federal ...

, Dessauer has conducted choral concerts of works such as Mendelssohn's ''

Elias Elias is the Greek equivalent of Elijah ( he, אֵלִיָּהוּ‎ ''ʾĒlīyyāhū''; Syriac: ܐܠܝܐ ''Eliyā''; Arabic: الیاس Ilyās/Elyās), a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BC, mentioned in several h ...

'', ''

Ein deutsches Requiem ''A German Requiem, to Words of the Holy Scriptures'', Op. 45 (german: Ein deutsches Requiem, nach Worten der heiligen Schrift, links=no) by Johannes Brahms, is a large-scale work for chorus, orchestra, a soprano and a baritone soloist, compos ...

'' of Brahms, and Verdi's ''

Messa da Requiem The ''Messa da Requiem'' is a musical setting of the Catholic funeral mass ( Requiem) for four soloists, double choir and orchestra by Giuseppe Verdi. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, whom Verdi admired. The first performance, at ...

''. Both ''Chor'' and ''Kinderchor'' appeared in performances of

Hermann Suter Hermann Suter (28 April 1870 – 22 June 1926) was a Swiss composer and conductor. Biography Born in Kaiserstuhl, Aargau, Suter studied in the conservatories at Basel, Stuttgart and Leipzig, under Hans Huber and Carl Reinecke. He was an o ...

's '' Le Laudi'' (1998 and 2007), and in the German premiere of John Rutter's '' Mass of the Children'' in 2004. In 2006, Dessauer conducted Karl Jenkins's Requiem, composed in 2004. In 2010, he chose works by Bach, including his '' Mass in G minor'' and choral movements from cantatas BWV 140,

BWV 12 The (BWV; ; ) is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV2a ...

BWV 120 (God, You are praised in the stillness), BWV 120.1 (previously ),Work at Bach Digital website. is a sacred cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for the occasion of , the inauguration of a new town council in a churc ...

and ''Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir'', BWV 29. In 2011 he conducted Haydn's ''

Die Schöpfung ''The Creation'' (german: Die Schöpfung) is an oratorio written between 1797 and 1798 by Joseph Haydn (Hoboken catalogue, Hob. XXI:2), and considered by many to be one of his masterpieces. The oratorio depicts and celebrates the creation of the ...

''. The children's choir sang along with the soprano. BD 20121003-Bonifatiusmesse-A0296

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the choir in 2012, Dessauer commissioned

Colin Mawby Colin Mawby KSG (9 May 1936 – 24 November 2019) was an English organist, choral conductor and composer. From 1961 he was Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral, then from 1981 he was the choral director at Radio Telefís Éireann. He co ...

to compose the

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 ...

''Bonifatius-Messe''. Mawby wrote the Mass in 2011 for the forces available at the church (soprano, choir, children's choir, oboe and organ), and the work was premiered on 3 October 2012. The organist was Ignace Michiels from St. Salvator's Cathedral in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...

, soprano Natascha Jung, and oboist Leonie Dessauer. A second performance took place on 3 November in the Frankfurter Dom, with organist Andreas Boltz. In 2013 he performed Schubert's Mass No. 6 along with his

Unfinished Symphony An unfinished symphony is a fragment of a symphony, by a particular composer, that musicians and academics consider incomplete or unfinished for various reasons. The archetypal unfinished symphony is Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8 (sometimes ...

. The concert of 2014 was John Rutter's ''

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for " y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos (). It is traditionally incorporated into the liturgical servic ...

''. Dessauer first continued the tradition of the ''Stunde der Kirchenmusik'' ("hour of church music") monthly concert, and then began a series ''Boni-Musikwochen'' instead, grouping choral and organ concerts around a theme within the span of one to two weeks. The Musikwochen 2010, ''Reger und mehr'' ("Reger and more"), presented concerts given by Kent Tritle and Ignace Michiels, among others. Dessauer appeared with the ''Chor von St. Bonifatius'' in

Azkoitia , population_note = , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST = CEST , u ...

and San Sebastián on a Cavaillé-Coll-organ (1986) at both churches, at the

Limburg Cathedral Limburg Cathedral (german: Limburger Dom, also known as ''Georgsdom'' ("George's Cathedral") after its dedication to Saint George, is located above the old town of Limburg in Hesse, Germany. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Limburg ...

