Gotthold Schwarz

Last updated

Gotthold Schwarz
Gotthold Schwarz am 20. Dezember 2015 in der Thomaskirche.JPG
Born (1952-05-02) 2 May 1952 (age 70)
Zwickau, Germany
Occupation
Organization

Gotthold Schwarz (born 2 May 1952 in Zwickau) is a German Bass-baritone and conductor. Based in Leipzig, he started as a member of the Thomanerchor and has conducted the Gewandhausorchester. [1] Between 2016 and 2021, he was the 17th Thomaskantor after Johann Sebastian Bach.

Contents

Biography

Schwarz was the son of the cantor of St. Paul Church in Zwickau, which gave him an early contact with music. He began his musical career in 1964 as a member of the Thomanerchor, [2] the boys' choir in Leipzig founded in 1212 [3] and directed by Johann Sebastian Bach, among others, as the Thomaskantor. Schwarz has collaborated with the choir since in several functions. After completion of a church music education at the College of Church Music in Dresden, he studied at the Hochschule für Musik "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" in Leipzig, voice with Gerda Schriever, organ with Wolfgang Schetelich  [ de ] and Hannes Kästner, and conducting with Max Pommer and Hans-Joachim Rotzsch. Later he studied privately with Peter Schreier, [2] Hermann Christian Polster and Helmuth Rilling. [4]

After graduation, he worked as a cantatas and oratorio singer. In 1979 he was appointed by Hans-Joachim Rotzsch as vocal coach of the Thomanerchor, serving also as a deputy and interim cantor in 1992, 1999 and 2002/03. [5] In 2011, he served as an interim conductor for Georg Christoph Biller. [6] Schwarz sang with conductors such as John Eliot Gardiner, Philippe Herreweghe, Peter Schreier, Martin Haselböck, and with ensembles including the Gewandhausorchester and the Dresdner Kreuzchor. He has performed at the Salzburg Festival, the Vienna Musikverein, and in the US, Finland and Japan. He recorded several Bach cantatas with Gardiner as part of the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage. With the Thomanerchor, conducted by Biller, he recorded Bach's cantatas Es erhub sich ein Streit, BWV 19, Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild, BWV 79, and Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80 , [7] the Mass in B minor [8] and the Vox Christi in the St John Passion . [9] He recorded Bach's solo cantatas for bass BWV 56, 82, and 158 with the Thomanerchor, conducted by Michael Schneider and his orchestra La Stagione. [10]

Increasingly, Schwarz has appeared as a conductor. He founded his own ensembles Concerto Vocale Leipzig in 1984 and the Sächsisches Barockorchester (Saxon Baroque Orchestra) in 1990. As a guest conductor he worked with the choir and orchestra of the Gewandhaus. In 1993, he founded with gambist Siegfried Pank and organist Hans Christoph Becker-Foss a baroque trio in order to perform mostly music of the Bach family, but also other Baroque music. [5]

Schwarz has been a teacher at the Hochschule für Musik "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" since 1986. [2] He was a juror of the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in 2004. [11] He resides in Leipzig.

On 9 June 2016 he was selected as Thomaskantor in a term lasting until 2021. [12] His successor was Andreas Reize. [13]

Related Research Articles

Peter Schreier German tenor and conductor

Peter Schreier was a German tenor in opera, concert and lied, and a conductor. He was regarded as one of the leading lyric tenors of the 20th century.

Thomanerchor Boys choir in Leipzig

The Thomanerchor is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. The choir comprises about 90 boys from 9 to 18 years of age. The members, called Thomaner, reside in a boarding school, the Thomasalumnat and attend the St. Thomas School, Leipzig, a Gymnasium school with a linguistic profile and a focus on musical education. The younger members attend the primary school Grundschule Forum Thomanum or Anna-Magdalena-Bach-Schule in der Manetstraße. Johann Sebastian Bach served as Thomaskantor, director of the choir and church music in Leipzig, from 1723 to 1750.

Kurt Thomas (composer) German composer

Kurt Georg Hugo Thomas was a German composer, conductor and music educator.

<i>Ein ungefärbt Gemüte</i>, BWV 24

Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Ein ungefärbt Gemüte, BWV 24 in Leipzig for the fourth Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 20 June 1723. It is the third new cantata of his first cantata cycle in Leipzig. The title has been translated more freely, for example as "An unstained mind", "An unblemished conscience", "An undisguised intention", and "An unsophisticated mind".

<i>Jesu, nun sei gepreiset</i>, BWV 41

Jesu, nun sei gepreiset, BWV 41, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig for New Year's Day and first performed it on 1 January 1725 as part of his second cantata cycle. It is based on the hymn by Johannes Hermann (1591).

Georg Christoph Biller German choral conductor (1955–2022)

Georg Christoph Biller was a German choral conductor. He conducted the Thomanerchor as the sixteenth Thomaskantor since Johann Sebastian Bach from 1992 to 2015. He was also a baritone, an academic teacher, and a composer. Active as Thomaskantor after the German reunification, Biller returned the Thomanerchor to its original focus on church music. He was instrumental in the new buildings for the choir's boarding school, the Forum Thomanum, and in the celebration of its 800th anniversary in 2012.

