The members of the Choralschola ‘Schola Gregoriana’ of the Hildesheim Cathedral Music dedicate themselves to the repertoire of Gregorian chant based on the neume manuscripts of the 10th and 11th centuries.
Since 2003, the Choralschola, founded in 1982 by Cathedral Music Director Hermann Bode, has sung in a mixed ensemble of men and women under the direction of Thomas Viezens. An important task is to organise the liturgy of the cathedral chapter and the bishop, and in particular the regular vespers in German until 2022. In 2022, a separate group was formed for this purpose - the Vesperschola. Gregorian chant, which the musicians in the cathedral churches in particular are required to cultivate, finds its place in Sunday mass celebrations.
For some years now, the ‘Schola Gregoriana’ has also appeared in concert. Outside of Hildesheim, concerts have been organised in Ratzeburg (cathedral), Schwerin (St. Anna's provost church), Magdeburg (cathedral and cathedral), Königslutter (imperial cathedral), Mariental (former Cistercian monastery) and Vechta (St. Georg's provost church). In the past, rehearsal weekends have taken the Schola to the Benedictine Abbey of Herstelle, the Benedictine Archabbey of St Ottilien and the Benedictine Abbey Königsmünster in Meschede.
Singers with an interest in choral music and knowledge of sheet music are very welcome. Choral experience is useful, but not a requirement. If you are interested, please contact us by telephone!
Heavenly Jerusalem - Music from the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Romanticism
The CD ‘Heavenly Jerusalem - Music from the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Romanticism’ was released in spring 2012. The works sung by the cathedral choir mostly belong to the field of Romantic choral music and originate from the German (Mendelssohn), English (Elgar, Parry) and French (Franck) language areas. They are complemented by two contemporary English compositions that are entirely in the Romantic tradition (Rutter, Evans), as well as Tallis' “Glory to thee, my God, this night”, which is performed here in a romanticised arrangement by Kenneth Brown. Solo singing accompanied by the organ (works by Dvorak, Reger, Wolf), performed by current and former vocal coaches of Hildesheim Cathedral Music, and organ solo works by Dubois, Fletcher and Boëllmann are juxtaposed with the contributions of the cathedral choir.
Lux in tenebris
The double CD ‘Lux in tenebris’ was produced in 2015. The work by composer Helge Burggrabe was commissioned to mark the anniversary of the 1,200th diocese of Hildesheim. In addition to the cathedral choir, the chamber choir, the choral schola ‘Schola Gregoriana’ and the girls' choir can be heard here, as well as soloists and instrumentalists.