“Right under the skin”
Christian Erny is the founder and musical director of the Zurich Chamber Singers. Georg Rudiger asked him a few questions.
The Zurich Chamber Singers are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year. What was your plan when you started the choir back in 2015?
The idea of founding a professional choir had been with me since my student days. My basic idea was clear from the outset: I wanted to create meaningful programmes that combine the traditional choral repertoire with new music. My goal was furthermore to build a choir that could grow and stay versatile – from a small vocal ensemble to a full concert choir, in order to cover the entire spectrum from Renaissance motets to choral symphonic works.
What defines your choir?
It is important to all of us that music really conveys something. The choir has always been characterized by a great joy in singing – and by cleverly thought-out programme concepts that aim to engage the audience on a variety of levels. Right from the start, we have been shaped by an atmosphere that is both friendly and warm, but also determined by high standards of musical quality. This spirit lives on today and continues to drive us forward.
The Zurich Chamber Singers are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year. What was your plan when you started the choir back in 2015?
The idea of founding a professional choir had been with me since my student days. My basic idea was clear from the outset: I wanted to create meaningful programmes that combine the traditional choral repertoire with new music. My goal was furthermore to build a choir that could grow and stay versatile – from a small vocal ensemble to a full concert choir, in order to cover the entire spectrum from Renaissance motets to choral symphonic works.
What defines your choir?
It is important to all of us that music really conveys something. The choir has always been characterized by a great joy in singing – and by cleverly thought-out programme concepts that aim to engage the audience on a variety of levels. Right from the start, we have been shaped by an atmosphere that is both friendly and warm, but also determined by high standards of musical quality. This spirit lives on today and continues to drive us forward. One principle remains crucial for me when it comes to casting: I aim for as lean a line-up as possible, but with powerful voices, so that a bright, transparent yet powerful sound is created, which has become characteristic of us.
The dramaturgy of your concert programmes is important to you. Where do you see the common thread in the concert in Klosters, which combines works by Palestrina, Bach, Bruckner, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and the contemporary composer Paul Mealor?
At first glance, these works may seem very different: Palestrina represents the Renaissance, Bach the Baroque, Mendelssohn and Bruckner the Romantic period, while Paul Mealor is a contemporary composer. But for me there is a clear inner connection. Mendelssohn and Bruckner were both strongly influenced by Renaissance and Baroque music. Even though their musical language is naturally different, the “DNA” of their music lies deep in the contrapuntal tradition of Palestrina and Bach. Paul Mealor, who is best known for his sacred choral music, also draws on the wealth of early music. His work “Ubi Caritas” quotes a Gregorian melody that many composers before him had already taken up. This makes it a wonderful fit for this programme –because, like the other composers, it is linked by a common musical grammar.
You have also recorded Anton Bruckner’s motets on CD. What fascinates you about this music?What impresses me about Bruckner is how finely, accurately and precisely he composes. His motets are complex and reveal the enormous demands he placed on himself: to be innovative while at the same time maintaining a deep connection to the musical past. Despite all its compositional sophistication, his music never seems academic, but touches the listener in a simple, direct and therefore all the more profound way. For me, it was a great musical journey to record his Latin motets on CD
In some works, such as the motets by Bach and Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, the choir is accompanied by organist Christian Schmitt. What do you appreciate about him?Christian Schmitt will be working with us for the first time, and I am very much looking forward to meeting him. I also think it’s great that we’re not only making music together, but will also be experiencing him as a soloist. I appreciate him as an extremely versatile and open-minded musician – and I’m excited to see what we can discover together in these works.
What can the audience expect from this concert?
Moving choral music from four eras, performed by a small ensemble of outstanding young singers – in dialogue with a top organist in a wonderful venue. Music that gets under your skin in a simple, direct and deeply human way.