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Kapellmeister

Kapellmeister (/kəˈpɛlmstər/ kə-PEL-my-stər, US also /kɑːˈ-/ kah-,[1][2] German: [kaˈpɛlˌmaɪstɐ] ), from German Kapelle (chapel) and Meister (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in its meaning and is today used for denoting the leader of a musical ensemble, often smaller ones used for TV, radio, and theatres.

Similar terms and equivalents[edit]

Variant spellings capellmeister and capelle, to refer to the orchestra or choir,[9] are sometimes encountered in English language works about composers who held the title.[10][11][12][13]


The word Hofkapellmeister specified that the Kapellmeister worked at a nobleman's court (Hof); a Konzertmeister held a somewhat less senior position.[14]


Equivalent positions existed in other European countries and were referred to with equivalent names. In Finnish kapellimestari is still the primary word used of conductors.

(c. 1500–1554) was Kapellmeister in Vienna for Ferdinand I, King of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia from 1527 to 1545.

Arnold von Bruck

(c. 1505–1577) was Kapellmeister at the court of the Electors of Saxony in Dresden from 1554 to 1568.

Mattheus Le Maistre

(1517–1580) was Kapellmeister at the court of the Electors of Saxony in Dresden from 1568.

Antonio Scandello

(1540s–1599) was Kapellmeister at Innsbruck from 1585 to about 1596.

Jacob Regnart

(1571–1621) was Kapellmeister at Wolfenbüttel from 1604.

Michael Praetorius

(1585–1673) was Kapellmeister to John George I, Elector of Saxony from 1619.

Heinrich Schütz

(1587–1653) was Kapellmeister to the Margrave of Brandenburg.

Samuel Scheidt

(1644–1704) was Kapellmeister in Salzburg from 1684.

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber

(1653–1704) was Kapellmeister to the bishop of Passau from 1690 to his death.

Georg Muffat

(1653–1728) was Kapellmeister from 1688 to 1698 at the court of Hanover.

Agostino Steffani

(died 1746) was Kapellmeister to Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden, from at least 1695.

Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer

(1677–1731), a second cousin of J. S. Bach, was Kapellmeister at Meiningen.

Johann Ludwig Bach

(1681–1767) served as Kapellmeister for 16 years, starting in 1705, for the court of Erdmann II, Count of Promnitz, in Hamburg.

Georg Philipp Telemann

(1683–1729) held the position of Kapellmeister at the electoral Saxon court in Dresden from 1717 until his death.

Johann David Heinichen

(1685–1750) worked from 1717 to 1723 as Kapellmeister for Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen.

Johann Sebastian Bach

(1685–1759) served as Kapellmeister from 1710 to 1712 for George, Elector of Hanover.

George Frideric Handel

(1685–1757) was maestro di cappella at St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome from 1715 to 1719.

Domenico Scarlatti

(1688–1758) was Kapellmeister from 1722 at Zerbst.

Johann Friedrich Fasch

(c. 1700–1773) was Kapellmeister at the court of Mannheim under the Electorship of Charles III Philip.

Carlo Grua

(1704–1759) was Kapellmeister starting in 1740 for Frederick the Great (Frederick II of Prussia)

Carl Heinrich Graun

(1711–1788) was Kapellmeister to the Prince of Saxe-Hildburghausen in the 1750s and 1760s.

Giuseppe Bonno

(1711–1787) was maestro di cappella in the Cathedral of Forlì, in Italy, from 1759.

Giacomo Matteo Ignazio Cirri

(Lodewijk) (1712–1773), grandfather of Ludwig van Beethoven, served as Kapellmeister in the Electoral court of Bonn.

Ludwig van Beethoven

(1714–1787) was Kapellmeister starting 1754 for Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria and Holy Roman Empress in Vienna.

Christoph Willibald Gluck

(1714–1774) served Charles II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg in Stuttgart from 1753 to 1768.

Niccolò Jommelli

(1724–1808) was maestro di cappella in the cathedral of Forlì, in Italy: from 1780, with Ignazio Cirri; after his death, alone.

Giovanni Battista Cirri

(1731–1798), Kapellmeister of the legendary Mannheim court orchestra from 1774.

