Concept and Profile

The Anton Webern Choir Freiburg is a professional vocal ensemble consisting of – depending on the program – 12 to 24 singers. Contrary to what its name might suggest, the Anton Webern Choir is not a specialized ensemble for New Music. Rather, in line with the firmly rooted compositional thinking of its namesake, it cultivates the entire field of vocal ensemble music from the Renaissance to the avant-garde. This versatility does not mean a lack of thorough engagement with the stylistic and performance foundations of the respective compositions; however, it corresponds to the experience that broadening the historical perspective is as beneficial, indeed necessary, for understanding and emotionally grasping the music as its specific focus.
Accordingly, the Anton Webern Choir has not only extensively engaged with diverse works such as Monteverdi's Vespers of the Blessed Virgin, Bach's Mass in B Minor, Mozart's Requiem, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, Brahms' a cappella songs, Webern's cantatas, and compositions by Ligeti, Nono, Zender, Holliger, and Rihm, but there have also been programs where music from different centuries appeared in manifold mutual reflection. Literary texts often served as the axis of reflection for such reflections.