Bach's legacy - St Thomas's choir in Leipzig

Leipzig is famous as the city of Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1723, he became the Cantor - choir and organ master - at the Thomaskirche, or St Thomas's Church. He held the post for 27 years, and was required to be extraordinarily prolific, composing a new piece of music for almost every Sunday service.

While he held that post, he made the church choir into an internationally renowned institution. The choir is based at a full-time boarding school, which dates back to 1212. Even lunch is preceded by a fragment of a Bach chorale. The boys, whose fees are mostly paid for by the State, come from all over the country, upholding a tradition which is nearly as old as the city itself. In the last century alone, the school has survived two World Wars, and the Communist regime, which permitted many of its ancient traditions to continue, unbroken.

The children get up at six in the morning - woken by their own choice of music: "Not necessarily Bach", as 15-year-old Emmanuel Jessel drily notes. There are several hours of choir practice every day, as well as individual singing and instrumental lessons and, of course, ordinary school lessons. For concerts both at home in the St Thomas's Church and on their national and international tours, they always dress in the tradition dark-blue sailor-style uniforms. Scruffiness is strictly prohibited. The smaller boys are inspected to make sure that their fingernails are not dirty and nothing is bulging out of their pockets.

Christoph Biller, himself an old "Thomaner", is Cantor of the St Thomas's Choir today. He talks of it as "both a privilege and a burden" to be Bach's successor. It is a privilege for the obvious reasons. But Bach, who "worked like an animal", is - to put it mildly - a hard act to follow.

Links:

St Thomas's choir concerts
Every Friday and Saturday the St Thomas's choir sings during mass but there are other events they singing at too. Check the dates here. In German and English.

Thomasschule
Website of the St Thomas boarding school in Leipzig where the boys of the St Thomas's choir live and study. In German.

St Thomas's church
St Thomas's church has had a boy's choir since 1254, and possibly even earlier. Bach made it world famous. In English and German.