The Bachchor Mainz is a mixed choir in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

, Germany, founded in 1955 by

Diethard Hellmann Diethard Hellmann (28 December 1928 – 14 October 1999) was a German Kantor and an academic in Leipzig, Mainz and Munich. Professional career Born in Grimma, Dietmann Hellmann was a member of the Thomanerchor. He studied church music in Leipzig ...

who directed it for 30 years, focused on works by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

and other Baroque composers. His successor

Ralf Otto Ralf Otto (born 1956) is a German conductor, especially known as a choral conductor and academic teacher. He founded the Vokalensemble Frankfurt, focused on contemporary music and winning competitions including Let the Peoples Sing. Since 1986, he ...

expanded the repertoire, especially by rarely performed contemporary music, and made the group known internationally.

History

The Bachchor Mainz was founded by

in 1955. He conducted the group for 30 years, initiating a series of weekly

Bach cantata The cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, known as Bach cantatas ( German: ), are a body of work consisting of over 200 surviving independent works, and at least several dozen that are considered lost. As far as known, Bach's earliest ca ...

s in collaboration with the broadcaster. His successor included rarely performed works, especially contemporary music, but also pursued historically informed performances of older music. The choir worked with conductors such as

Eliahu Inbal Eliahu Inbal (born 16 February 1936, Jerusalem) is an Israeli conductor. Inbal studied violin at the Israeli Academy of Music and took composition lessons with Paul Ben-Haim. Upon hearing him there, Leonard Bernstein endorsed a scholarship for ...

Michael Gielen Michael Andreas Gielen (20 July 19278 March 2019) was an Austrian conductor and composer known for promoting contemporary music in opera and concert. Principally active in Europe, his performances are characterized by precision and vivacity, ai ...

Enoch zu Guttenberg Georg Enoch Robert Prosper Philipp Franz Karl Theodor Maria Heinrich Johannes Luitpold Hartmann Gundeloh Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg (29 July 1946 – 15 June 2018) was a German conductor. He also owned the large winery estate Weingut Reichsra ...

Péter Eötvös Péter Eötvös ( hu, Eötvös Péter, ; born 2 January 1944) is a Hungarian composer, conductor and teacher. Eötvös was born in Székelyudvarhely, Transylvania, then part of Hungary, now Romania. He studied composition in Budapest and Colog ...

Georges Prêtre Georges Prêtre (; 14 August 1924 – 4 January 2017) was a French orchestral and opera conductor. Biography Prêtre was born in Waziers ( Nord), and attended the Douai Conservatory and then studied harmony under Maurice Duruflé and conducting ...

Peter Schreier Peter Schreier (29 July 1935 – 25 December 2019) 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. Schreier was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor conducte ...

Ádám Fischer Ádám Fischer (born 9 September 1949 in Budapest) is a Hungarian conductor. He is the general music director of the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, chief conductor of the Danish Chamber Orchestra, and chief conductor of the Düsseldorfer Sym ...

Sylvain Cambreling Sylvain Cambreling (born 2 July 1948 in Amiens, France) is a French conductor. Biography Trained as a trombone player, Cambreling studied at the Paris Conservatoire. He joined l' Orchestre Symphonique de Lyon (OSL) as a trombonist in 1971. In 197 ...

Riccardo Chailly Riccardo Chailly (, ; born 20 February 1953) is an Italian conductor. He is currently music director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, since 2016, and music director of La Scala, since 2017. Prior to this, he held chief conducting position ...

and

Philippe Jordan Philippe Jordan (born 18 October 1974) is a Swiss conductor and pianist. Biography Born in Zürich, the son of conductor Armin Jordan, he began to study piano at the age of six. At age eight, he joined the Zürcher Sängerknaben. He has ackn ...

Concerts

The Bachchor Mainz has performed regularly on tours in Germany and abroad, including France, Israel, Poland, Spain, and South America. It has performed regularly in the Philharmonische Konzerte at the Opernhaus Zürich since 1992. In 2003 it was ranked as best choir of the year by the association of critics in Argentina. The choir participated in festivals such as

Rheingau Musik Festival The (RMF) is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres. Concerts take place at culturally important locations, such as Eberbach Abbey and Schloss Johannisberg, ...

, (singing in the opening concerts of 2013, 2015 and 2018),

Weilburger Schlosskonzerte ' (Weilburg schloss concerts) is the name of an annual summer music festival held in and around Schloss Weilburg in Weilburg, Hesse, Germany. The festival of regional importance was founded in 1972 and presents around 40 concerts of classical mus ...

Festival Europäische Kirchenmusik The Festival Europäische Kirchenmusik (European Church Music Festival) (in short: EKM) is a German music festival held annually in July and August since 1989 in Schwäbisch Gmünd. The festival is attended by over 15,000 visitors each season. The p ...

Schwäbisch Gmünd Schwäbisch Gmünd (, until 1934: Gmünd; Swabian: ''Gmẽẽd'' or ''Gmend'') is a city in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 60,000, the city is the second largest in the Ostalb district a ...

Echternach Music Festival The Echternach Music Festival was an international event which was held in May and June every year between 1975 and 2018 at Echternach in the east of Luxembourg. In addition to classical music, modern compositions were performed in the 18th ce ...

and the

Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden The Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden (International May Festival, IMF) is a theater festival in Wiesbaden, Germany. Established in the late 19th century after the Bayreuth Festival, the festival is one of the most distinguished internationa ...

. In October 2018, the Bachchor Mainz performed the world premiere

Gerhard Müller-Hornbach Gerhard Müller-Hornbach (born 26 February 1951 as Gerhard Müller) is a German composer, conductor and music teacher. Life Müller-Hornbach was born in Hornbach. From 1981 to 2016, as professor for composition and music theory, he taught at t ...

oratorio ''Im Spiegel der Angst'', a commission of the

Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau The Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau (german: Evangelische Kirche in Hessen und Nassau, EKHN) is a United Protestant church body in the German states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate. There is no bishop and therefore no cathedral. One of it ...

on the occasion of 500 years

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

in 2017.

Recordings

In 2017, the Bachchor Mainz began a series of CDs of Bach's major works, the ''

St John Passion The ''Passio secundum Joannem'' or ''St John Passion'' (german: Johannes-Passion, link=no), BWV 245, is a Passion or oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, the older of the surviving Passions by Bach. It was written during his first year as dire ...

'', the ''

St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (german: Matthäus-Passion, links=-no), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets ...

'', the ''

Christmas Oratorio The ''Christmas Oratorio'' (German: ''Weihnachtsoratorium''), , is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It is in six parts, each part a cantata intended for performance on one of ...

'' and the

Mass in B minor The Mass in B minor (), BWV 232, is an extended setting of the Mass ordinary by Johann Sebastian Bach. The composition was completed in 1749, the year before the composer's death, and was to a large extent based on earlier work, such as a Sanct ...

References

External links

* * {{authority control Bach choirs Musical groups established in 1955 German choirs