(Cantor at St. Thomas) is the common name for the musical director of the , now an internationally known boys' choir founded in Leipzig in 1212. The official historic title of the Thomaskantor in Latin, , describes the two functions of cantor and director. As the cantor, he prepared the choir for service in four Lutheran churches, Thomaskirche (St. Thomas), Nikolaikirche (St. Nicholas), Neue Kirche (New Church) and Peterskirche (St. Peter). As director, he organized music for city functions such as town council elections and homages. Functions related to the university took place at the Paulinerkirche. Johann Sebastian Bach was the most famous , from 1723 to 1750.
Position Leipzig has had a university dating back to 1409, and is a commercial center, hosting a trade fair first mentioned in 1165. It has been mostly Lutheran since the Reformation. The position of Thomaskantor at Bach's time has been described as "one of the most respected and influential musical offices of Protestant Germany.
The readings and required music of the Lutheran services in Leipzig were regulated in detail. The Church Book (Complete Church / Book / Containing / The Gospels and Epistles / For Every Feast-, Sun-, and Apostle Day Of the Entire Year ...) lists the prescribed readings, repeated every year. The church year began with the First Sunday in Advent and was divided in feast days, fasting periods and the feast-less time after Trinity Sunday. For music, there was mainly no concert music such as a cantata during the fasting times of Advent and Lent. Modest music was performed during the second half of the church year, and rich music with more complex instrumentation and more services per day on feast days. Christmas, Easter and Pentecost were celebrated for three days each, and many other feast days were observed. The library of St. Thomas contained works in vocal polyphony from the fifteenth century onward.
The Thomaskantor reported to the city council, the rector of the Thomasschule and the church superintendent. He had the duty to prepare the choir for service in the city's four Lutheran churches: the main churches Thomaskirche (St. Thomas) and the Nikolaikirche (St. Nicholas), and also the Neue Kirche (New Church) and the Peterskirche (St. Peter).
As cantor, the Thomaskantor had to compose and take care of copying, rehearsals and performances. He also had to teach music and general subjects. He took part in the admission process for new students to the school. The choir was divided in groups: the most advanced singers performed a cantata every Sunday, alternating between St. Thomas and St. Nicholas, a second group sang at the other church, beginners on feast days at the smaller churches. On high holidays, the cantata was performed in both churches, a morning service in one and a vespers service in the other. To earn additional funding, the choir performed also for weddings and funerals.
As director of music, the Thomaskantor was Leipzig's "senior musician", responsible for the music on official occasions such as town council elections and homages. Functions related to the university took place at the Paulinerkirche.
Today, the leads the music in services at the Thomaskirche, including weekly afternoon services called Motette which often contain a Bach cantata. He also conducts the choir in recordings and on tours.
Known holders of the position The following table shows the names of the known people in the position, and their time of service, in chronological order from the Reformation to now.
