Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-P047199, Berlin, Schöneberger Sängerknaben

Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-P061439, Berlin, Schöneberger Sängerknaben

The Schöneberger Sängerknaben were a German

boys' choir A boys' choir is a choir primarily made up of choirboys who have yet to begin puberty or are in the early to middle stages of puberty and so retain their more highly pitched childhood voice type. Members of a boys' choir are technically known as '' ...

from Berlin, named after the . The choir performed with about 30 boys at a time. They wore short black trousers, black blazers with emblems, white shirts and white knee socks. The repertoire initially included German

folk songs Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...

, Berlin popular songs and Schlager, later also opera choruses and other classical works.

Career

The Schöneberger Sängerknaben was founded by Gerhard Hellwig on 12 November 1947. Hellwig trained the boys and initially sang with them in old people's homes, hospitals and in Berlin squares. Only two years after its foundation, the then manager of the

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the De ...

Heinz Tietjen Heinz Tietjen (24 June 1881 – 30 November 1967) was a German conductor and music producer born in Tangier, Morocco. Biography Tietjen was born in Tangier, Morocco. At age twenty-three, he held the position of producer at the Opera House in ...

, brought the choir into his house and engaged it for the performance of the opera

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; gmh, Tanhûser), often stylized, "The Tannhäuser," was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and ...

by Richard Wagner. This was the prelude to more than 3100 opera performances in over 50 different productions in several languages, including, from 1954, the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...

, whose artistic organisation office Gerhard Hellwig headed from 1959. In 1956, the young singers were featured in the film ' and a year later also in ' with songs by Hans-Martin Majewski. In 1958, the choir sang the first song of the , ''Kleine Leute, große Reise''. Five years later, the choir accompanied the singer

Bully Buhlan Bully Buhlan (3 February 1924 – 7 November 1982) was a German musician and actor.Barnett p.180 Filmography References Bibliography * Barnett, David. ''A History of the Berliner Ensemble''. Cambridge University Press, 2015. External links * ...

on his song ''Junge Herzen haben Sehnsucht'', the song of the ARD television lottery in 1963. The versatile choir, which among other things recorded an LP with Manuela with songs from fairy tale land, was featured in numerous television events. In addition to its many performances and engagements, the choir has also undertaken over 300 concert tours, taking it to many countries in Europe and overseas, including the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...

in 1967.

Dissolution of the choir

Gerhard Hellwig passed away on 15 January 2011. With his death, the Schöneberger Sängerknaben also ceased their work.Die Schöneberger Sängerknaben verstummen
on Der Spiegel

Successful titles

* ''Auf Wiedersehen'' * ''Pack die Badehose ein'' with

Cornelia Froboess Cornelia Froboess (; born 28 October 1943) is a German actress and a teen idol of the 1950s and early 1960s. During that time, Froboess appeared in many West German and Austrian musical films, especially after the rock and roll wave had hit Germa ...

* ''Berliner Jungens, die sind richtig'' * ''Unsere Stadt hört doch nicht am Brandenburger Tor auf''

Recordings

Album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s (selection): * Weiße Weihnacht 1975 (together with the Berliner Kammerchor, large Berlin Symphony Orchestra and organ, recorded in the

Rosary Basilica (Berlin) The Rosary Basilica (german: Rosenkranz-Basilika) is a Catholic church in Berlin-Steglitz. Designed by Christoph Hehl, professor of medieval architecture, the Neo-Romanesque-style building was completed in 1900. After surviving World War II with ...

, Berlin-Steglitz) * Deutsche Volkslieder (with

Richard Clayderman Richard Clayderman (; born Philippe Pagès , 28 December 1953 in Paris) is a French pianist who has released numerous albums including the compositions of Paul de Senneville, Olivier Toussaint and Marc Minier, instrumental renditions of popular ...

) 1988 * Gruß an Potsdam 1992 * Wir wollen Freunde sein – 50 Jahre Schöneberger Sängerknaben 1997 * Mach auf dein Herz zur Weihnachtszeit – Fröhliche Weihnachten with the Schöneberger Sängerknaben * Man muss mal ab und zu verreisen 2004 * Berliner Jungens, die sind richtig 2004 * Soundtrack: „Für immer Immenhof“, Bear-Family BCD 16644 AS, , with the music from the first three

Immenhof films The Immenhof films were a series of German Heimatfilm, ''Heimatfilme'' ("homeland films") that appeared in cinemas between 1955 and 1974. They were set on the fictitious farm estate of Immenhof in Schleswig-Holstein. First appearing in the 1950s a ...

, partly sung by the choir * Henze: ''

Der junge Lord ''Der junge Lord'' (''The Young Lord'') is an opera in two acts by Hans Werner Henze to a German libretto by Ingeborg Bachmann, after Wilhelm Hauff's 1827 fairy tale "Der Affe als Mensch" (The Ape as Man) from ''Der Scheik von Alessandria und sein ...

'', with Edith Mathis (Luise);

Donald Grobe Donald Roth Grobe (16 December 1929 – 1 April 1986) was an American tenor, lyric tenor who sang at the ''Deutsche Oper Berlin'' during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He made his début in Chicago, in 1952, as Borsa in ''Rigoletto''. He sang at his ...

(Wilhelm),

Barry McDaniel Barry McDaniel (October 18, 1930 – June 18, 2018) was an American operatic baritone who spent his career almost exclusively in Germany, including 37 years at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He appeared internationally at major opera houses and fe ...

(Secretary of Sir Edgar),

Loren Driscoll Loren Driscoll (April 14, 1928 – April 8, 2008) was an American tenor who had an active international career from the 1950s through the mid-1980s. Driscoll was particularly noted for his performances in contemporary operas and sang in many w ...

(Lord Barrat), Ruth Hesse (Frau von Hufnagel) und Vera Little (Begonia); Orchestra and choir of the

and the Schöneberger Sängerknaben, conductor:

Christoph von Dohnányi Christoph von Dohnányi (; born 8 September 1929) is a German conducting, conductor. Biography Youth and World War II Dohnányi was born in Berlin, Germany to Hans von Dohnanyi, a German jurist of Hungarian ancestry, and Christine von Dohnanyi ...

(in the world premiere production of Gustav Rudolf Sellner),

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

449 875-2 (double-CD) / Medici Arts 2072398 (DVD) 1967

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schoeneberger Saengerknaben German choirs Musical groups from Berlin 1947 establishments in Germany 2011 disestablishments in Germany