Thomaskantor(Cantor at St. Thomas) is the common name for the musical director of theThomanerchor,now an internationally knownboys' choirfounded inLeipzigin 1212. The official historic title of the Thomaskantor in Latin,Cantor et Director Musices,describes the two functions ofcantorand director. As the cantor, he prepared the choir for service in fourLutheranchurches,Thomaskirche(St. Thomas),Nikolaikirche(St. Nicholas),Neue Kirche(New Church) andPeterskirche(St. Peter). As director, he organized music for city functions such as town council elections and homages. Functions related to the university took place at thePaulinerkirche. Johann Sebastian Bachwas the most famousThomaskantor,from 1723 to 1750.
| ThomaskantorofThomanerchor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Director of music |
| Reports to | Leipzig |
| Formation | 1518 |
| First holder | Georg Rhau |
Position
editLeipzig has had auniversitydating back to 1409, and is a commercial center, hosting atrade fairfirst mentioned in 1165. It has been mostly Lutheran since theReformation.The position of Thomaskantor at Bach's time has been described as "one of the most respected and influential musical offices of Protestant Germany.[1]
The readings and required music of the Lutheran services in Leipzig were regulated in detail. The Church Book (Complete Church / Book / Containing / The Gospels and Epistles / For Every Feast-, Sun-, and Apostle Day Of the Entire Year...) lists the prescribed readings, repeated every year.[2]The church year began with the First Sunday inAdventand was divided in feast days, fasting periods and the feast-less time afterTrinity Sunday.For music, there was mainly no concert music such as acantataduring the fasting times of Advent and Lent. Modest music was performed during the second half of the church year, and rich music with more complex instrumentation and more services per day on feast days. Christmas, Easter and Pentecost were celebrated for three days each, and many other feast days were observed.[3]The library of St. Thomas contained works in vocal polyphony from the fifteenth century onward.[4]
The Thomaskantor reported to the city council, the rector of the Thomasschule and the churchsuperintendent.[5]He had the duty to prepare the choir for service in the city's fourLutheranchurches:[6]the main churchesThomaskirche(St. Thomas) and theNikolaikirche(St. Nicholas),[7]and also theNeue Kirche(New Church) and thePeterskirche(St. Peter).[8][9]
As cantor, the Thomaskantor had to compose and take care of copying, rehearsals and performances.[10]He also had to teach music and general subjects.[6]He took part in the admission process for new students tothe school.[11]The choir was divided in groups: the most advanced singers performed a cantata every Sunday, alternating between St. Thomas and St. Nicholas, a second group sang at the other church, beginners on feast days at the smaller churches. On high holidays, the cantata was performed in both churches, a morning service in one and avespers servicein the other. To earn additional funding, the choir performed also for weddings and funerals.[12]
As director of music, the Thomaskantor was Leipzig's "senior musician", responsible for the music on official occasions such as town council elections and homages.[6]Functions related to the university took place at thePaulinerkirche.
Today, theThomaskantorleads the music in services at the Thomaskirche, including weekly afternoon services called Motette which often contain aBach cantata.He also conducts the choir in recordings and on tours.
-
Thomaskirche,
1885 -
Nikolaikirche,ca. 1850 -
Neue Kirche,
1749 -
Peterskirche,before 1886 -
Paulinerkirche,
1749
Known holders of the position
editThe following table shows the names of the known people in the position, and their time of service, in chronological order from the Reformation to now.
