Gotthilf Fischer (11 February 1928 – 11 December 2020) was a German choral conductor. He was known for founding the

Fischer-Chöre Fischer-Chöre (Fischer choirs) is a group of children's choirs, youth choirs, men's choirs, and mixed choirs that were founded and conducted by Gotthilf Fischer, based in the Stuttgart area. History In 1946 at the age of 18, Gotthilf Fischer took ...

, mass choirs to perform mostly

Volkslied Volkslied (literally: folk song) is a genre of popular songs in German which are traditionally sung. While many of them were first passed orally, several collections were published from the late 18th century. Later, some popular songs were also ...

er and popular music. They appeared internationally, including for presidents of state and popes, and in large size for the opening of the Olympic Summer Games 1972 in Munich, and of the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...

. They sold more than 16 million records.

Life

Gerhard Albert Gotthilf Fischer was born in

Plochingen Plochingen ( Swabian: ''Blocheng'' or ''Blochenga'') is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It lies on the river Neckar, on which it has a river port. With about 14,000 inhabitants, it is part of the Stutt ...

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

. He was the son of a carpenter who made music in his free time. He was trained to be a sports teacher at the Lehrerbildungsanstalt in Esslingen from 1942 to 1945. As a choral conductor, he was self-taught. From 1946, he conducted the Concordia Gesangverein choir in

Deizisau Deizisau is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It belongs to the Stuttgart Region (until 1992 ''Region Mittlerer Neckar'') and the Stuttgart Metropolitan Region. Deizisau is located between the towns ...

, later also other groups in the Esslingen district. Concordia won first prize at the Schwäbischen Sängerfest in

Göppingen Göppingen ( Swabian: ''Geppenge'' or ''Gebbenga'') is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the b ...

where 150 choirs competed in the category ''Volks- und Kunstgesang'' (

and

art song An art song is a Western vocal music composition, usually written for one voice with piano accompaniment, and usually in the classical art music tradition. By extension, the term "art song" is used to refer to the collective genre of such songs ...

). It sparked the founding of more groups which appeared combined as the

, with occasionally around 1,500 singers. Fischer made his television debut in 1962 in

Horst Jankowski Horst Jankowski (30 January 1936 – 29 June 1998) was a classically trained German pianist, most famous for his internationally successful easy listening music. Biography Born in Berlin, Jankowski studied at the Berlin Music Conservatory and p ...

's series ''Sing mit Horst''. The Fischer-Chöre appeared on TV first in 1969 in

Wim Thoelke Georg Heinrich Willem (Wim) Thoelke (9 May 1927 – 26 November 1995) was a German TV entertainer. Wim Thoelke worked during the 1960s and 1970s for TV sport serie ''das aktuelle sportstudio'' on German channel ZDF. He was host of the TV game ...

's series ''Dreimal neun'', making them popular across

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The Fischer-Chöre sang in large size for the opening of the Olympic Summer Games 1972 in Munich. At the final of the

, the Fischer-Chöre performed with 1,500 singers the song "Das große Spiel" with

Freddy Quinn Freddy Quinn (born Franz Eugen Helmut Manfred Nidl; 27 September 1931) is an Austrian singer and actor whose popularity in the German-speaking world soared in the late 1950s and 1960s. As Hans Albers had done two generations before him, Quinn ...

, for 80,000 in the stadium and millions watching on television around the world. Fischer then toured across Europe and the United States. From 1995 to 2008, Fischer ran a television series entitled ''Straße der Lieder'' (Road of songs) for the broadcaster SWR. He was called "Karajan aus dem Remstal" ( Karajan from Rems valley) and "Herr der singenden Heerschaaren" (Lord of the singing hosts). His choirs performed for royals, presidents of state and several popes. During 75 years as a choral conductor, he sold more than 16 million records, many of them titled ''Sing mit Fischer'' (Sing with Fischer). Fischer died in

Weinstadt Weinstadt (meaning "Wine City") is a town in the Rems-Murr district, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located in the Rems Valley approximately 15 km east of Stuttgart. Its population in 2012 was 25,998. The town is composed ...

at age 92.

References

External links

* * * * * * Titus Arnu
Der Mann, der die Massen zum Singen brachte
SZ 16 December 2020 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Gotthilf German choral conductors 1928 births 2020 deaths People from Esslingen (district) 20th-century German conductors (music) 20th-century German male musicians 21st-century German conductors (music) 21st-century German male musicians Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg