An overview of our current annual programme. We hope you enjoy it and look forward to seeing you.
MUSIK AM 13. – Singing for Advent
Programme
Carols for Advent for all to sing and organ music for Advent
Works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Andreas Hammerschmidt, Michael Praetorius and others
Our audience
Bachchor Stuttgart
Kristina Pfeffer, conductor and organ
Admission free, donations requested
About the programme
“Singing is an expression of the human soul”, says the well-known choral composer John Rutter. “If we no longer sing, the soul remains trapped in the body – which is neither good for us nor for society. Singing in a choir has a special value, as it brings people together in harmony at a time when there is so much dissonance in politics.” For that reason Kristina Pfeffer and the Bachchor Stuttgart invite the public to enjoy Advent music on 13 December and to join in the most beautiful melodies themselves.
Special concert MUSIK AM 13. – Christmas Oratorio Parts I-III
Programme
Johann Sebastian Bach 1685–1750
Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, Parts I-III
Gudrun Sidonie Otto, soprano
Marion Eckstein, alto
Henning Jendritza, tenor
Uwe Schenker-Primus, bass
BACHCHOR STUTTGART
BACHORCHESTER STUTTGART
Jörg-Hannes Hahn, conductor
Tickets at €20-44 (reductions of -50% Cat. II-IV) and combined ticket for the concerts on 19 and 20 December (-10%) via +49 (0)711/2 555 555, via www.bachchor.com and at the box office
About the programme
Festive anticipation begins for all music lovers as soon as the first bars of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio are heard. This year too, audiences can look forward to the complete performance of all six cantatas. A hand-picked ensemble of soloists, the Bachchor and Bachorchester Stuttgart perform under the baton of Jörg-Hannes Hahn. In two concerts on the last weekend of Advent, the strains of “Jauchzet, frohlocket” will also be heard in the Cannstatt Stadtkirche!
Special concert MUSIK AM 13. – Christmas Oratorio Parts I, IV-VI
Programme
Johann Sebastian Bach 1685–1750
Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, Parts I, IV-VI
Gudrun Sidonie Otto, soprano
Marion Eckstein, alto
Henning Jendritza, tenor
Uwe Schenker-Primus, bass
BACHCHOR STUTTGART
BACHORCHESTER STUTTGART
Jörg-Hannes Hahn, conductor
Tickets at €20-44 (reductions of -50% for Cat. II-IV) and combined ticket for the concerts on 19 and 20 December (-10%) via +49 (0)711/2 555 555, via www.bachchor.com and at the box office
About the programme
Festive anticipation begins for all music lovers as soon as the first bars of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio are heard. This year too, audiences can look forward to the complete performance of all six cantatas. A hand-picked ensemble of soloists, the Bachchor and Bachorchester Stuttgart perform under the baton of Jörg-Hannes Hahn. In two concerts on the last weekend of Advent, the strains of “Jauchzet, frohlocket” will also be heard in the Cannstatt Stadtkirche!
Special concert MUSIK AM 13. – Festive concert for the end of the year
Programme
Works for three trumpets by Georg Philipp Telemann, George Frideric Handel and others
Organ works for Christmas and the turn of the year by Johann Sebastian Bach
Wolfgang Bauer and friends, trumpet
Jörg-Hannes Hahn, organ
Tickets €20 (concessions €15) via www.EasyTicket.de, +49 (0)711/2 555 555 and at the box office
About the programme
“Let the trumpets sound” could be the title of this year’s New Year’s Eve concert. For the last evening of the year, Jörg-Hannes Hahn has invited the brilliant trumpeter Wolfgang Bauer and his friends. From the gallery they will ignite musical fireworks and present highlights of baroque masters including Georg Philipp Telemann, George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach. A beautiful end to the year, sparkling with vitality and joie de vivre.
