Bach’s living link in 800-year-old choir

Trophy news fromtheage.com.au…

Bach’s living link in 800-year-old choir

trophies

OHANN Sebastian Bach dominates the city of Leipzig almost as much as he dominates the history of German music. An imposing black marble statue of the composer looks down on pedestrians outside the historic St Thomas Church in the city’s centre, gazing across a plaza to the Bach archive and museum where his original scores are kept.

Another link to the present is the world’s oldest choir, Leipzig’s 800-year-old Thomanerchor, which still performs Bach’s music in St Thomas’ every week. “We are the only living connection with Bach,” said the choir’s managing director, Dr Stefan Altner, as he prepared to bring 55 youths on a three-week tour to Singapore, Sydney and Melbourne.

Bach was the kantor (director of music) at St Thomas’ for nearly 30 years from 1723, living with his family in the same building as the members of the choir. His portrait looks out over the choir’s rehearsal room where the 95 boys aged from nine to 18 gather after school each day to practise for about two hours.

The choir’s first Melbourne concert will be tomorrow in an a cappella performance of music by Bach and another Leipzig native, Felix Mendelssohn, at the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall at 3pm. This will be followed by performances of Bach’s St John Passion with the Melbourne Symphony, conducted by Oleg Caetani, on March 19 and 21, with a Geelong performance on March 20.

Altner said it is a rare honour for Caetani, as it will be only the second time the choir has performed without its regular conductor, kantor Georg Christoph Biller.

The Melbourne visit will coincide with Bach’s birthday on March 21, and Altner hopes to do something special to mark the occasion.

The choir usually stays in hotels but in Melbourne the boys will be staying with host families and a soccer match is planned with a team from Scotch College.

“The boys spend a lot of time with music but of course they are just as interested in playing football as others their age,” he said. A cabinet in the rehearsal room proudly displays their soccer trophies alongside a ball.

The choir was formed in 1212, when Leipzig had just received its town charter. But after the Reformation in 1539, the choir’s reputation spread and the city became an important centre for musical culture. The Gewandhaus Orchestra, which gave its first performance in 1781, is Germany’s oldest and performs weekly with the choir.

Music from all ages is included in the choir’s performances, and Altner said a choice is made every year about which composers will feature alongside Bach.

But Bach’s cantatas, which he wrote to be performed every week in St Thomas Church, remain the core of the choir’s repertoire. They played a key role when the Nazi and communist regimes ruled Leipzig.

“Both regimes wanted to remove the choir from the church but Bach wrote mostly Christian music,” Altner said.

“Bach can hardly be dismissed because he is a crucial representative of German culture.”

Because of this continuity, there is no record of any break in the tradition of weekly performances during the choir’s 800-year history. “Leipzig was heavily bombed in 1943 and the choir’s school was destroyed, although St Thomas Church survived apart from some fires in its roof.”

The choir moved to the countryside for the last two years of the war but returned to perform in the church every week. The choir is now run by the city and is expanding into adjoining buildings to create more space for administration. The future seems as secure as its glorious past.

Thomanerchor Leipzig performs a cappella at the Melbourne Recital Centre at 3pm tomorrow. Book on 9699 3333. Bach’s St John Passion will be performed with the Melbourne Symphony under Oleg Caetani on March 19 and 21, and in Geelong on March 20. Book on 9929 9600.

Originally posted by Robin Usher.