| Thomanerchor | |
|---|---|
| Choir | |
 | |
| Origin | Leipzig,Germany |
| Founded | 1212; 813 years ago (1212) |
| Genre | Choral, classical |
| Music director | Andreas Reize |
| Affiliation | St. Thomas Church, Leipzig |
| Website | www |
TheThomanerchor (English:St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig) is aboys' choir inLeipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. The choir comprises about 90 boys from 9 to 18 years of age. The members, calledThomaner, reside in aboarding school, theThomasalumnat and attend theSt. Thomas School, Leipzig, aGymnasium school with a linguistic profile and a focus on musical education. The younger members attend the primary schoolGrundschuleForum Thomanum orAnna-Magdalena-Bach-Schule.[1][2]Johann Sebastian Bach served asThomaskantor, director of the choir and church music in Leipzig, from 1723 to 1750.
Although the choir's main musical field traditionally consists of the vocal works ofJohann Sebastian Bach, the repertoire comprises pieces from different eras, from theRenaissance to contemporary music.Andreas Reize is the 18th Thomaskantor since Bach.
TheForum Thomanum is the campus of the choir in the Bach quarter of Leipzig. It was inaugurated in 2012 and includes theThomasalumnat (boarding school), kindergarten, primary school, high school, choir rehearsal space, Luther Church, youth hostel, administration buildings, gym, a rehearsal hall and more amenities.[3] Some critics[who?] contend that the Forum Thomanum project will change the way that theThomaner are instructed and recruited.
Most of the members of theThomanerchor live in theThomasalumnat on Hiller Street. The boys are separated into so-calledStuben rather than school classes. EachStube is not only a sleeping room, but also an administrative entity with a closed hierarchy and a clear assignment of tasks. One or more older choir boys live with the younger ones in eachStube in order to create a hierarchy and didactic relationship. Hence, the upbringing in the Thomanerchor is provided primarily by the older members, and the educators play a smaller role. Therefore, it is possible to have 90 boys living under one roof, supervised by only five educators. TheStuben are redistributed every year in order to maintain the age groupings and also to influence the social order in theStube.
TheStuben have only lockable wardrobes (Köte) and one table for each boy. The rooms also have other furnishings, namely shelves for books, newspapers and satchels, radios, plants and chairs. Televisions and computers are not allowed. EachStube consists of at least four rooms and a washroom with two showers, and each room has two to three beds.
TheThomasalumnat also has a gym, a rehearsal hall, and a dining hall where all boys eat together three times a day, a shop where the tailor sews the boys' suits for the concerts, an archive, a wing of the building for the teachers who live there, a room for the band, a model railway room, a fitness room, a living room for the older boys, a "press room" for the school's newspaper, a sauna, a library with computers and internet, an infirmary, and a television room. Communal restrooms are located on the hallway of eachStube.
The Thomanerchor gives concerts across Germany (at least two major tours a year) and abroad. The choir also sings three times a week in theThomaskirche, "Motette" every Friday evening at 6 and every Saturday afternoon at 3, service on Sundays at 9 o'clock. The choir also sings at Protestant festivities. The children have vacations during the summer school vacations.
The tour of 2012, the choir's 800th year, presented a program of Alessandro Scarlatti'sExultate Deo, Kyrie and Gloria from Palestrina'sMissa sine nomine, Bruckner's motetsVexilla regis andChristus factus est pro nobis, and Bach's motetJesu, meine Freude. It was performed, for example, on 6 July in theEberbach Abbey at theRheingau Musik Festival.
TheMargrave of Meissen founded St. Thomas' priory forAugustinian Canons (Augustiner-Chorherrenstift zu St. Thomas) in 1212. A school was annexed to the monastery, the intended purpose of which was to develop future priests. Since theReformation in 1539, the school and the choir have belonged to the city of Leipzig; it is also influenced by the Protestant Church ofSaxony. This makes the Thomanerchor the oldest cultural entity in the city and one of the oldest in Europe; theRegensburger Domspatzen is the oldest known choir on record.[4] WhenJohann Sebastian Bach served as director, the choir consisted of about 50 singers, of which the best 16 were used for performance of cantatas.[5] After Bach's death, other famous musicians served as director, among themDoles,Hiller andMoritz Hauptmann.
By the end of the 19th century, the Thomasschule next to the Thomaskirche was demolished and the choir moved to the Hiller street, now the Leipziger "Music Quarter". During theNazi era, the choir was incorporated into theHitler Jugend in 1937. But the Nazi government did not succeed in infiltrating their ideology into the choir's repertoire because the then director Ramin concentrated on religious works. He also tried to prevent the boys from being enlisted as long as possible.
Georg Christoph Biller, who was a Thomaner himself in his youth, directed the choir from 1992 to 2015. After retiring for health reasons, he was succeeded byGotthold Schwarz as interim cantor, the latter being officially appointed as the new Thomaskantor in June 2016.[6] The 18th Thomaskantor after Bach isAndreas Reize.
He resumed the traditional summer tours with a program calledSalmo!, after the opening pieceSalmo 150.[7] It was presented at the Thomaskirche,[8] and inMerseburg Cathedral[9] among other places in Thuringia, and at theLutherkirche in Wiesbaden as part of the Rheingau Musik Festival.[10]
Cantors of the Thomanerchor, called Thomaskantor in German, have included (in brackets their time in the office):
Awards:
State decorations:
Eponyms:
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