Stadtsingechor Halle: Gott ist unsre Zuversicht

Boys’ choirs have a very particular aura: generated perhaps by their special timbre, the crispness of the men’s voices and the clear, bright sound of the sopranos, or the ensembles’ ability to make music to high professional standard with young musicians. The Stadtsingechor zu Halle can trace its history back to the year 1116 and numbers among the established boys’ choirs of the present day. ‘God is our refuge and strength’ — the album uses this motto to bring together choral music from the sixteenth to the twenty-first centuries. At its core is Psalm 46. Martin Luther reworked this Psalm into the song ‘A mighty fortress is our God’, which remains a symbol of the Reformation even today. Beginning with the sole surviving motet from Luther’s pen, the Stadtsingechor zu Halle performs a vast range of beautiful styles and sounds, exploring works by Johann Walter, Johann Pachelbel, and Georg Telemann right up to contemporary works by Thomas Buchholz and Wolfram Buchenberg. Josef Gabriel Rheinberger’s famous ‘Abendlied’ offers a reflective conclusion to the ensemble’s programme. The young singers perform with tremendous precision and well-balanced sound. Their director Clemens Flämig knows how to engage and employ the Gothic ambience and acoustics of Halle’s St. Moritz Church to great effect.