MUSIK AM 13. – Carols and Candles
Programme
Christmas choral music from England by candlelight
Works by Richard Hall, John Rutter, Arthur Sullivan, David Willcocks and others
BACHCHOR STUTTGART
Florian Kunz, piano
Jörg-Hannes Hahn, conductor and organ
Admission free, donations requested
About the programme
English choral music is unique throughout the world, drawing on the centuries-old tradition of singing in venerable cathedrals and colleges. Christmas carols, with their joyous exuberance and their religious faith which goes right to the heart, are a part of Christmas just like the scent of cloves and mistletoe. The great celebration resonates throughout moving carols by the most famous English choral composers, and the conviction grows that there is something in the joyful chorus of the angels: Joy to the World!
MUSIK AM 13. Collaborative concert
Programme
Cornelius Cardew 1936–81
The Great Learning (1971) – First Stuttgart performance
Pupils from the Solitude Gymnasium Weilimdorf
Students from the High School of Music Stuttgart
BACHCHOR STUTTGART
Hannes Seidl, Yvonne Vollmer, Felix Sorg, rehearsal conductors
Jörg-Hannes Hahn, conductor
Introduction 6.15pm: Hannes Seidl
About the programme
“The Great Learning” is a book by Confucius, and the title of Cornelius Cardew’s major work. Throughout his life, the musician underwent a learning process quite unlike any other British composer in its rigour. “The Great Learning” explores the whole gamut of music-making from certainty to free improvisation. In the spirit of its creator, the cycle receives its Stuttgart premiere as a shared collaboration between school pupils, students, amateurs and professionals.
MUSIK AM 13. – 20th composer portrait
Programme
The composer in conversation:
Lisa Streich b. 1985
STERNENSTILL for String Quartet (2020)
SERAPH for Cello and Organ (2013)
AGNEL for choir (2013)
ENGEL NOCH TASTEND (2014–15) for String Quartet
Björn Gottstein, presenter
Matthias Schneider, electronics
Bernhard Lörcher, cello
CANTUS STUTTGART
LOTUS QUARTET
Jörg-Hannes Hahn, conductor and organ
Admission free, donations requested
About the programme
The Stuttgart “Composer portraits”, founded by Jörg-Hannes Hahn, is a renowned aspect of the concert series “Musik am 13”. Composers previously featured include Adriana Hölszky, Wolfgang Rihm, Helmut Lachenmann, Younghi Pagh-Paan, Krzysztof Penderecki and Sofia Gubaidulina. In the 20th edition, Swedish composer Lisa Streich is the guest, whose extraordinary and moving music has long been performed and acclaimed internationally. She discusses her work in conversation with the expert for new music Björn Gottstein.
MUSIK AM 13. – baritone and organ
Programme
Peter Cornelius 1824–74
Vater unser – Neun geistliche Lieder op. 2
Thomas Cornelius b. 1986
[New work] (2024)
Johannes Wedeking, baritone
Leonhard Völlm, organ
Introduction 7.15pm: Stephan Hoffmann
Admission free, donations requested
In association with the State High School of Music Stuttgart
About the programme
“My life revolves around two poles: the word and the note.” Peter Cornelius was Liszt’s secretary, a translator of Berlioz, confidant of Wagner and like him, a born poet-musician: not only the notes, but also the words flowed from his pen. His cycle of “Vater unser” songs, which combine Gregorian chorales with modern musical language, remains extremely popular to this day. His namesake Thomas Cornelius takes “Das Leben als solches” as the subject of his emotional compositions.