(1987), in St. Jakobus, Görlitz (1990), and in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

(1996). They appeared in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 2008, when they performed Vivaldi's '' Gloria'' and Haydn's '' Nelson Mass'' in San Paolo dentro le Mura in concert, and sang during

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

Organ recitals

Dessauer has appeared in recitals in Europe and the U.S., at the

Washington National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the ca ...

and St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York. He played the Kotzschmar organ at the

Merrill Auditorium Merrill Auditorium is a 1,908-seat auditorium located in Portland, Maine, United States. Originally known as Portland City Hall Auditorium, it is located in the eastern section of Portland City Hall. The auditorium was built in 1912 and underwen ...

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

, and in the

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels ( es, Catedral de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles), informally known as COLA or the Los Angeles Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church in Los Angeles, California, United States. It opened in 2 ...

in Los Angeles. In 2004, he lectured at the National Convention of the

American Guild of Organists The American Guild of Organists (AGO) is an international organization of academic, church, and concert organists in the US, headquartered in New York City with its administrative offices in the Interchurch Center. Founded as a professional educat ...

in Los Angeles on the choral music of Max Reger, who was a member of the parish of St. Bonifatius while he studied and lived in Wiesbaden. In 2005, Dessauer played at the

Spreckels Organ Pavilion Spreckels Organ Pavilion houses the open-air Spreckels Organ in Balboa Park, San Diego, California. The Spreckels Organ is the world's largest pipe organ in a fully outdoor venue. Constructed for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, it is loc ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

. In 2010, he gave a recital at St. Ignatius Loyola, New York. Since 1992, Dessauer has conducted events for the

Rheingau Musik Festival The (RMF) is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres. Concerts take place at culturally important locations, such as Eberbach Abbey and Schloss Johannisberg, ...

called the Orgeltour (organ tour), visiting historic organs in the region. The first tours covered historic organs of the Rheingau; later ones extended to the cathedrals of

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had ...

and

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...

, and Fulda. Until 2010, Dessauer played a regular concert on New Year's Eve on the Walcker organ at the

Marktkirche, Wiesbaden Marktkirche (Market Church) is the main Protestant church in Wiesbaden, the state capital of Hesse, Germany. The neo-Gothic church on the central Schlossplatz ( en, Palace Square) was designed by Carl Boos and built between 1853 and 1862. At t ...

, together with church organist

Hans Uwe Hielscher Hans Uwe Hielscher (born 1945) is a German organist and composer. He was organist and carillonneur at the Marktkirche in Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany, from 1979 to 2009, and has played internationally as a concert organist. Career Hielscher stu ...

. To celebrate the bicentenary of Franz Liszt's birth in 2011, he played three major organ works by the composer on instruments that were built around the time of the compositions, ''

Fantasy and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H Fantasie und Fuge über das Thema B-A-C-H (also in the first version known as ''Präludium und Fuge über das Motiv B-A-C-H''), title in English: ''Fantasy and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H'') ( S.260i/ii st/2nd version S.529i/ii iano arrangement o ...

'', ''Variations on Bach's " Weinen, Klagen"'' (1863), and ''

Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale Ad nos ad salutarem undam Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and dra ...

''.

In 2014, Dessauer toured in the US, playing concerts at the

, at St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco, California, and at the

Salt Lake Tabernacle organ The Salt Lake Tabernacle organ is a pipe organ located in the Salt Lake Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah. Along with the nearby Conference Center organ, it is typically used to accompany the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and is also feat ...

in Salt Lake City. In 2020, Dessauer organised the ''Winterspiele'' concert series to honour the 150th anniversary of

Louis Vierne Louis Victor Jules Vierne (8 October 1870 – 2 June 1937) was a French organist and composer. As the organist of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death, he focused on organ music, including six organ symphonies and a '' Messe solennelle ...