No.No. after Bach ImageNameTenureBorn Died Notes 1 Georg Rhau 1518–1520 in Eisfeld in Wittenberg 2 Johannes Galliculus 1520–1525 in Dresden in Leipzig 3 Valerian Hüffeler 1526–1530 4 Johannes Hermann 1531–1536 1515 in Zittau 22 April 1593 in Freiberg 5 Wolfgang Jünger 1536–1539 in Sayda 4 March 1564 in Großschirma 6 Johannes Bruckner 1539–1540 7 Ulrich Lange 1540–1549 1549 in Leipzig 8 Wolfgang Figulus 1549–1551 in Naumburg 1589 in Meißen 9 Melchior Heger 1553–1564 in Brüx (today Most) 10 Valentin Otto 1564–1594 1529 in Markkleeberg April 1594 11 Sethus Calvisius 1594–1615 in Gorsleben 24 November 1615 in Leipzig 12 Johann Hermann Schein 1615–1630 20 January 1586 in Grünhain in Leipzig 13 Tobias Michael 1631–1657 13 June 1592 in Dresden 26 June 1657 in Leipzig 14 Sebastian Knüpfer 1657–1676 6 September 1633 in Asch 10 October 1676 in Leipzig 15 Johann Schelle 1677–1701 6 September 1648 in Geising 10 March 1701 in Leipzig 16 Johann Kuhnau 1701–1722 6 April 1660 in Geising 5 June 1722 in Leipzig 17 Johann Sebastian Bach 1723–1750 21 March 1685 in Eisenach 28 July 1750 in Leipzig 18 1 Gottlob Harrer 1750–1755 1703 in Görlitz 9 July 1755 in Karlsbad 19 2 Johann Friedrich Doles 1756–1789 23 April 1715 in Steinbach-Hallenberg 8 February 1797 in Leipzig Longest-serving in the role. 20 3 Johann Adam Hiller 1789–1801 25 December 1728 in Wendisch-Ossig 16 June 1804 in Leipzig 1781–1785 Gewandhauskapellmeister 21 4 August Eberhard Müller 1801–1810 13 December 1767 in Northeim 3 December 1817 in Weimar 1810–1817 Großherzoglich-Sächsischer Hofkapellmeister 22 5 Johann Gottfried Schicht 1810–1823 29 September 1753 in Reichenau 16 February 1823 in Leipzig 23 6 Christian Theodor Weinlig 1823–1842 25 July 1780 in Dresden 7 March 1842 in Leipzig 1814–1817 Kreuzkantor 24 7 Moritz Hauptmann 1842–1868 13 October 1792 in Dresden 3 January 1868 in Leipzig 25 8 Ernst Friedrich Richter 1868–1879 24 October 1808 in Großschönau 9 April 1879 in Leipzig 26 9 Wilhelm Rust 1880–1892 15 August 1822 in Dessau 2 May 1892 in Leipzig 27 10 Gustav Schreck 1893–1918 8 September 1849 in Zeulenroda 22 January 1918 in Leipzig 28 11 Karl Straube 1918–1939 6 January 1873 in Berlin 27 April 1950 in Leipzig 29 12 Günther Ramin 1939–1956 15 October 1898 in Karlsruhe 27 February 1956 in Leipzig 30 13 Kurt Thomas 1957–1960 25 May 1904 in Tönning 31 March 1973 in Bad Oeynhausen 31 14 1961–1972 29 December 1903 in Mauersberg / Marienberg in Leipzig 32 15 Hans-Joachim Rotzsch 1972–1991 25 April 1929 in Leipzig 24 September 2013 in Leipzig 33 16 Georg Christoph Biller 1992–2015 in Nebra 27 January 2022 34 17 Gotthold Schwarz 2016–2021 in Zwickau 35 18 Andreas Reize 2021 in Solothurn, Switzerland First Swiss and the first Catholic
Notes
References
Bibliography Stefan Altner (2006): Das Thomaskantorat im 19. Jahrhundert. Bewerber und Kandidaten für das Leipziger Thomaskantorat in den Jahren 1842 bis 1918. Quellenstudien zur Entwicklung des Thomaskantorats und des Thomanerchors vom Wegfall der öffentlichen Singumgänge 1837 bis zur ersten Auslandsreise 1920. Leipzig: Passage-Verlag. .
Johann Gottfried Stallbaum (1842): Über den innern Zusammenhang musikalischer Bildung der Jugend mit dem Gesammtzwecke des Gymnasiums. Eine Inauguralrede, nebst biographischen Nachrichten über die Cantoren an der Thomasschule zu Leipzig. Leipzig: Fritzsche.
Corinna Wörner (2023): Zwischen Anpassung und Resistenz. Der Thomanerchor Leipzig in zwei politischen Systemen. Studien und Materialien zur Musikwissenschaft, Bd. 123. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag. (Abstract). .
External links Ordnung / Der Schule / zu S. Thomæ, Leipzig 1723 (PDF, in German) The Leipzig City Council's Statutes for St. Thomas School, Leipzig 1723 (PDF)