Collegium Vocale Köln is a German vocal ensemble, founded in 1966 as a quintet when its members were still students at the in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. It is directed by Wolfgang Fromme, who also sings

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

in the ensemble. They are best known as the group for which

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

composed ''

Stimmung ''Stimmung'', for six vocalists and six microphones, is a piece by Karlheinz Stockhausen, written in 1968 and commissioned by the City of Cologne for the Collegium Vocale Köln. Its average length is seventy-four minutes, and it bears the work ...

'' in 1968, a work which they had performed more than three hundred of times throughout the world by 1986. The original impetus for the ensemble's founding, however, was an appearance by

Alfred Deller Alfred George Deller, CBE (31 May 1912 – 16 July 1979), was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularising the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th century. He is sometimes referr ...

at the Cologne Courses for Early Music, and the group has always performed both early and contemporary works. In addition to ''Stimmung'', the Collegium Vocale performed other works by Stockhausen, notably as part of the ensemble of musicians who appeared with him at

Expo '70 The or Expo '70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, between 15 March and 13 September 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as . It was the first world's fair ...

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Japan, between March and September 1970, where individual singers of the group performed ''

Spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects. Two-dimensional A two-dimension ...

'' for a soloist with a short-wave radio. On 5 June 1971 the Collegium Vocale participated in the world premiere of Stockhausen's ''

Sternklang ''Sternklang'' (Star Sound), is "park music for five groups" composed in 1971 by Karlheinz Stockhausen, and bears the work number 34 in his catalogue of compositions. The score is dedicated to his spouse, Mary Bauermeister, and a performance of t ...

'' in the Tiergarten in Berlin, and appeared also in subsequent performances in the

Englischer Garten The ''Englischer Garten'' (, ''English Garden'') is a large public park in the centre of Munich, Bavaria, stretching from the city centre to the northeastern city limits. It was created in 1789 by Sir Benjamin Thompson (1753–1814), later Coun ...

in Munich, at the

Shiraz Arts Festival The Shiraz Festival of Arts (Persian language, Persian: جشنواره هنر شیراز) was an annual international summer arts festival, held in Iran bringing about the encounter between the East and the West. It was held from 1967 to 1977 in ...

in 1972, in the Parc Franck Delmas at the

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

Festival in 1974, and in the

Parc de Saint-Cloud The Parc de Saint-Cloud (; Park of Saint-Cloud), officially the Domaine national de Saint-Cloud (; National Estate of Saint-Cloud), is a ''domaine national'' (national estate) located mostly within the Saint-Cloud commune, in the Hauts-de-Seine ...

in 1975. Four members of the group also took part in a studio recording of the work made in June 1975. In the meantime, they had also participated in the world premiere of his ''

Alphabet für Liège ''Alphabet für Liège'', for soloists and duos, is a composition (or a Installation art, musical installation) by Karlheinz Stockhausen, and is Work Number 36 in the composer's catalog of works. A performance of it lasts four hours. The fundam ...

'' on 23 September 1972.

Discography

* Banchieri, Adriano. ''Barca di Venetia per Padova: dilettevoli Madrigali à 5 voci (Madrigalkomödie)''. Collegium Vocale Köln; Gianrico Tedeschi, narrator; Colin Tilney, harpsichord; Pere Ros, viola da gamba and violone. Reflexe. LP recording. EMI Electrola 1C 063-30 128 Q. Cologne: EMI Electrola, 1976. * Gesualdo, Carlo. ''Madrigals (Book VI)''. Collegium Vocale Köln, dir. Wolfgang Fromme (Recorded 7–11 December 1981, Deutsche Evangelische Christuskirche, Paris). LP recording. CBS Masterworks IM 37758. New York: CBS, 1983. *''Moro Lasso''. Works by Carlo Gesualdo,

Péter Eötvös Péter Eötvös (, ; 2 January 194424 March 2024) was a Hungarian composer, conductor and academic teacher. After studies of composition in Budapest and Cologne, Eötvös composed film music in Hungary from 1962. He played with the Stockhaus ...

Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string instrument, string player. A composer of both Secular music, secular and Church music, sacred music, and a pioneer ...