Christian Cannabich

(1732–1809) had two Kapellmeister positions: first, from (probably) 1757 to 1761 for Count Morzin, then from 1761 on for the Eszterházy family. (He was Vice-Kapellmeister from 1761 to 1766.)

Joseph Haydn

(1736–1809) was Kapellmeister at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna.

Johann Georg Albrechtsberger

(1737–1806) was Kapellmeister at Großwardein from 1760 to 1761.

Michael Haydn

(1739–1799) was Kapellmeister to the Prince-Bishop of Breslau from 1770 to 1795.

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf

(1741–1801) was the last Kapellmeister in the Electoral court of Bonn from 1774 to 1794.

Andrea Luchesi

(1750–1825) was Royal and Imperial Kapellmeister to Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor from 1788 to 1824.

Antonio Salieri

(1752–1814) was Kapellmeister to Frederick the Great at the royal Berlin opera.

Johann Friedrich Reichardt

(1756–1792) was Kapellmeister (Ordinarie Capellmästere) in Stockholm at the court of king Gustav III of Sweden.

Joseph Martin Kraus

(1755–1806) was Kapellmeister of the Prussian Queen (1789) and after 1790 Kapellmeister of Prince Henry of Prussia at Rheinsberg castle.

Christian Kalkbrenner

(1759–1845), grandson of Johann Sebastian, was also Kapellmeister of the Prussian Queen (1805–1811).

Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach

(1786–1826) was Kapellmeister at the Bresault theater (1804–1807) and Kapellmeister at Dresden for Count Heinrich Vitzthum (1816–1826).

Carl Maria von Weber

(1813–1883) was Kapellmeister to Frederick Augustus II of Saxony from 1843 to 1849.[15]

Richard Wagner

(1851–1915) was Kapellmeister at the Church of Saint-Merri in Paris, France.

Paul Wachs

(listed chronologically by date of birth)

Contemporary usage[edit]

In contemporary German, the term "Kapellmeister" has become less common than Dirigent (conductor). When used today it designates the director or chief conductor of an orchestra or choir. It suggests involvement in orchestra or choir policy (for example, selecting repertoire, concert schedules, and guest conductors) as well as conducting. In military settings it refers to a bandmaster.[16] The music director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra traditionally holds the old-fashioned title Gewandhauskapellmeister.[17][18] In other German opera houses, the term generally refers to a deputy conductor reporting to the Generalmusikdirektor (general music director, usually also the chief conductor). An opera company may have several Kapellmeister, ranked as Erste Kapellmeister (First...), Zweite Kapellmeister (Second...), etc.


The conductor Christian Thielemann has offered a nuanced account of the Dirigent/Kapellmeister distinction in contemporary usage. He suggests that "Kapellmeister" has unfairly acquired a sense of routine or failure to project glamour: "a Kapellmeister now describes a pale, meek figure beating time. A policeman on duty at the podium directing the musical traffic, no more." In fact, Thielemann, who is fully aware of the historical usage of the term, would himself prefer to be called a "Kapellmeister": "it implies such virtues as knowledge of a work, great ability, and dedication to the cause of music".[19]


The term "Kapellmeister Tradition" is commonly used to describe these qualities, as exemplified by such historically important conductors as Otto Klemperer, Clemens Krauss, and Erich Kleiber, in the sense that they have "paid their dues" on their way to international fame.[20]

Cantor (Christianity)

Collegium Musicum

Composer

Music Bureau

approximate British equivalent to royal and noble Kapellmeisters of Germany

Master of the King's Music

(1965). Mozart: A Documentary Biography. Translated by Eric Blom; Peter Branscombe; Jeremy Noble. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.

Deutsch, Otto Erich

(1963) [1810, Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel]. "Biographical Notes Concerning Joseph Haydn". Haydn: Two Contemporary Portraits. Translated by Vernon Gotwals. Milwaukee: University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-02794-0.

Griesinger, Georg August

(2009). "Reception". In David Wyn Jones (ed.). Oxford Composer Companions: Haydn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Jones, David Wyn

(2015). My Life with Wagner. Translated by Anthea Bell. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-1-780-22837-2.

Thielemann, Christian