, playing his Third Organ Symphony, among others, in the summer instead of winter because the planned concert was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Dessauer retired at the end of 2021, succeeded by Johannes Schröder.

Teaching

From 1995 to 2013, Dessauer was an organ teacher at the

, part of the Gutenberg University in Mainz.

Reger-Chor

In 1985, Dessauer invited singers to form a choir to perform a single work, the '' Hebbel-Requiem'' of Max Reger in the organ version by the Munich organist and composer

Max Beckschäfer Max Beckschäfer (born 23 February 1952 in Münster) is a German organist, composer and academic. Professional career Beckschäfer took classes at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich in organ, piano, violin and choral conducting. He stu ...

. The name Reger-Chor was chosen in 1988, when the next project was dedicated to the German premiere of

Joseph Jongen Joseph Marie Alphonse Nicolas Jongen (14 December 1873 – 12 July 1953) was a Belgian organist, composer, and music educator. Biography Jongen was born in Liège, where his parents had moved from Flanders. On the strength of an amazing precocity ...

's ''Missa'' op. 111. Later projects included one of the first performances in Germany of Rutter's '' Requiem'', recorded on the Reger-Chor's first CD in 1990. In 2001 an international collaboration began with the organist Ignace Michiels, bringing together an almost equal number of singers from

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

and the

Rhein-Main Region The Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, often simply referred to as Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main area or Rhine-Main area (German: ''Rhein-Main-Gebiet'' or ''Frankfurt/Rhein-Main'', abbreviated FRM), is the second-largest metropolitan re ...

to perform an annual concert both in Germany and Belgium. In 2003 he conducted the premiere of the organ version of Reger's '' Der 100. Psalm'' by François Callebout. In addition to works by Reger, Dessauer chose rarely-performed church music by composers such as

Herbert Howells Herbert Norman Howells (17 October 1892 – 23 February 1983) was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music. Life Background and early education Howells was born in Lydney, Gloucest ...

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

Herbert Sumsion Herbert Whitton Sumsion (14 January 1899 – 11 August 1995) was an English musician who was organist of Gloucester Cathedral from 1928 to 1967. Through his leadership role with the Three Choirs Festival, Sumsion maintained close association ...

Maurice Duruflé Maurice Gustave Duruflé (; 11 January 1902 – 16 June 1986) was a French composer, organist, musicologist, and teacher. Life and career Duruflé was born in Louviers, Eure in 1902. He became a chorister at the Rouen Cathedral Choir School fr ...

, Edward Elgar,

Frederick Delius Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...

William Lloyd Webber William Southcombe Lloyd Webber (11 March 1914 – 29 October 1982) was an English organist and composer, who achieved some fame as a part of the modern classical music movement whilst commercially facing mixed opportunities. Besides his long ...

, Jules Van Nuffel, Joseph Ryelandt, Andrew Carter,

Kurt Hessenberg Kurt Hessenberg (17 August 1908 – 17 June 1994) was a German composer and professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt. Life Kurt Hessenberg was born on 17 August 1908 in Frankfurt, as the fourth and last child of ...

, Rupert Lang,

Morten Lauridsen Morten Johannes Lauridsen (born February 27, 1943) is an American composer. A National Medal of Arts recipient (2007), he was composer-in-residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale from 1994 to 2001, and is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus ...

, and

Eric Whitacre Eric Edward Whitacre (born January2, 1970) is an American composer, conductor, and speaker best known for his choral music. In March2016, he was appointed as Los Angeles Master Chorale's first artist-in-residence at the Walt Disney Concert Hall ...

