Hans Adolf Karl Wilhelm Grischkat (29 August 1903 – 10 January 1977) was a German conductor, especially a choral conductor, also a church musician and academic teacher. He founded the choir for pioneering concerts and recordings of works by

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

and

Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...

in the spirit of

historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music, which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...

. He was the church musician of the in

Reutlingen Reutlingen (; Swabian: ''Reitlenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it has a population of 115,818. Reutlingen has a university of applied sciences, which ...

, published Bach cantatas for

Hänssler Hänssler-Verlag is a German music publishing house founded in 1919 as Musikverlag Hänssler by Friedrich Hänssler Senior (died 1972) to publish church music. The company is now based in Holzgerlingen. Since 1972 Hänssler Verlag has also publish ...

, and was from 1950 a professor of choral conducting at the

Musikhochschule Stuttgart The State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart is a professional school for musicians and performing artists in Stuttgart, Germany. Founded in 1857, it is one of the oldest schools of its kind in Germany. History The school was f ...

Career

Grischkat was born in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. He studied at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

, first natural sciences, then

musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

. He studied at the

with

Hermann Keller Hermann Keller (20 November 1885 – 17 August 1967) was a German Protestant church musician and musicologist. Life Born in Stuttgart the son of an architect, he followed his father's profession by also studying architecture in Stuttgart and Mun ...

. Grischkat was active in the . He founded in 1924 the ''Reutlinger Singkreis'', in 1931 the and in 1936 in Stuttgart the ''Grischkat-Singkreis''. In 1945, he founded the orchestra ''Schwäbisches Symphonie-Orchester Reutlingen'' which is now known as the ', serving as the conductor until 1950. Grischkat was in 1926 the first in

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

to perform Bach's ''

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 ...

'' without cuts, and with period instruments. In 1935 he 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 ...

'' in

, which became influential in southern Germany. To celebrate Bach's bicentenary of death in 1950, Grischkat compiled single cantata movements, with new texts, to a concert ''Vom Reiche Gottes'' (Of God's Kingdom), following an idea by

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schwei ...

. Grischkat was at the same time the church musician of the in

and from 1950 a professor of choral conducting at the

. Among his students were

Frieder Bernius Frieder is both a surname and a masculine given name, a variant of Friedrich. People with the name include: Surname: *Armin Frieder (1911–1946), Slovak Neolog rabbi *Bill Frieder (1942), former basketball coach *Katalin Frieder (1915–1991), Hun ...

Wolfgang Gönnenwein Wolfgang Gönnenwein (29 January 1933 – 26 July 2015) was a German conductor and an academic teacher. Biography Born in Schwäbisch Hall, Wolfgang Gönnenwein studied music and German studies at the University of Heidelberg and the University ...

Hanns-Friedrich Kunz Hanns-Friedrich Kunz (born 21 February 1945) is a German choral conductor. Life and career Born in Ochsenhausen, Kunz first studied music at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart. He then moved to Freiburg where ...

and

Helmuth Rilling Helmuth Rilling (born 29 May 1933) is a German choral conductor and an academic teacher. He is the founder of the Gächinger Kantorei (1954), the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (1965), the Oregon Bach Festival (1970), the Internationale Bachakademie S ...

. He edited and published for

the series ''Die Kantate'', offering sheet music of sacred works and background. He died in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

Recording

Grischkat recorded many Bach cantatas with the Schwäbischer Singkreis, beginning in 1951 with ''Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen'', BWV 51, with soloist Margot Guilleaume and the Bach-Orchester Stuttgart. He led in 1953 an early recording of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610, at least of several movements, with soloists including Margot Guilleaume, Friederike Sailer, Lotte Wolf-Matthäus, Heinz Marten, Werner Hohmann and

Franz Kelch Franz Kelch (1 November 19155 June 2013) was a German bass-baritone lied and oratorio singer. His discography includes works of Johann Sebastian Bach, Dieterich Buxtehude, George Frideric Handel, and Claudio Monteverdi. Biography Franz Kelch wa ...

. He conducted 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 ...

'' in 1972, with

Maria Friesenhausen Maria Friesenhausen (23 March 1932 – 31 July 2020Maria Friesenhausen-Balkenhol
(n ...

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 ...

, Peter Wetzler,

Bruce Abel Bruce Abel (25 July 1936 – 10 March 2021) was an American bass singer. Biography Abel studied singing at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City under Hans Heinz, where he excelled in studies of French art songs and German lieder. He ...

, Schwäbischer Singkreis and Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim. He performed and recorded Bach's

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 1958, with Friederike Sailer, Margarethe Bence,

Fritz Wunderlich Friedrich "Fritz" Karl Otto Wunderlich (26 September 1930 – 17 September 1966) was a German lyric tenor, famed for his singing of the Mozart repertory and various lieder. He died in an accident aged 35. Biography Wunderlich was born in Kusel in ...

and

Erich Wenk Erich Wenk (12 August 1923 – 30 March 2012) was a German bass-baritone singer in opera and especially in concert. He was a professor of voice at the . Career Wenk was born in . In 1957 he performed the by Johannes Brahms on a tour through Ge ...

, Schwäbischer Singkreis and the orchestra of the 35th Deutsches Bachfest.

Selected publications

* Hans Grischkat (ed): ''Johann Sebastian Bach: Der Friede sei mit dir. Kantate Nr. 158. Kantate zum 3. Ostertag'' aus der Reihe: ''Die Kantate. Eine Sammlung geistlicher Musik für Chor und Instrumente''. Band 28,

Stuttgart 1959, with four facsimile pages

References

Literature

* Karl Komma: ''Grischkat, Hans'', in Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, Supplement 16, Bärenreiter-Verlag Kassel 1976, col 538–539, * Klaus Peter Leitner: ''Hans Grischkat (1903–1977), Ein Bachinterpret der Jugendmusikbewegung in Württemberg – eine Biographie'', Dissertation Hamburg 2000, * Otto Paul Burkhardt: ''Hans Grischkat und das Musikleben der Stadt Reutlingen'', Stadtarchiv Reutlingen,2003. 109 p., 69 illustrations

Career

Recording

Selected publications

References

Literature

External links