The Schöneberger Sängerknaben were a German boys' choir 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 ...

, Heinz Tietjen, brought the choir into his house and engaged it for the performance of the opera Tannhäuser 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 () is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of stage works by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a special ...

, 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 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 is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 28 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 s ...

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

Recordings

Album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

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

) 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, partly sung by the choir * Henze: '' Der junge Lord'', with

Edith Mathis Edith Mathis (; 11 February 19389 February 2025) was a Swiss soprano known for her roles in List of operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart's operas. Early in her career, Cherubino in ''Le nozze di Figaro'' was her signature role that she perf ...

(Luise); Donald Grobe (Wilhelm), Barry McDaniel (Secretary of Sir Edgar), Loren Driscoll (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 Dohnan ...

(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