. In 2015 he conducted

Bach's Missa of 1733 Bach's of 1733, BWV 232 I (early version), is a Kyrie–Gloria Mass in B minor, composed in 1733 by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is an extended missa brevis (, ) consisting of a Kyrie in three movements and a Gloria in nine movements. B ...

in B-minor in the newly-edited parts for the Dresden court, with members of the orchestra of the

Choral projects

In 1999 Dessauer collaborated with Ignace Michiels, organist of St. Salvator's Cathedral in

, in a joint project to bring a century of violence to a close. The same programme was performed in both Bruges and Wiesbaden by the ''Cantores'' and ''Chor von St. Bonifatius'' choirs, with Michiels playing the organ and Dessauer conducting. The concert in Bruges on 23 October 1999 was named ''Eeuw van zinloos Geweld'' (Century of meaningless violence) and expressed it using

's ''Prélude et Fugue sur le nom d'Alain'', Jules Van Nuffel's ',

Jehan Alain Jehan-Aristide Paul Alain (; 3 February 1911 – 20 June 1940) was a French organist, composer, and soldier. Born into a family of musicians, he learned the organ from his father and a host of other teachers, becoming a composer at 18, and compo ...

's ''Litanies'',

Rudolf Mauersberger Rudolf Mauersberger (29 January 1889 – 22 February 1971) was a German choral conductor and composer. His younger brother Erhard was also a conductor and composer. Career After positions in Aachen and Eisenach, he became director of the re ...

's '' Wie liegt die Stadt so wüst'', Gerald Hendrie's ''Exsultate'' from the sonata ''In praise of reconciliation'', and Duruflé's Requiem. The Wiesbaden concert was called ''Versöhnungskonzert zum Ende des Jahrhunderts'' (Concert of reconciliation at the end of the century). In 1995 Dessauer prepared the choir for a memorial concert commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. On 8 May 1995, Britten's ''

War Requiem The ''War Requiem'', Op. 66, is a large-scale setting of the Requiem composed by Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The ''War Requiem'' was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, which was bui ...

'' was performed in a ceremony of the government of Hesse at the

Kurhaus Wiesbaden The Kurhaus ("cure house", ) is the spa house in Wiesbaden, the capital of Hesse, Germany. It serves as the city's convention centre, and the social center of the spa town. In addition to a large and a smaller hall, it houses a restaurant and the ...

, with choirs from countries who were opponents during the war: the Swindon Choral Society from Swindon, UK, the Macon Civic Chorale from Macon, Georgia, and the

Schiersteiner Kantorei Schiersteiner Kantorei (Schierstein Chorale) is a German concert choir, founded in 1962 at the Christophoruskirche in Wiesbaden-Schierstein. The choir performs regularly in the Marktkirche, Wiesbaden, and in Eberbach Abbey. It is known internatio ...

conducted by

Martin Lutz Martin Lutz (born 19 May 1950) is a German musicologist, conductor and harpsichordist. He was the musical director of the concert choir Schiersteiner Kantorei in Wiesbaden from 1972 to 2017, and founded the biennial festival Wiesbadener Bachwoche ...

. A year later they took part in a performance of the work with similar forces in Macon. In November 2009 Dessauer again performed Duruflé's Requiem, this time with a choir of volunteers who wanted to commemorate

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

in a ''Gedenkkonzert gegen Antisemitismus'', or a concert against

Antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. Janina Moeller sang the mezzo-soprano solo, and Petra Morath-Pusinelli was the organist. In November 2015 Dessauer was the organist for a sing-along organised by the

Diocese of Limburg The Diocese of Limburg (Latin: ''Dioecesis Limburgensis'') is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It belongs to the ecclesiastical province of Cologne, with metropolitan see being the Archdiocese of Cologne. Its territory encompasses ...

in St. Bonifatius. A choir of 150 volunteers studied Gabriel Fauré's Requiem and performed it as part of the

Wiesbadener Bachwochen (Wiesbaden Bach Weeks) is a biennial festival of music around Johann Sebastian Bach in Wiesbaden, the state capital of Hesse, Germany. It was initiated and has been run by Martin Lutz. The city awards the Bachpreis der Landeshauptstadt Wiesbaden ...

festival. As a contrast, Dessauer performed Olivier Latry's ''

Salve Regina The "Salve Regina" (, ; meaning 'Hail Queen'), also known as the "Hail Holy Queen", is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. The Salve Regina ...

