Oakeley, Sir Herbert (Stanley)

Osnabrück.

Dramatic presentations of biblical narratives were common in medieval Germany, and a manuscript, dating from the early 16th century, that belonged to the Gertrudenkloster on the outskirts of the town contains an Easter play; the play is in German, but the hymns (which have musical notation) are in the customary Latin. There are also fragments of a processional, a Christmas celebration, and a Bischofsspiel; after the Reformation such dramatic activity was taken over by the students of the town Gymnasium.

During the Reformation the Protestant cause was supported by the citizens of Osnabrück, but the cathedral and the Johanniskirche remained Roman Catholic. Dual loyalties led to the maintenance of both Protestant and Catholic traditions, the latter being strengthened in 1625 with the arrival of the Jesuits, at whose school biblical drama was cultivated. At that time Bishop Franz Wilhelm von Wartenburg, an acquaintance of Carissimi, took a special interest in church music, emphasizing its importance at synods in 1628 and 1651; a German songbook with traditional Catholic liturgical music was issued in 1628, and in 1652 a Directorum chori. After the Peace of Westphalia (signed at Osnabrück in 1648) it was determined that the bishopric of Osnabrück should be held alternately by a Catholic and a Protestant.

During the 16th and 17th centuries many organ builders worked in Osnabrück, among them members of the Berner, Adam and Eberhard families in the town, as well as Reinking of Bielefeld, Vater from Hanover and the Klausings from Herford. In the 17th century the town benefited from the musicians of Duke Philipp Sigesmund of Brunswick-Lüneburg’s coming from his palace at nearby Iburg to assist those of Osnabrück.

Public concerts, held at first in a room in the Wappen von London, were given from 1770 when Graun’s Der Tod Jesu was sung; four years later there were regular weekly concerts. At the end of the 18th century and for the first quarter of the 19th, M.B. Veltmann (organist of the Marienkirche, 1790–1835) was responsible for many musical undertakings. In 1813 a school for singing was instituted, in 1832 the Alte Liedertafel, followed by the Neue Liedertafel in 1835 and the Dom-Gesangverein in 1843.

In 1800 the Theater an der Gildewart was built, and opera performances were given there from 1819 until 1909. Albert Lortzing worked in Osnabrück for six years from 1827. A small theatre built in 1871 was taken over by the city in 1882 and replaced in 1909 with the Grosses Haus on the Domhof. This was destroyed during air raids in 1945 and rebuilt in 1950. In 1920 a conservatory was founded in Osnabrück by F.M. Anton.

The Osnabrücker Symphonieorchester is maintained by the theatre, while concerts are organized by the Musikverein. The conservatory provides chamber music recitals and houses a special studio for the cultivation of ‘new music’. An annual festival, the Osnabrücker Musiktage, is held in June in the nearby spa town of Bad Rothenfelde.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PERCY M. YOUNG