Church service with Bach cantata
Programme
Johann Sebastian Bach 1685–1750
Fantasia and Fugue in G minor BWV 542
Alles, was von Gott geboren BWV 80a
Johann Michael Bach 1648–94
Ich weiß, dass mein Erlöser lebt
Emma Erchinger, soprano
Ines López Fernández, alto
Florian Eisentraut
Olivier Nilles, bass
CANTUS STUTTGART
BACHORCHESTER STUTTGART
Jörg-Hannes Hahn, conductor and organ
In association with the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart
About the programme
For the first time Stuttgart hosts an International Bach Festival in 2025. The festive final church service will be given by Cantus and the Bachorchester Stuttgart under the direction of Jörg-Hannes Hahn in the late Gothic Stadtkirche in Bad Cannstatt. The music performed includes J. S. Bach’s Cantata “Alles, was von Gott geboren”, composed for the third Sunday in Lent in 1716 in Weimar and only reconstructed a few years ago, and the tender five-part chorale motet “Ich weiß, dass mein Erlöser lebt” by Bach’s father-in-law Johann Michael Bach.
Special concert MUSIK AM 13. – Concert at the hour of Jesus’s death
Programme
Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel 1690–1749
Der für die Sünde der Welt gemarterte und sterbende Jesus (Brockes Passion 1725)
Inma Férez, Joowon Chung, soprano
Alexander Schneider, alto
Lars Tappert, tenor
Frederic Mörth, bass
BACHCHOR STUTTGART
BACHORCHESTER STUTTGART
Jörg-Hannes Hahn, conductor
Introduction 2.15pm: Dr. Ute Harbusch
Tickets at €20-44 (reductions of -50% for Cat. II-IV) via +49 (0)711/2 555 555 and at the box office
About the programme
Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel is rising as a newly-discovered star in the baroque musical heaven. A contemporary of Bach, who held him in high esteem, he was director of Frederick II’s court ensemble at Gotha. His rich output has largely disappeared – only a few works survive by chance, including his Passion setting by the much-loved baroque poet Barthold Heinrich Brockes. Exactly 300 years after its composition, the previous rediscovery of his Brockes Passion captivates through its vivid drama, strong lamentation and soulful comfort.
9th benefit concert in aid of the church renovation
Programm
Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger 1839–1901
Mass in E flat »Cantus Missae«
Sonata no. 7 in F minor op. 127 for organ
Kristina Pfeffer, organ
BACHCHOR STUTTGART
Jörg-Hannes Hahn, conductor
Admission free, donations requested
Guest concert TouchPoint – swing and melancholy
Programm
Robert Schumann 1810 - 1856
Piano Quintet in E flat major op.44 (1842)
Ulvi Cemal Erkin 1906 - 1972
Piano Quintet (1946)
Ernst Helmuth Flammer *1949
5th String Quartet Farewells (2002)
Jade Quartet
Yu Zhuang, Hanlin Liang, violin
Iiro Rajakoski viola
Shiyu Holz violoncello
Iwan König piano
Admission free, donations requested
Zum Programm
While the string quartet is the epitome of chamber music, string quartets supplemented by the piano are, so to speak, rearranged orchestral pieces. Schumann's reference work is juxtaposed with the work of U.C. Erkin, probably the best-known Turkish composer of his generation. Few contemporary German composers have explored the string quartet as intensively and imaginatively as Ernst Helmuth Flammer.
Special concert MUSIK AM 13. – Maria and Magdalena
Programme
Antonio Caldara 1670–1736
Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo
Giovanni Battista Ferrandini 1710–91
Il pianto di Maria
Antonio Vivaldi 1678–1741
Concerto in C minor RV 153
Roberta Mameli, soprano
GIARDINO DI DELIZIE
Introduction 7.15pm: Anna Skorupska
Tickets at €20-30 (reductions of -50% for Cat. II-IV) via www.bachchor.com and at the box office
About the programme
Two women stand at the foot of the cross: the “sinner” Mary Magdalene, torn between her fear of damnation and her hope of redemption, and Jesus’s mother Mary, who rebels against God’s counsel because she has to see her son die. Two highly dramatic scenes from the Italian baroque by Antonio Caldara and Giovanni Battista Ferrandini, performed by the entirely female baroque ensemble Giardino di Delizie from Rome and Italian soprano Roberta Mameli.