Guillaume Dufay Guillaume Du Fay ( , ; also Dufay, Du Fayt; 5 August 1397 – 27 November 1474) was a composer and music theorist of early Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered the leading European composer of h ...

, Demetres Terzakes,

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (between 3 February 1525 and 2 February 1526 – 2 February 1594) was an Italian composer of late Renaissance music. The central representative of the Roman School, with Orlande de Lassus and Tomás Luis de V ...

, and . Collegium Vocale Köln, dir. Wolfgang Fromme. LP recording. EMI Electrola 1 C 065-28 830. Cologne: EMI Electrola. *''The Most Beautiful Madrigals'' / ''Les Plus beaux madrigaux'' / ''Die schönsten Madrigal.'' Collegium Vocale Köln, dir. Wolfgang Fromme. 3-LP set. CBS Masterworks 79 333. ew York CBS Masterworks, 1980. Reissued as ''Madrigals''. 2-CD recording. CBS Odyssey MB2K 45622. ew York CBS Odyssey, 1989. * Stockhausen, Karlheinz: ''Stimmung'' (Paris Version). Collegium Vocale Köln (Dagmar Apel, Gaby Rodens, Helga Albrecht, Wolfgang Fromme, Georg Steinhoff, Hans-Alderich Billig) (recorded WDR, Cologne, 30 & 31 October 1969). Avant Garde. Deutsche Grammophon 2543 003 (LP), and in ''Avant Garde'' Vol. 3 DG 2720 025 (6LP boxed set). Hamburg: Deutsche Grammophon, 1971. * Stockhausen, Karlheinz: ''Stimmung'' (Paris Version). Collegium Vocale Köln (Dagmar von Biel, Gaby Ortmann-Rodens, Helga Hamm-Albrecht, Wolfgang Fromme, Helmut Clemens, Hans-Alderich Billig) (recorded 1982). In

Deutscher Musikrat The (DMR, ''German Music Council''; ) is an umbrella organization for music associations and the 16 music councils of the German federal states.musikrat.deÜberblick über Organisationsstruktur des DMR(retrieved on 10 May 2019) It represents over ...

: ''Zeitgenössische Musik in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland'' 7. Harmonia Mundi DMR 1019-21 (3LP boxed set). *: The above two recordings together have been rereleased on CD in the Stockhausen Complete Edition CD 12 A-B (2 CDs). *''Zeitreisen''. Works by Péter Eötvös (''Hochzeitsmadrigal''), (''Parodia ad Perotinum''),

Matthias Pintscher Matthias Pintscher (born 29 January 1971) is a German composer, conductor and academic teacher. Biography Pintscher was born in Marl, North Rhine-Westphalia. As a youth, he studied the violin and conducting. He began his music studies with Gise ...

(''Départ'' and ''Monumento 3''),

Krzysztof Meyer Krzysztof Meyer (born 11 August 1943) is a Polish composer, pianist, and music scholar, formerly dean of the Department of Music Theory (1972–1975) at the State College of Music (now Academy of Music in Kraków), and president of the Polish C ...

(''Hommage à Johannes Brahms op. 59''), Michael Denhoff (''Nachtbild''), and Johannes Kalitzke (''Jardins paradoxaux''). Collegium Vocale Köln; Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken, cond.

Hans Zender Johannes Wolfgang Zender (22 November 1936 – 22 October 2019) was a German conductor and composer. He was the chief conductor of several opera houses, and his compositions, many of them vocal music, have been performed at international festival ...

; Ensemble Varianti, cond. Mathias Pintscher;

Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester The WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne (German: WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln) is a German radio orchestra based in Cologne, where the orchestra performs at two main concert halls: the WDR Funkhaus Wallrafplatz and the Kölner Philharmonie. History ...

, cond.

Antoni Wit Antoni Wit (born 7 February 1944) is a Polish conductor, composer, lawyer and professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music. Between 2002 and 2013, he served as the artistic director of the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra. Life a ...

. Andere Welten 5. CD recording. Schwann Musica Mundi 3 50 372. Munich: Koch International, 1996.

References

Sources * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Collegium Vocale Koln German choirs Musical groups established in 1966 1966 establishments in West Germany