Thomaskantor

Thomaskantor of Thomanerchor
Incumbent
Georg Christoph Biller
since 1992 (– 2015)
Type Director of music
Reports to Leipzig
Formation 1518 (1518)
First holder Georg Rhau

Thomaskantor (Cantor at St. Thomas) is the common name for the musical director of the Thomanerchor, now an internationally known boys' choir founded in Leipzig in 1212. The official historic title in Latin, Cantor et Director Musices describes the two functions of cantor and director. As the cantor, he had to prepare the choir for service in four Lutheran churches, Thomaskirche (St. Thomas), Nikolaikirche (St. Nicholas), Neue Kirche (New Church) and Peterskirche (St. Peter). As director, he had to organise music for city functions such as town council elections and homages. Functions related to the university took place at the Paulinerkirche. Johann Sebastian Bach was the most famous Thomaskantor, from 1723 to 1750.

Position

Leipzig has a university dating back to 1409, and is a commercial center, hosting a trade fair first mentioned in 1165. It was mostly Lutheran since the Reformation. 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 services in Lutheran Leipzig, their readings and required music 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 reading, repeated every year.[2] The church year began with the First Sunday in Advent and was divided in feast days, fasting periods and the feast-less time after Trinity Sunday. In music, there was mainly no concert music such as a cantata during 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 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 official historic title in Latin of the Thomaskantor is Cantor et Director Musices[5] (Cantor and Director of Music), describing two functions, cantor and director. The Thomaskantor had to report to the city council, the rector of the Thomasschule and the church superintendent.[6] He had the duty to prepare the choir for service in the city's four Lutheran churches,[7] the main churches Thomaskirche (St. Thomas) and the Nikolaikirche (St. Nicholas),[8] but also the Neue Kirche (New Church) and the Peterskirche (St. Peter).[9][10]

As cantor, the Thomaskantor had to compose and take care of copying, rehearsals and performances.[11] He also had to teach, both music and general subjects.[7] He had to take part in the admission process for new students to the school.[12] 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, in a morning service in one, in a vespers service in the other. The choir performed also for weddings and funerals, to earn additional funding.[13]

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.[7] Functions related to the university took place at the Paulinerkirche.

Today, the Thomaskantor leads the music in services at the Thomaskirche, including weekly afternoon services called Motette which often contain a Bach cantata. He also conducts the choir in recordings and on tours.

Known holders of the position

The 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 1488 c. 1488
in Eisfeld		 1548 6 August 1548
in Wittenberg
2 Johannes Galliculus 1518–1520 1490 c. 1490
in Dresden		 1550 c. 1550
in Leipzig
3 Valerian Hüffeler 1526–1530 1500 1550
4 Johannes Hermann 1531–1536 1515 1515
in Zittau		 1593 22 April 1593
in Freiberg
5 Wolfgang Jünger 1536–1539 1517 c. 1517
in Sayda		 1564 4 March 1564
in Großschirma
6 Johannes Bruckner 1539–1540 1501 1549
7 Ulrich Lange 1540–1549 1502 1549 1549
in Leipzig
8 Wolfgang Figulus 1549–1551 1525 c. 1525
in Naumburg		 1589 1589
in Meißen
9 Melchior Heger 1553–1564 1520 in Brüx (today Most) 1564
10 Valentin Otto 1564–1594 1529 1529
in Markkleeberg		 1594 April 1594
11 Sethus Calvisius 1594–1615 1556 21 February 1556
in Gorsleben		 1615 24 November 1615
in Leipzig
12 Johann Hermann Schein 1615–1630 1586 20 January 1586
in Grünhain		 1630 19 November 1630
in Leipzig
13 Tobias Michael 1631–1657 1592 13 June 1592
in Dresden		 1657 26 June 1657
in Leipzig
14 Sebastian Knüpfer 1657–1676 1633 6 September 1633
in Asch		 1676 10 October 1676
in Leipzig
15 Johann Schelle 1677–1701 1648 6 September 1648
in Geising		 1701 10 March 1701
in Leipzig
16 Johann Kuhnau 1701–1722 1660 6 April 1660
in Geising		 1722 5 June 1722
in Leipzig
17 Johann Sebastian Bach 1723–1750 1685 21 March 1685
in Eisenach		 1750 28 July 1750
in Leipzig
18 1 Johann Gottlob Harrer 1750–1755 1703 1703
in Görlitz		 1755 9 July 1755
in Karlsbad
19 2 Johann Friedrich Doles 1756–1789 1755 23 April 1715
in Steinbach-Hallenberg		 1797 8 February 1797
in Leipzig
20 3 Johann Adam Hiller 1789–1801 1728 25 December 1728
in Wendisch-Ossig		 1804 16 June 1804
in Leipzig		 1781–1785 Gewandhauskapellmeister
21 4 August Eberhard Müller 1801–1810 1767 13 December 1767
in Northeim		 1817 3 December 1817
in Weimar		 1810–1817 Großherzoglich-Sächsischer Hofkapellmeister
22 5 Johann Gottfried Schicht 1810–1823 1753 29 September 1753
in Reichenau		 1823 16 February 1823
in Leipzig
23 6 Christian Theodor Weinlig 1823–1842 1780 25 July 1780
in Dresden		 1842 7 March 1842
in Leipzig		 1814–1817 Kreuzkantor
24 7 Moritz Hauptmann 1842–1868 1792 13 October 1792
in Dresden		 1868 3 January 1868
in Leipzig
25 8 Ernst Friedrich Richter 1868–1879 1808 24 October 1808
in Großschönau		 1879 9 April 1879
in Leipzig
26 9 Wilhelm Rust 1880–1892 1822 15 August 1822
in Dessau		 1892 2 May 1892
in Leipzig
27 10 Gustav Schreck 1893–1918 1849 8 September 1849
in Zeulenroda		 1918 22 January 1918
in Leipzig
28 11 Karl Straube 1918–1939 1873 6 January 1873
in Berlin		 1950 27 April 1950
in Leipzig
29 12 Günther Ramin 1939–1956 1898 15 October 1898
in Karlsruhe		 1956 27 February 1956
in Leipzig
30 13 Kurt Thomas 1957–1960 1904 25 May 1904
in Tönning		 1937 31 March 1973
in Bad Oeynhausen
31 14 Erhard Mauersberger 1961–1972 1903 29 December 1903
in Mauersberg / Marienberg		 1982 11 December 1982
in Leipzig
32 15 Hans-Joachim Rotzsch 1972–1991 1929 25 April 1929
in Leipzig		 2013 2013
33 16 Georg Christoph Biller 1992–2015 1955 20 September 1955
in Nebra		 2055

References

Bibliography

External links

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