MUSIC AM 13. – percussion and organ
Programme
Franz-Jochen Herfert b. 1955
Bel-Pa – first performance
Iannis Xenakis 1922–2001
Rebonds 1987–89
Werner Jacob 1936–2006
Sine nomina super nomina 1985
Franz Bach, percussion
Jörg-Hannes Hahn, organ
Introduction 7.15pm: Prof. Dr. Franz-Jochen Herfert
Admission free, donations requested
Repeat of the concert from 13 June 2022
About the programme
Why do we so seldom hear percussion and organ together? For they have more in common than you might think at first glance. Both have an impressive variety of tonal colours, and from the really tender to the really loud, both can release intensive, overwhelming energies – as we will experience in Iannis Xenakis’ iconic work “Rebonds”, a pulsing rhythmic structure, in Werner Jacobs’ “Sine nomina super nomina”, a friendship expressed in sound, and in a premiere by Franz-Jochen Herfert.
10th benefit concert in aid of the church renovation
Programm
Ännie&Jogs – In the Mood for Swing
Classics of the Swing era with tunes by Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, Louis Thomas Jordan, Errol Garner, Charles Trenet and Franz Doelle, and songs including »Sing Sing Sing«, »Side by Side«, »Don’t Get Around Much Any More«, »Let’s Misbehave«, »Fly Me to the Moon«, »Dream a Little Dream of Me«, »La Mer« and »We’ll Meet Again«
Annette Schmidt, voice and ukelele
Jürgen Burkart, voice and guitar
Admission free, donations requested
MUSIK AM 13. special concert – Messiah
Programme
George Frideric Handel 1685-1759
Messiah HWV 56
Johanna Pommranz, soprano
Wiebke Wighardt, alto
Lars Tappert, tenor
Hans Porten, bass
BACHCHOR STUTTGART
MAIN BAROCKORCHESTER
Guest conductor: Kristina Pfeffer
Tickets at €20-30 (reductions of -50% for Cat. II-IV) via +49 (0)711/2 555 555 and at the box office
About the programme
Handel’s best-known oratorio “Messiah” tells the story of Jesus’s salvation, from the prophecies of the Old Testament to the birth, the Passion and the resurrection of the Saviour to his hoped-for return on the Day of Judgement. The Romantic Friedrich Schleiermacher enthused: “As Jesus was received by the choir of angels, so we accompany him with music and song to the great Halleluja of the ascension; for me, music such as Handel’s ‘Messiah’ is, as it were, a shortened promulgation of the whole of Christianity.”
MUSIK AM 13. – Romantic choral music
Programme
Johannes Brahms 1833–97
Three motets op. 110 (1890)
Heinrich Reimann 1850–1906
Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern op. 25 for organ (1895)
Max Reger 1873–1916
Romanze WoO IV/11 for harmonium
Hugo Wolf 1860–1903
Six sacred songs (1881)
CANTUS STUTTGART
Jörg-Hannes Hahn, conductor and organ
Introduction 7.15pm: Dr. Jürgen Schaarwächter
Admission free, donations requested
About the programme
A cappella singing, that is unaccompanied choral singing, expressing all the nuances of the human voice artistically and sensitively, experienced another impressive blossoming in the 19th century. The most important choral compositions of the late Romantic period include the motets of Johannes Brahms and the “Sechs geistliche Lieder” by Hugo Wolf, setting poems by Eichendorff. These remain a challenge for all ambitious choirs and an incomparable listening experience for audiences.
Summer! Organ – International Organ Cycle 2025
Programme
Felix Mendelssohn 1809–47
The Six Sonatas for Organ op. 65
About the programme
Felix Mendelssohn is amongst the most important German church music composers of the 19th century, not just for his vocal works, but also for his organ compositions. The most important of these are the Six Sonatas op. 65, which stand at the heart of our International Organ Cycle 2025. Their exemplary status lasted for over a century, influencing composers from Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger to Max Reger and Paul Hindemith. Their variety and their musical richness make them a true compendium of organ playing.