' (Rheingau chorale), now ', is a mixed choir of the region in Germany, performing mostly sacred music in services and concerts.
Frank Stähle
The choir was founded in 1977 by
Frank Stähle
Frank Stähle (12 July 1942 – 10 December 2015) was a German musician, a choral conductor and the director of Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium in Frankfurt from 1979 to 2007.
Chorale conductor
Born in Stuttgart, Stähle went to schools in Hamburg a ...
as the choir of the ' (Protestant deanery Wiesbaden-Rheingau), merging two groups, the church choir of the Protestant parish in
Geisenheim and singers from Wiesbaden. The purpose of the choir was to sing in church services of the region and to sing
oratorio
An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...
s in concert. Main venues for the concerts were the and the ' in Geisenheim. The groups rehearsed separately in Geisenheim and performed the concerts together.
In 1978, the choir performed Handel's ', in the and the
Lutherkirche in Wiesbaden, and ' by Johannes Brahms, in Geisenheim and the .
In 1979, Bach's ''
St Matthew Passion'' was performed in
St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden and in
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 ...
, in a collaboration with the ''Wormser Kurrende''. 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 ...
'' was performed with the , in Geisenheim and the .
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 ...
sang the title part,
Klesie Kelly the soprano parts.
In 1980, the Geisenheim group performed Buxtehude's ' in Geisenheim.
The complete group sang Honegger's ' in the , with the , and soloists Klesie Kelly,
Claudia Eder as both young David and the
Witch of Endor
The Witch of Endor ( he, ''baʿălaṯ-ʾōḇ bəʿĒyn Dōr'', "she who owns the ''ʾōḇ'' of Endor") is a woman who, according to the Hebrew Bible, was consulted by Saul to summon the spirit of the prophet Samuel. Saul wished to receive ad ...
, and
Gerd Nienstedt as the narrator.
A concert on 13 June 1981 combined Palestrina's ', performed by selected voices under assistant conductor Horst Werner, and Bruckner's
Mass No. 2 in E minor for eight-part choir and brass.
On 21 November 1981, the choir performed in the Marktkirche Bach's
Mass in B minor as part of the ' (Fourth Wiesbaden Bach Weeks), organized 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 ...
.
Horst Werner
Stähle, who was director of from 1979, passed the choir to Horst Werner, who had studied at the
Musikhochschule Frankfurt with
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 ...
.
He first conducted 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 ...
'' and Bach's cantata
''Wachet! betet! betet! wachet!'' BWV 70, with
Christoph Prégardien as a soloist.
In 1983, excerpts from the ' by Schütz were combined with Mozart's '. In a second concert, the group sang Schubert's
Mass No. 6 in e-flat major.
In 1985, the choir performed Karol Szymanowski's ' and Leoš Janáček' ''
Glagolitic Mass
The ''Glagolitic Mass'' (, '' cu, script=latn, Mša glagolskaja''; also called ''Missa Glagolitica'' or ''Slavonic Mass'') is a composition for soloists (soprano, contralto, tenor, bass), double chorus, organ and orchestra by Leoš Janáček. The ...
'' with organist Elisabeth Maranca and the ''
Südwestfälische Philharmonie'' (
de).
In 1986, the choir used the balconies of the to perform several settings of the
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 ...
, including some polychoral compositions,
followed by a concert of Mozart's
Requiem with the '.
Helmut Hampel reported for the ' that the ' was shattering and ' of eerie density.
In 1987, the choir performed the second of the four versions of Bach's ''
St John Passion'', as the opening of four Passion compositions by four Wiesbaden-based choirs, including Bach's ''
St Matthew Passion'' with the '. Hampel noted in a review that Werner, also a musicologist, supplied solid historic background for the second version in the program notes and a preceding lecture, and that he managed to fill the ''turba'' choruses with energy, in diction and even more in dramatic expression.
A second concert presented the Mass in A major by
César Franck
César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium.
He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was pa ...
, and in a third concert Bruckner's
Mass No. 3 in F minor, again with the .
Tassilo Schlenther , Neue Rheingauer Kantorei
![Eltville-Erbach-Johanneskirche von Suedosten-20110605](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Eltville-Erbach-Johanneskirche_von_Suedosten-20110605.jpg)
A new choir, building on the tradition, was founded by Tassilo Schlenther in 2002, again expanding the choir of the Geisenheim protestantic parish. Venues for concerts have been the ', the ' of , the ' of
Mittelheim, the Protestant church in Geisenheim and the
Johanneskirche
The Johanneskirche (Church of St. John) is a catholic church located in Freiburg im Breisgau. It was first opened in 1899 and is currently located in the Wiehre district. Around the church, further historic buildings were built. On the western side ...
(
de) in Erbach.
The group, not yet under the name, collaborated with the choirs of
St. Martin, Idstein, performing in 1996 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 ...
'',
in 1999 Puccini's '
and in 2001 Rutter's
Requiem and Britten's ''
The Company of Heaven
''The Company of Heaven'' is a composition for soloists, speakers, choir, timpani, pipe organ, organ, and string orchestra by Benjamin Britten. The title refers to angels, the topic of the work, reflected in texts from the Bible and by poets. Th ...
'' for speakers, soloists, chorus and orchestra,
all performed both in Idstein and Johannisberg. In 2009, the Neue Rheingauer Kantorei performed 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 ...
'' with soloists
Elisabeth Scholl
Elisabeth Scholl (born 1966 in Kiedrich) is a German soprano and academic teacher.
Career
Elisabeth Scholl was the first girl to sing with the boys choir Kiedricher Chorbuben. From 1982 to 1987 she sang the role of the First Boy in Mozart's ...
,
Daniel Sans
Daniel Sans (born 1975) is a German tenor.
Career
Daniel Sans was a boy soprano in the choir of the Mainz Cathedral. He studied at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt. He specialized in oratorio and lied.
Sans has performed in the Wiener Konzerthaus ...
and
Andreas Pruys
Andreas Pruys (born in Kleve) is a German classical bass singer.
Professional career
Andreas Pruys studied singing and church music at the Folkwanghochschule in Essen. He worked as a church musician for several years, also as director of the m ...
.
Services included an Easter vigil in
Eberbach Abbey
Eberbach Abbey (German: Kloster Eberbach) is a former Cistercian monastery in Eltville in the Rheingau, Germany. On account of its Romanesque and early Gothic buildings it is considered one of the most significant architectural heritage sites i ...
in 2013.
The choir participated in a television portrait of the
ARD about the Rheingau region by
Günter Wewel, in the series .
A concert in 2014, performed in the Geisenheim Protestant church, was dedicated to contemporary Scandinavian music including works by
Ola Gjeilo
Ola Gjeilo ( , ; born May 5, 1978) is a Norwegian composer and pianist, living in the United States.[Knut Nystedt
Knut Nystedt (3 September 1915 – 8 December 2014) was a Norwegian orchestral and choral composer.
Early life
Nystedt was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway, and grew up in a Christian home where hymns and classical music were an important ...](_blank)
.
2014 also saw a remarkable performance of Verdi's
Requiem. A reviewer noted the choir's flexibility to sing different styles of music.
References
External links
Frank Stähle Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium
Horst Wernercorodelcastello.de
Neue Rheingauer KantoreiOfficial website
{{authority control
Culture in Wiesbaden
German choirs
Musical groups established in 1977
Musical groups established in 2002