Tölzer Knabenchor
Encyclopedia
The Tölzer Knabenchor is a boys' choir
with roots in the Bavaria
n town of Bad Tölz
.
The choir group is still led by director and singing master Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden, who founded the choir in 1956 when he was only nineteen years old. The founder was once a student of Carl Orff
's and worked with him a few years. At the outset, the group was composed of 170 boys divided into several separate choirs. Children are admitted for entrance trials from second grade from schools in the Munich
area. The choir is not affiliated with any boarding school; the children are tutored in choir and individual lessons in Munich.
The repertoire covers vocal music
from the medieval
to the modern
, folk music
, madrigal
s and motet
s, church music
from the baroque
to the classical
, solo roles and opera
for children's choirs. Members of the choir have played the "Three boys" in Mozart
's Der Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute
) in numerous productions.
The choirs recruit most of their members from Munich, but still get some boys from the smaller town of Bad Tölz.
The group is actually composed of several choirs. Together, they or their individual members give more than 250 concerts and opera performances a year in many parts of the world, including countries such as Japan
, China
, Israel
, and the United States
, and multitudinous festivals.
The choir is run from Schmidt-Gaden's office in Drygalski-Allee in Munich.
, Benjamin Britten
, Joseph Haydn
, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
, Felix Mendelssohn
, Heinrich Schütz
, Carl Orff
, Orlando di Lasso, Gustav Mahler
and Robert Schumann
.
Some of the choirs' most popular recordings:
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
with roots in the Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n town of Bad Tölz
Bad Tölz
Bad Tölz is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and administrative center of the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen.- History :Since the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the Ice Age, archaeology has shown continuous occupation of the site of Bad Tölz...
.
The choir group is still led by director and singing master Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden, who founded the choir in 1956 when he was only nineteen years old. The founder was once a student of Carl Orff
Carl Orff
Carl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...
's and worked with him a few years. At the outset, the group was composed of 170 boys divided into several separate choirs. Children are admitted for entrance trials from second grade from schools in the Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
area. The choir is not affiliated with any boarding school; the children are tutored in choir and individual lessons in Munich.
The repertoire covers vocal music
Vocal music
Vocal music is a genre of music performed by one or more singers, with or without instrumental accompaniment, in which singing provides the main focus of the piece. Music which employs singing but does not feature it prominently is generally considered instrumental music Vocal music is a genre of...
from the medieval
Medieval music
Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...
to the modern
Modernism (music)
Modernism in music is characterized by a desire for or belief in progress and science, surrealism, anti-romanticism, political advocacy, general intellectualism, and/or a breaking with the past or common practice.- Defining musical modernism :...
, folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, madrigal
Madrigal (music)
A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....
s and motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
s, church music
Church music
Church music may be defined as music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclestiacal liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. This article covers music in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. For sacred music outside this...
from the baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
to the classical
Classical period (music)
The dates of the Classical Period in Western music are generally accepted as being between about 1750 and 1830. However, the term classical music is used colloquially to describe a variety of Western musical styles from the ninth century to the present, and especially from the sixteenth or...
, solo roles and opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
for children's choirs. Members of the choir have played the "Three boys" in Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Der Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
) in numerous productions.
The choirs recruit most of their members from Munich, but still get some boys from the smaller town of Bad Tölz.
The group is actually composed of several choirs. Together, they or their individual members give more than 250 concerts and opera performances a year in many parts of the world, including countries such as Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and multitudinous festivals.
The choir is run from Schmidt-Gaden's office in Drygalski-Allee in Munich.
Discography
The Tölzer Knabenchor has recorded numerous classical works, such as pieces by Johann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
, Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
, Heinrich Schütz
Heinrich Schütz
Heinrich Schütz was a German composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and often considered to be one of the most important composers of the 17th century along with Claudio Monteverdi...
, Carl Orff
Carl Orff
Carl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...
, Orlando di Lasso, Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
and Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
.
Some of the choirs' most popular recordings:
- Der Tölzer Knabenchor singt seine größten Erfolge
- Frühling, Sommer, Herbst und Winter
- Der Tölzer Knabenchor singt seine schönsten Volkslieder
- Lieder der Alpen
- Das Wandern ist des Müllers Lust
- Volkslieder mit Robert Stolz
- Volkslieder mit Herman Prey
- Hoppe Hoppe Reiter – Die schönsten Kinderlieder
- Altbayerische Weihnacht
- Bergweihnacht
- Ihr Kinderlein kommetIhr Kinderlein kommet"Ihr Kinderlein, kommet" is a German Christmas carol.The lyrics were written by Catholic priest and writer Christoph von Schmid in 1798. His poem, titled "Die Kinder bei der Krippe" , had originally eight verses and was first published in 1811...
/Christkind kommt bald
External links
- Official home page (German) with a concert schedule
- Vituelis's home page (German) contains a wide array of pictures from concerts
- The boy-choir article from Almost Angels provides a 1983 telecast of Land der Lieder for download
- Unofficial blog. (Spanish).
- Concerts Archive