Musical director:
Rico Schneider
For the first time, we welcome the Klingenthal town orchestra from the Vogtland music district. It has been in existence for 158 years and was founded in 1866 as the ‘Musikvereinschor Klingenthal’. In an often contradictory, yet continuous development up to the beginning of the 20th century, both a powerful wind orchestra and an equally sophisticated symphony orchestra emerged from this.
In 1911, the young and deserving music teacher Ernst Uebel was appointed conductor of the orchestra. As conductor, composer and arranger, he led the symphony orchestra and wind band to outstanding artistic quality. In recognition of its importance for the musical town of Klingenthal, the ‘Music society choir’ was given the name ‘Town music choir Klingenthal’ in 1921, and at the same time the conductor Ernst Uebel was awarded the title ‘City music director’.
The Second World War also brought Klingenthal’s entire musical life to the brink of the abyss. After the end of the war, responsible musicians, musical instrument makers and local politicians immediately began to rebuild the orchestra with great effort and energy, and in November 1946 the ‘1st Music Days in Klingenthal’ were held to mark the 80th anniversary of the orchestra’s founding. However, under the conditions of the time, the orchestra was no longer allowed to bear the name ‘town orchestra’. It was called the ‘Klingenthal District Orchestra’ because the sounding valleys were generally referred to as the ‘Klingenthal District’ at the time. At that time, this orchestral community included various ensembles, but above all the symphony orchestra and the wind orchestra, both of which were recognised as being of a high artistic standard. This high standard was characterised by outstanding musicians from Klingenthal.
Unfortunately, despite all efforts, the dissolution of the valuable symphony orchestra around 1968 could not be halted as a result of the musicians’ dissatisfaction with some of the cultural policies of the time. However, the wind orchestra successfully survived these serious problems. Not only was it able to maintain its high standard, but it even continued to improve over the years. Hundreds of performances at home and abroad in front of enthusiastic audiences bear witness to this. They were also the basis for the ‘Stadtorchester Klingenthal’, which has officially borne this name again since 1991 as a registered non-profit organisation by decision of the town council, being awarded the ‘Pro musica plaque’ by the German Federal President Roman Herzog in 1995.
Under the direction of town music director Rico Schneider, the Klingenthal town orchestra, with its own special sound and an almost inexhaustible repertoire of classical and modern brass music, proves itself to be an orchestra in a class of its own thanks to the orchestra’s own arrangements and as a worthy representative of the music town of Klingenthal and the entire Vogtland music scene.