| No. | No. after Bach | Image | Name | Tenure | Born | Died | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
Georg Rhau | 1518–1520 | c. 1488 inEisfeld |
6 August 1548 inWittenberg |
||
| 2 | Johannes Galliculus | 1520–1525 | c. 1490 inDresden |
c. 1550 inLeipzig |
|||
| 3 | Valerian Hüffeler | 1526–1530 | |||||
| 4 | Johannes Hermann | 1531–1536 | 1515 inZittau |
22 April 1593 inFreiberg |
|||
| 5 | Wolfgang Jünger | 1536–1539 | c. 1517 inSayda |
4 March 1564 inGroßschirma |
|||
| 6 | Johannes Bruckner | 1539–1540 | |||||
| 7 | Ulrich Lange | 1540–1549 | 1549 inLeipzig |
||||
| 8 | Wolfgang Figulus | 1549–1551 | c. 1525 inNaumburg |
1589 inMeißen |
|||
| 9 | Melchior Heger | 1553–1564 | in Brüx (today Most) | ||||
| 10 | Valentin Otto | 1564–1594 | 1529 in Markkleeberg |
April 1594 | |||
| 11 | 
|
Sethus Calvisius | 1594–1615 | 21 February 1556 in Gorsleben |
24 November 1615 inLeipzig |
||
| 12 | 
|
Johann Hermann Schein | 1615–1630 | 20 January 1586 inGrünhain |
19 November 1630 inLeipzig |
||
| 13 | Tobias Michael | 1631–1657 | 13 June 1592 inDresden |
26 June 1657 inLeipzig |
|||
| 14 | Sebastian Knüpfer | 1657–1676 | 6 September 1633 in Asch |
10 October 1676 inLeipzig |
|||
| 15 | Johann Schelle | 1677–1701 | 6 September 1648 in Geising |
10 March 1701 inLeipzig |
|||
| 16 | 
|
Johann Kuhnau | 1701–1722 | 6 April 1660 in Geising |
5 June 1722 inLeipzig |
||
| 17[a] | 
|
Johann Sebastian Bach | 1723–1750 | 21 March 1685 inEisenach |
28 July 1750 inLeipzig |
||
| 18 | 1 | Gottlob Harrer | 1750–1755 | 1703 inGörlitz |
9 July 1755 inKarlsbad |
||
| 19 | 2 | 
|
Johann Friedrich Doles | 1756–1789 | 23 April 1715 inSteinbach-Hallenberg |
8 February 1797 inLeipzig |
Longest-serving in the role. |
| 20 | 3 | 
|
Johann Adam Hiller | 1789–1801 | 25 December 1728 inWendisch-Ossig |
16 June 1804 inLeipzig |
1781–1785Gewandhauskapellmeister |
| 21 | 4 | 
|
August Eberhard Müller | 1801–1810 | 13 December 1767 inNortheim |
3 December 1817 inWeimar |
1810–1817Großherzoglich-Sächsischer Hofkapellmeister |
| 22 | 5 | 
|
Johann Gottfried Schicht | 1810–1823 | 29 September 1753 inReichenau |
16 February 1823 inLeipzig |
|
| 23 | 6 | Christian Theodor Weinlig | 1823–1842 | 25 July 1780 inDresden |
7 March 1842 inLeipzig |
1814–1817Kreuzkantor | |
| 24 | 7 | 
|
Moritz Hauptmann | 1842–1868 | 13 October 1792 inDresden |
3 January 1868 inLeipzig |
|
| 25 | 8 | 
|
Ernst Friedrich Richter | 1868–1879 | 24 October 1808 inGroßschönau |
9 April 1879 inLeipzig |
|
| 26 | 9 | 
|
Wilhelm Rust | 1880–1892 | 15 August 1822 inDessau |
2 May 1892 inLeipzig |
|
| 27 | 10 | 
|
Gustav Schreck | 1893–1918 | 8 September 1849 inZeulenroda |
22 January 1918 inLeipzig |
|
| 28 | 11 | 
|
Karl Straube | 1918–1939 | 6 January 1873 inBerlin |
27 April 1950 inLeipzig |
|
| 29 | 12 | 
|
Günther Ramin | 1939–1956 | 15 October 1898 inKarlsruhe |
27 February 1956 inLeipzig |
|
| 30 | 13 | 
|
Kurt Thomas | 1957–1960 | 25 May 1904 inTönning |
31 March 1973 inBad Oeynhausen |
|
| 31 | 14 | Erhard Mauersberger | 1961–1972 | 29 December 1903 inMauersberg/ Marienberg |
11 December 1982 inLeipzig |
||
| 32 | 15 | Hans-Joachim Rotzsch | 1972–1991 | 25 April 1929 inLeipzig |
