Werner Sander and the Formation of the Leipziger Synagogalchor

Werner Sander’s establishment of the Leipziger Synagogalchor as a concert choir with Jewish repertoire was relatively independent from any institutions. From his founding of the choir in 1962 to his death in 1972, Sander developed with the choir a repertoire of nearly eighty works of synagogue music and forty titles of Yiddish and Hasidic music, as well as Hebrew folklore. Under his baton, the choir performed three to four times a year, and from 1968 on assumed a steady role in the musical life of the GDR, both inside and outside the Jewish community. In spite of pressure, Sander preserved the secularity and independence of the ensemble by never overtly defining it or creating specific or lasting alliances, in a spatial mobility that navigated between different venues—synagogue, church, concert hall, and radio station. In this way, he ensured Jewish music’s cultural survival under unique and changing conditions, preserving this musical heritage for the Jewish community and transmitting it to the wider public.

One of These Mornings

This chapter discusses the transition in Chicago gospel music that began before the 1959 Detroit Invasion and continued until the late twentieth century. It first recounts the deaths of Roberta Martin and Mahalia Jackson, considered to be emblematic of the fading of the traditional sound in gospel music. It then looks at gospel groups that extended and broadened their reputation well into the 1980s, including the Christian Tabernacle Concert Choir, the Thompson Community Singers, and the Cosmopolitan Church of Prayer Choir. It also examines the rise of new community choirs in Chicago during the 1980s and 1990s, along with other significant developments like the first Stellar Gospel Music Awards, accolades for gospel pioneers, gospel festivals, and the deaths of some gospel greats including Sallie Martin, James Cleveland, and Thomas A. Dorsey. The chapter concludes by highlighting signs that Chicago is beginning to recapture the sacred music supremacy it lost to California in the 1970s.

Swiss Music

NORBERT MORET: TriptyquepourlesFêtes1; Gastlosen2; Mendiant du Ciel bleu3. 1The Tallis Scholars; 2Fritz Muggler organ); 3Béatrice Haldas (sop), Philippe Huttenlocher (bar), Nederlandse Omroep Stichting of Hilversum, Maitrise de St-Pierre aux Liens of Bulle, Düdingen Women's Choir; Heiner Kühner, Catherine Moret, Claudia Schneuwly (organs), Basle Radio Symphony Orchestra c. Armin Jordan. Musiques Suisses MGB CD 6199.ROLF LIEBERMANN: Furioso for orchestra1; Geigy Festival Concerto2; Medea-Monolog3; Les Echanges4; Concerto for Jazz Band and Symphony Orchestra5. 3Rachael Tovey (sop), 3Darmstadt Concert Choir; 2Alfons Grieder (perc); 1,2,5Simon Nabatov (pno); 5NDR Big Band, 1–5Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra c. Günter Neuhold. Naxos 8.555884.BETTINA SKRZYPCZAK: Scène1; Miroirs2; Fantasie for oboe3; SN 1993 J4; Toccata sospesa5; Concerto for Piano and Orchestra6. 1Noemi Schindler (vln), Christophe Roy (vlc); 2Mireille Capelle mezzo-sop), Ensemble Contrechamps of Geneva; 3Matthias Arter (oboe); 4Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonia of Zlin c. Monica Buckland Hofstetter; 5Verena Bosshart (fl), Riccardo Bologna, Eduardo Leandro (perc); 6Massimiliano Damerini (pno), Philharmonische Werkstatt Schweiz c. Mario Venzago. Musikszene Schweiz Grammont Portrait MGB CTS-M 78.RICHARD DUBUGNON: Piano Quartet1; Incantatio for cello and piano2; Trois Evocations finlandaises3; Cinq Masques for oboe4; Canonic Verses for Oboe, Cor Anglais and Oboe d'Amore5; Frenglish Suite for Wind Quintet6. 4,5Nicholas Daniel (ob), 5Emma Fielding (cor ang), 5Sai Kai (ob d'amore), 1Viv McLean (pno), 2Dominic Harlan (pno), 1Illka Lehtonen (vln), 1Julia Knight (vla), 1,2Matthew Sharp (vlc), 3Richard Dubugnon (db), 6Royal Academy Wind Soloists. Naxos 8.555778.