Regensburger Domspatzen & Christian Matthias Heiss
Biography Regensburger Domspatzen & Christian Matthias Heiss
Regensburger Domspatzen
In 975 Bishop Wolfgang founded his own cathedral school in Regensburg. It is the hour of birth of the Regensburger Domspatzen. More than 1000 years later, the boys' choir is one of the oldest and most famous choirs in the world. At that time the liturgical singing in the bishop's church was already assigned to the pupils. This is still the main task of the Regensburger Domspatzen today: the musical arrangement of the services in the Regensburg Cathedral. They can be heard there every Sunday during school hours and on the high feast days of the church.
It is this clear and warm choral sound that has made the Domspatzen famous and unmistakable for decades. The choral sound is characterized by its versatility and dynamics. With their singing, the Domspatzen touch the hearts of the listeners in a special way. With the clear voices of a boys' choir, they give the choral music even more radiance and impressive depth. In addition to the cathedral conductor's choir, there are two other boys' choirs.
The extensive musical repertoire of the Regensburger Domspatzen ranges from the oldest hymns of the church, Gregorian chant, to vocal polyphony of the 16th century with works by Palestrina, Lasso and Hassler, the Baroque and Romantic periods to folk songs and works by contemporary composers. The Domspatzen regularly work together with well-known orchestras and soloists in larger oratorio projects.
The facility of the Domspatzen in Regensburg also includes a primary school, a high school with all-day care and a boarding school. Since 2022, the Domspatzen have been accepting girls in grammar school and boarding school for the first time in 1047 years. In the future they will form their own girls' choir at the cathedral.
Christian Heiss
Christian Heiss (*1967) has been Domkapellmeister in Regensburg since 2019 and thus head of the world-famous Regensburger Domspatzen. Even a cathedral sparrow was hot. After graduating from the Domspatzengymnasium, he studied church music with a major in organ at the Musikhochschule in Munich, with Franz Lehrndorfer among others. He completed his studies with the church music A diploma and the master class diploma in organ. In 1999 he was appointed cathedral organist in Eichstätt. In 2002 he then took over the position of Eichstätt Cathedral Kapellmeister, succeeding Professor Wolfram Menschick. In this function he conducted the choirs of the Eichstätt Cathedral Music (cathedral choir, Schola Gregoriana and youth choir). In addition, as diocesan music director and head of the office for church music, he was responsible for diocesan church music in the diocese of Eichstätt.
Christian Heiss also works as a choir composer and has created numerous pieces that have been published by renowned music publishers.
On behalf of the German Bishops' Conference, he set the primacy saying of Pope Benedict XVI to music. as an official gift from the German bishops on the occasion of the papal visit to Germany in the summer of 2011.