24 September 2013 inLeipzig |
||
| 33 | 16 | 
|
Georg Christoph Biller | 1992–2015 | 20 September 1955 inNebra |
27 January 2022 | |
| 34 | 17 | 
|
Gotthold Schwarz | 2016–2021 | 2 May 1952 inZwickau |
||
| 35 | 18 | Andreas Reize | 2021 | 19 May 1975 inSolothurn,Switzerland |
First Swiss and the first Catholic |
Notes
edit- ^Bach could theoretically be considered the 18th Thomaskantor, as after Kuhnau's death on 11 August 1723, the Leipzig city council proposedGeorg Philipp Telemannas his successor. Telemann, however, was alreadyKantorat the local Johanneum Lateinschule inHamburg;he immediately negotiated a salary rise with their city council, thus remaining in that post until his death.[13]After Telemann declined Leipzig council's offer, a new list of candidates was proposed, headed byKauffmannand A.C. Tufen, thenGraupnerand finally Bach. Even though Graupner was formally approved by the Leipzig council, he could not take up the post, because his resignation as courtHofkapellmeisterwas refused by theLandgrave of Darmstadt.[14]
References
edit- ^Wolff 1991,p. 8.
- ^Petzoldt 2013,p. 1.
- ^Petzoldt 2013,p. 5–6.
- ^Wolff 1991,p. 93.
- ^Wolff 1991,p. 38.
- ^abcWolff 1991,p. 30.
- ^Dürr 1971,p. 219.
- ^Peter 2015.
- ^Wolff 2002,p. 251–252.
- ^Wolff 1991,p. 39.
- ^Wolff 2002,p. 247.
- ^Wolff 2002,p. 246.
- ^Basso, Alberto (2018).Frau Musika, la vita e le opere di J.S. Bach, 1: le origini familiari, l'ambiente luterano, gli anni giovanili, Weimar e Köthen (1685–1723)(in Italian). Torino: EDT. p. 547.ISBN978-88-592-4742-5.OCLC1043531226.
- ^Wolff 2002,p. 224.
Bibliography
edit- Dürr, Alfred(1971).Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach(in German). Vol. 1. Bärenreiter-Verlag.OCLC523584.
- Petzoldt, Martin(2013)."Liturgy and Music in Leipzig's Main Churches"(PDF)(in German). bach-cantatas.com.
- Wolff, Christoph(1991).Bach: Essays on His Life and Music.Harvard University Press.ISBN978-0-674-05926-9.
- Wolff, Christoph(2002).Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician.W. W. Norton & Company.ISBN978-0-393-32256-9.
- "Peterskirche Leipzig / Geschichte"(in German). St. Peter, Leipzig. 2015.Retrieved22 January2015.
- Stefan Altner:Das Thomaskantorat im 19. Jahrhundert. Bewerber und Kandidaten für das Leipziger Thomaskantorat in den Jahren 1842 bis 1918. Quellenstudien zur Entwicklung des Thomaskantorats und des Thomanerchors vom Wegfall der öffentlichen Singumgänge 1837 bis zur ersten Auslandsreise 1920.Passage-Verlag, Leipzig 2006,ISBN3-938543-15-9.
- Johann Gottfried Stallbaum:Über den innern Zusammenhang musikalischer Bildung der Jugend mit dem Gesammtzwecke des Gymnasiums. Eine Inauguralrede, nebst biographischen Nachrichten über die Cantoren an der Thomasschule zu Leipzig.Fritzsche, Leipzig 1842.
- Corinna Wörner:Zwischen Anpassung und Resistenz. Der Thomanerchor Leipzig in zwei politischen Systemen.Studien und Materialien zur Musikwissenschaft, Bd. 123.Georg Olms Verlag,Hildesheim 2023.(Abstract)ISBN 978-3-487-16232-4.
External links
edit- Ordnung / Der Schule / zu S. Thomæ,Leipzig 1723 (PDF, in German)
- The Leipzig City Council’s Statutes for St. Thomas School,Leipzig 1723 (PDF)