Helmut Kahlhöfer (25 July 1914 – 12 April 1988) was a German church musician and academic teacher. He was the founder and for decades the conductor of the choir

Kantorei Barmen-Gemarke The Kantorei Barmen-Gemarke (Barmen-Gemarke chorale) is a mixed concert choir based in Wuppertal, Germany, focused on sacred music. It was founded by Helmut Kahlhöfer in 1946 and conducted by him for more than four decades. Their repertory includ ...

Life and career

Born in

Barmen Barmen is a former industrial metropolis of the region of Bergisches Land, Germany, which merged with four other towns in 1929 to form the city of Wuppertal. Barmen, together with the neighbouring town of Elberfeld founded the first electric ...

(now part of

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...

), Kahlhöfer studied Protestant church music at the

Musikhochschule Köln A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

, organ with Heinrich Boell and Michael Schneider, piano with Karl Hermann Pillnay, and choral conducting with . Kahlhöfer graduated in 1937 with the A-Examen and the concert exam for organ. He worked as a church musician (''Kantor'') in Cologne from 1937 to the beginning of World War II. He then continued his studies at the Salzburg

Mozarteum Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the “Mozarteum” moniker in Salzburg municipality; the International Moz ...

, conducting with

Clemens Krauss Clemens Heinrich Krauss (31 March 189316 May 1954) was an Austrian conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss and Richard Wagner. Krauss was born in Vienna to Clementine Krauss, the ...

and piano with Walter Lampe. Kahlhöfer worked in Wuppertal from 1945. In 1946 he became Kantor of the

Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

Immanuelskirche in Barmen-Gemarke and founded there in 1946 the choir

which he conducted to 1986. He worked also from 1950 to 1960 as a lecturer for organ at the Landeskirchenmusikschule in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, and as a professor for choral conducting at the

Folkwang-Hochschule The Folkwang University of the Arts is a university for music, theater, dance, design, and academic studies, located in four German cities of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 1927, its traditional main location has been in the former Werden Abbey in ...

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

from 1965 to 1978. He conducted the Kantorei Barmen-Gemarke to 1986. He led the choir in liturgical music but also concerts of music from the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

to the 20th century. In 1966 he conducted a recording of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Jesu meine Freude" (Motette zu fünf Stimmen BWV 227) and Johannes Brahms's "Fest- und Gedenksprüche" (opus 109, Motette für achtstimmigen Doppelchor) and '' Warum ist das Licht gegeben dem Mühseligen?'' (Op. 74, Nr. 1,

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

for six-part choir). In 1973 he conducted a recording of Max Reger's three motets ''Geistliche Gesänge'', Op. 110. dedicated in 1965 his cantata ''Jerusalem'' to him and the choir: "Für Helmut Kahlhöfer und die Kantorei Barmen-Gemarke“. In 1980 he conducted

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...

's ''Apparebit repentina dies'', and in 1982 Stravinsky's

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 elementar ...

and

Symphony of Psalms The ''Symphony of Psalms'' is a choral symphony in three movements composed by Igor Stravinsky in 1930 during his neoclassical period. The work was commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orch ...

. Bach was the focus of the choir's repertory. They recorded Bach's motets in 1963 with the

Collegium Aureum Collegium Aureum was a chamber orchestra founded in Cologne, Germany, in 1962, which later focused on historically informed performance. Playing typically without conductor, they recorded for three decades, and performed concerts on international t ...

, and several of his cantatas including ''Schauet doch und sehet, ob irgend ein Schmerz sei'', BWV 46, in 1960 and ''Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland'', BWV 61, in 1966, with the ensemble

Deutsche Bachsolisten Deutsche Bachsolisten (DBS) (The German Bach Soloists) is a German Baroque chamber orchestra dedicated to the works of J.S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known ...

. Kahlhöfer conducted Bach's ''

St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (german: Matthäus-Passion, links=-no), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets ...

'', ''

St John Passion The ''Passio secundum Joannem'' or ''St John Passion'' (german: Johannes-Passion, link=no), BWV 245, is a Passion or oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, the older of the surviving Passions by Bach. It was written during his first year as direc ...

'' and

Mass in B minor The Mass in B minor (), BWV 232, is an extended setting of the Mass ordinary by Johann Sebastian Bach. The composition was completed in 1749, the year before the composer's death, and was to a large extent based on earlier work, such as a Sanctu ...

in the years 1983 to 1985, to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Bach's birth in 1985. The Mass was also recorded that year with soloists

Mitsuko Shirai Mitsuko Shirai (born 28 May 1947) is a Japanese mezzo-soprano and music professor.Alan Blyth, "Mitsuko Shirai", Grove Music Online Biography Born in Nagano Prefecture, Nagano, Shirai first trained in Tokyo before settling in Germany, where she co ...

Hildegard Laurich Hildegard Laurich (15 January 1941 – 11 February 2009), was a German classical contralto singer. Professional career Born in Halle, Laurich studied at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold, in Berlin with Hermann Weissenborn, and in private study ...

, and Andreas Schmidt. Kahlhöfer was awarded the title

Kirchenmusikdirektor Kirchenmusikdirektor (KMD, director of church music) is a German title for professional church musicians (' who have responsibility for not only a parish but a larger region, in both Protestant and Catholic church music. The title is also sometimes ...

(director of church music) in 1954. From 1961 to 1986, he also directed the Schönhausen-Chor in

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; li, Krieëvel ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, i ...

. Kahlhöfer died in

Awards

* 1976 – of

References

External links

Kantorei Barmen-Gemarke

Schönhausen-Chor
(in German)

Verband Deutscher Konzertchöre The Verband Deutscher KonzertChöre (VDKC, Association of German Concert Choirs) is a national association with seven state organisations. It represents more than 550 member choirs with more than 30,400 singers. It is a non-profit organisation, whic ...

Helmut Kahlhöfer
(in German) Barmen 200 Jahre

(in German) Evangelisch in Wuppertal 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kahlhofer, Helmut German choral conductors German male conductors (music) Academic staff of the Folkwang University of the Arts 1914 births 1988 deaths Musicians from Wuppertal 20th-century German conductors (music) 20th-century German male musicians Kirchenmusikdirektor