'' organ meditations, in which, according to a reviewer, he made the listener feel "...the complete cosmos of humanity, including the cruelty and violence, from which this prayer asks for salvation from" ("den gesamten Kosmos des Menschlichen nachempfinden ließ, einschließlich der Grausamkeit und Gewalt, aus der in diesem Gebet um Errettung gebeten wird").

Recordings

* ''Kontraste'' (Contrast), Gabriel Dessauer at the Mayer organ of St. Bonifatius * ''Orgel-Feuerwerk I – V'' (Organ Fireworks) * ''Just for Fun'', Organ Historical Society Catalog *

John Rutter John Milford Rutter (born 24 September 1945) is an English composer, conductor, editor, arranger, and record producer, mainly of choral music. Biography Born on 24 September 1945 in London, the son of an industrial chemist and his wife, Rutte ...

: '' Requiem'', motets of Reger, Reubke's ''

Sonata on the 94th Psalm The Sonata on the 94th Psalm in C minor is a sonata for solo organ by Julius Reubke, based on the text of Psalm 94. It is considered one of the pinnacles of the Romantic repertoire. It is in three movements: * I. Grave - Larghetto - Allegro ...

'', Reger-Chor, Monika Fuhrmann (soprano), instrumentalists, organist (Rutter): Petra Morath, organist (Reubke) and conductor Gabriel Dessauer (1990, recorded live in St. Bonifatius Wiesbaden) * ''Romantische Orgelkonzerte'',

Marco Enrico Bossi Marco Enrico Bossi (25 April 1861 – 20 February 1925) was an Italian organist, composer, improviser and teacher. Life Bossi was born in Salò, a town in the province of Brescia, Lombardy, into a family of musicians. His father, Pietro, was ...

: Organ concerto A minor op. 100, Josef Gabriel Rheinberger: Organ concerto G minor op. 177,

Léon Boëllmann Léon Boëllmann (; 25 September 1862 – 11 October 1897) was a French composer, known for a small number of compositions for organ. His best-known composition is '' Suite gothique'' (1895), which is a staple of the organ repertoire, especially i ...

: ''Suite Gothique'' op. 25, Kammerphilharmonie Rhein-Main, conductor: Jürgen Bruns (1997) *

: '' Le Laudi'', Zofia Kilanowicz, Pamela Pantos, Andreas Karasiak, Johann Werner Prein, Chor von St. Bonifatius Wiesbaden, Kinderchor von St. Bonifatius, Witold Lutoslawski Philharmonic Wroclaw, 1999 * Max Reger: '' Hebbel-Requiem'', organ works, Reger-Chor-International, conductor Gabriel Dessauer (2001, recorded live in St. Bonifatius Wiesbaden) * Max Reger: '' Der 100. Psalm'', '' Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue'' in E minor op. 127, Reger-Chor-International, conductor Gabriel Dessauer (2003, recorded live in St. Bonifatius Wiesbaden)

References

External links

Kantor Gabriel Dessauer i. R.
St. Bonifatius * , from

Coronation Mass A Coronation Mass is a Eucharistic celebration, in which a special liturgical act, the coronation of an image of Mary, is performed. The coronation of an image of Mary is an act of devotion to her. It expresses the belief that Mary as mother ...

, 1 April 2018, St. Bonifatius * * , by

Naji Hakim Naji Subhy Paul Irénée Hakim (Arabic: ''ناجي صبحي حكيم'' 'Naji Sobhi Hakim'' born 31 October 1955) is a Franco-Lebanese organist, composer, and improviser. He studied the organ under Jean Langlais at the Conservatoire de Paris, a ...

1 April 2018, St. Bonifatius {{DEFAULTSORT:Dessauer, Gabriel German choral conductors German male conductors (music) German classical organists German male organists University of Music and Performing Arts Munich alumni Academic staff of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Living people 1955 births Musicians from Würzburg 21st-century German conductors (music) 21st-century organists 21st-century German male musicians Male classical organists Dessauer family