Hans-Joachim Rotzsch was a German choral conductor, conducting the Thomanerchor from 1972 until 1991 as the fifteenth Thomaskantor since Johann Sebastian Bach. He was also a tenor and an academic teacher.

Erhard Mauersberger

Erhard Mauersberger was a German choral conductor who conducted the Thomanerchor as the 14th Thomaskantor since Johann Sebastian Bach. He was also an academic teacher and composer.

Adele Stolte was a German soprano singer in concert and Lieder, and an academic voice teacher.

<i>Christen, ätzet diesen Tag</i>, BWV 63 Church cantata by J S Bach

Christen, ätzet diesen Tag, BWV 63, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the Christmas cantata for the First Day of Christmas, possibly in 1713 for the Liebfrauenkirche in Halle. He performed it again for his first Christmas as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, on 25 December 1723.

<i>Was mein Gott will, das gscheh allzeit</i>, BWV 111

Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit, BWV 111, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach for use in a Lutheran service. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig in 1725 for the third Sunday after Epiphany and first performed it on 21 January 1725, as part of his chorale cantata cycle. It is based on the hymn by Albert, Duke of Prussia, published in 1554, on the topic of the Christian's acceptance of God's will.

<i>Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt</i>, BWV 68

Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, BWV 68, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, a church cantata for the second day of Pentecost. Bach composed the cantata in Leipzig and first performed it on 21 May 1725. It is one of nine cantatas on texts by Christiana Mariana von Ziegler, which Bach composed at the end of his second annual cycle of cantatas in Leipzig. In a unique structure among Bach's church cantatas, it begins with a chorale and ends with a complex choral movement on a quotation from the Gospel of John. Bach derived the two arias from his Hunting Cantata.

Martin Lattke is a German tenor, performing as a soloist and former member of the ensemble amarcord.

Matthias Eisenberg

Matthias Eisenberg is a German concert organist and harpsichordist, and a cantor. The award-winning player is known for performing concerts with clarinetist Giora Feidman. He has performed and conducted master classes internationally. He recorded, including the complete organ works by J. S. Bach and improvisations, and has conducted Bach cantatas from the harpsichord in collaboration with the Thomanerchor.

Wolfgang Unger was a German conductor, especially a choral conductor, and an academic in Halle and Leipzig. He founded several choirs and focused on the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and his contemporaries. Like Bach, he directed the music at the University of Leipzig, called Leipziger Universitätsmusik.

Eberhard Büchner is a German operatic and concert tenor. He made his debut in 1964 as Tamino in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Mecklenburg State Theatre.

Gerda Schriever was a German contralto in oratorio and recital, and an academic teacher. She appeared for decades with the Thomanerchor in Leipzig, also recording and for broadcast. She appeared at international festivals. Schriever was an academic voice teacher at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig.

Bach composed Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1, as chorale cantata for the Marian feast of the Annunciation, for a first performance in a church service in Leipzig on 25 March 1725. The cantata, for soprano, tenor and bass soloists, four-part choir and Baroque orchestra, takes around 25 minutes to perform.

Regina Werner-Dietrich as Regina Werner) is a German operatic soprano and vocal pedagogue. She is professor emerita of classical singing at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig.

Andreas Reize Swiss organist and conductor, born 1975

Andreas Reize is a Swiss organist and conductor, with a focus on opera and choral conducting. He was appointed Thomaskantor on 11 September 2021, becoming the 18th director of music to take charge of the world famous Thomanerchor at Leipzig in succession to Johann Sebastian Bach.

References

  1. Continuo. 1996. p. 29.
  2. 1 2 3 "Gotthold Schwarz (Bass)". Bach Cantatas. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  3. "The Thomaner: Choir and School, a tradition of unity for 800 years". Leipzig. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  4. "Gotthold Schwarz (Leipzig) Bariton" (in German). Barocktrio Gotthold Schwarz. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Das Interview in Nr. 74 mit Gotthold Schwarz / "Natürlich ist auch jeder Thomaner ein Solist"" (in German). Gewandhaus . Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  6. "Interimskantor Gotthold Schwarz unterstützt Thomaner" (in German). dpa. 5 April 2011. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  7. "Thomanerchor Leipzig – Das Kirchenjahr mit Bach, Vol. 10: Reformation/Michaelistag · Reformation/Michaelmas Day – Cantatas BWV 19, 50, 79, 80 (#12)". Bach Cantatas. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  8. "J.S. Bach: Messe h-moll BWV 232 (#179)". Bach Cantatas. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  9. "J.S. Bach: Johannes-Passion BWV 245 (#166)". Bach Cantatas. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  10. "Bach: Kantaten · Cantatas BWV 82, BWV 158, BWV 56". Bach Cantatas. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  11. "Gotthold Schwarz" (in German). Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha. Archived from the original on 12 February 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  12. "Stadtrat beruft Gotthold Schwarz zum neuen Leipziger Thomaskantor". Leipziger Volkszeitung (in German). Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  13. "Andreas Reize ins Amt des Thomaskantors eingeführt" (in German). Stadt Leipzig. 11 September 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.