Knabenchor Hannover

History and music

The Knabenchor Hannover has traditionally performed of seventeenth-century composers, namely Heinrich Schütz. The choir's five Schütz recordings, conducted by Hennig between 1982 and 1999, set standards for performances of this repertoire, four of them won prizes such as the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis. The choir turned to works of Andreas Hammerschmidt in 1998, recording his sacred choral music.

The Knabenchor Hannover was among the first choirs to take an interest in historically informed performance and achieved international acclaim. Conductors such as Gustav Leonhardt, Ton Koopman and Christoph Eschenbach have worked with the choir, as have orchestras such as the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and German radio orchestras.

Besides performing at festivals both in Germany and abroad (including Israel, Japan, Russia, South and Central America, the US and South Africa), the Knabenchor Hannover has recorded regularly and can frequently be heard on radio.

In 2000 the choir celebrated 50 years with a recorded performance in Hannover of Bach's St Matthew Passion together with the Thomanerchor.

In 2006, the Knabenchor Hannover was awarded the Echo Klassik in the category "choral works - recording of the year" for the CD "Verleih uns Frieden" including the world's first recording of several works by Andreas Hammerschmidt that were believed lost for more than 350 years.

In 2009 Harald Weiss dedicated his requiem composition Schwarz vor Augen und es ward Licht to the Knabenchor Hannover, premiered on 31 October 2009 with the NDR Symphony Orchestra and soloists Dorothee Mields and Andreas Karasiak.

In 2010 the choir celebrates 60 years with Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610, 400 years after the works first publication.