Music stories

Did you know where Handel lived and worked in London? Or why Mozart composed his C Minor Mass? In this section you will find fascinating articles on interesting connections between choral works and composers.
English Music Festivals Banner EN
Barbara Mohn

It all started with Handel…

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Georg Frideric Handel is the creator of the English oratorio. When he first staged his Esther as a religious drama without scenic action at the King’s Theatre in London in 1732, it marked the beginning of an unparalleled success story. Opera audiences were so enthusiastic about the new genre that from that time onwards Handel, who was not only a composer but also a theater manager, filled his opera houses with oratorios based on biblical themes. Performances of the Messiah and later of other oratorios too for charitable purposes were one of the central driving forces behind the development of the great music festivals that were held from the early eighteenth century onwards.

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Casals: El Pessebre
Lorenz Adamer

Pablo Casals: El Pessebre (Christmas Oratorio)

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A musical memorial for peace and humanity: Casals was so impressed by the power of the verses that he immediately began setting the poem to music. With this background in mind, it is easy to understand why Alavedra’s “Poema del Pessebre” goes far beyond a jubilant and joyful Christmas message.

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Banner C.P.E. Bach and Empfindsamkeit
Uwe Wolf

Passion Music in Flux

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C.P.E. Bach and the sentimental style: Musical tastes began to change as early as the 1730s, favoring the so-called Empfindsam (“sentimental”) style, which placed a premium on authentic (i.e. not stylized) feelings, naturalness, and simplicity. This becomes especially clear when we look at Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s oratorio passions.

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Lorenz Adamer

Anton Bruckner’s Mass in F Minor

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A Monument of Sacred Music: The work is dedicated to Anton Ritter Imhof von Geißlinghof, an important supporter of Bruckner’s in the Office of the Court Chamberlain. In a letter to the dedicatee, Bruckner emphasized that he had taken “the greatest trouble” in composing the mass. In the early biographies of Bruckner, reference is made to his spiritual inspirations in an anecdotal way.

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Guido Johannes Joerg

Orchestral splendor & operatic melodies

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Church music by Italian opera composers of the 19th century: While opera was clearly at the heart of music in Italy – it was the only way to achieve national renown – church music was certainly more present in the daily lives of the people. Most churches maintained choirs and orchestras, performing pieces written by professional church music directors, who also raised the next generation of musicians and composers.

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CREDO en
Stefan Klöckner

CREDO … I believe

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If today – 1700 years after the creation of the Nicene creed – we intensively study and listen to its settings, then this is perhaps less as an aural manifestation of the Christian faith or an attempt to distinguish “true” religious tenets from false or different beliefs. Instead, the focus today is more on the musical exploration of various urgent questions facing humanity that transcend all religions and denominations, and which have been rendered into sound by composers throughout the ages: Why am I here? What is guilt and what is redemption? What will happen after my death?

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Missa Papae Marcelli
Adrian Büttemeier

Five hundred years of timeless beauty

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For me, Palestrina’s music is like a balm for the senses and the soul. Regardless of whether I’m singing, playing or conducting, a few clean chords or an intensely shaped line can touch me, sweep me away and bring me a unique form of happiness. I’m always impressed by the ingenious combination of tonal beauty, spiritual depth and musical/textual clarity in his work.

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Marc Rigaudière

Ravel and the Rome Prize

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In the case of Ravel’s composition L’Aurore (Carus 10.407), submitted in 1905, the poet was Édouard Guinand, an author who had already provided the text for the cantata L’Enfant prodigue in 1884, with which Claude Debussy won first prize. L’Aurore describes an idyllic view of nature at sunrise and celebrates the sun almost as a deity for its beneficial influence on nature and mankind.

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Choral Music Composed by Women_en
Barbara Mohn, Reiner Leister

Women who write musical history

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Today the biggest pop stars in the world are women. Beyoncé, of course, and above all Taylor Swift, Adele, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus and, in Germany, Shirin David and Helene Fischer. They don’t just inspire the masses musically with their songs; they also influence politics and society. Why is it so different in the world of classical music and so-called high culture?

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Missa Papae Marcelli
Francesco Saggio

The Missa Papae Marcelli and its context

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The origin of the myth surrounding the mass dates back to 1607, when the musician and theorist Agostino Agazzari, in his treatise on the basso continuo, directly relates the composition of the Papae Marcelli to the issue of the intelligibility of the text in polyphonic works. Although it was then taken up even more decisively by Adriano Banchieri and Ludovico Cresolli, this cause-and-effect relationship has, however, no historical foundation, except for the temporal coincidence between its composition and the events relating to the Council of Trent.

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