Peter Reulein (born 1966) is a German composer, organ improviser, academic teacher and church musician, from 2000 at the church Liebfrauen in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. In 2016 he composed for the Catholic Diocese of Limburg the Franciscan

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

Laudato si' ''Laudato si'' (''Praise Be to You'') is the second encyclical of Pope Francis, subtitled "on care for our common home". In it, the Pope criticizes consumerism and irresponsible economic development, laments environmental degradation and gl ...

''.

Career

Born in Frankfurt am Main, Reulein studied Catholic church music at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main with Wolfgang Schäfer and Uwe Gronostay. After extended studies of organ improvisation with Daniel Roth in Paris, he won several national and international competitions in this field, for example in 1993 the competition of Belgian radio and the second prize and the public's prize at the Festival Europäische Kirchenmusik in

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 ...

. He continued his studies of interpretations with Ludger Lohmann, Ewald Kooiman and Wolfgang Rübsam. He took master classes with choral conductors such as Eric Ericson and Helmuth Rilling. From 1991, Reulein was the church musician at the Heilig Geist in Frankfurt-Riederwald, from 2000 he has held the position at Liebfrauen in the centre of Frankfurt. There he directs a vocal ensemble, the choir Collegium Vocale, the orchestra Collegium Musicum and the youth choir Capuccinis. He was instrumental in having a new organ built which completed in 2008. Reulein inaugurated it in a concert on 9 August, playing works by Bach,

César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...

and improvisation. Reulein is known for composing new songs for church services (), many of them on texts by Eugen Eckert. Reulein was from 2000 until 2005 the head of the Arbeitskreis Kirchenmusik und Jugendseelsorge im Bistum Limburg, caring about more appropriate church music for young people. Reulein has been an instructor of liturgical organ playing and improvisation at the Frankfurt Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst from 2002. He was appointed (regional cantor) for Frankfurt in 2008. In 2014, Reulein recorded at Liebfrauen a CD of ''Französische Orgelsymphonik'' (French symphonic organ music) with works by Léon Boëllmann,

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

, Alexandre Guilmant and Charles-Marie Widor. He was commissioned to compose an

to celebrate in 2016 the 50th anniversary of church music in the Catholic Diocese of Limburg, presenting different styles of church music. The text by Helmut Schlegel, titled '' Laudato si' – Ein franziskanisches Magnificat'' (A

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary or Canticle of Mary, and in the Byzantine Rite as the Ode of the Theotokos (). Its Western name derives from the incipit of its Latin text. This ...

) includes the Latin Magnificat, writings by

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...

and

Clare of Assisi Chiara Offreduccio (16 July 1194 – 11 August 1253), known as Clare of Assisi (sometimes spelled ''Clara'', ''Clair'' or ''Claire''; ), is an Italians, Italian saint who was one of the first followers of Francis of Assisi. Inspired by the te ...

, writings by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

from the German version of ''

'' to German, and other sacred texts. Reulein scored the work for five soloists, children's choir,

Choralschola A Choralschola, known simply as ''schola'', is a choir for singing Gregorian chant or plainsong. It consists traditionally of only men, but more recent groups sometimes also include female voices. A schola often performs in uniform. The group may ...

, mixed choir, organ and orchestra. It was published by the Dehm-Verlag in Limburg in 2016 and first performed in the Limburg Cathedral on 6 November 2016, conducted by the composer.

Works

* "Wir haben seinen Stern gesehen", text: Eugen Eckert * "Dich will ich loben allezeit", 1994, text: Eckert * "Laß dich anstecken zum Jubel", 1994, text: Eckert * " Jesus Christus, Sohn des Lebens", 1994, text: Eckert * "Gott, dein guter Geist", 1994, text: Eckert * "Heilig, heilig, Hosanna guter Gott", 1994 * "Dich, Gott, will ich erheben", 1999, text: Eckert * "Dir, Gott, du unsere Stärke", 1999, text: Eckert * "Was sagst du, Gott, zu dieser Welt?", 1999, Text: Eckert * "Jesus, Gottes Lamm", 1999, text: Eckert * "Die Zeit färben", 1999, text: Eckert * "Seht, Brot und Wein", 1999, text: Eckert * "Ich lasse dich nicht", text: Eckert, for a song competition of the in Berlin * "Vereinigungslied der Deutschen Kapuziner", text: Bernhard Philipp, 2010 * *

Te Deum The ( or , ; from its incipit, ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to a date before AD 500, but perhaps with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin ...

, for choir, bandoneon, piano, strings and percussion, 2018 * '' Eins'', oratorio, 2021 for the Ökumenischer Kirchentag 2021 in Frankfurt

References

External links

Peter Reulein
Liebfrauen, Frankfurt
Peter Reulein
Carus-Verlag
Oratorium Laudato si' / Ein franziskanisches Magnificat in 5 Bildern – Für Soli, Chor und Orchester
Dehm-Verlag {{DEFAULTSORT:Reulein, Peter 1966 births 20th-century German classical composers 20th-century German conductors (music) 20th-century German male musicians 20th-century German organists 21st-century German classical composers 21st-century German conductors (music) 21st-century German male musicians 21st-century German organists Composers of Christian music Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts alumni Academic staff of the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts German choral conductors German classical organists German male classical composers German male conductors (music) Living people German male classical organists Musicians from Frankfurt Oratorio composers