Anton Heiller: “Deutsches Ordinarium”
On November 12, 2023, Cantus Novus Vienna will sing Anton Heiller’s “Deutsches Ordinarium” in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, accompanied by organist Ernst Wally. With the performance, the choir celebrates the 100th birthday of the composer and virtuoso organist from Vienna. The concert will be broadcast live on Radio Klassik Stephansdom.
The performance takes place as part of the High Mass. In addition to the “German Ordinarium”, Heinrich Schütz’s “O lieber Herre Gott” (from the “Geistliche Chormusik” 1648) and Anton Bruckner’s “Os justi” will be performed. Further information on the website of Wiener Dommusik.
About Cantus Novus Wien
Cantus Novus Wien, based at the Vienna Diocesan Conservatory for Church Music, has been directed by Thomas Holmes since 2001. In 2018, it was named “Choir of the Year” by the Vienna Choir Forum for its outstanding choral work. Cantus Novus Wien regularly showcases its broad stylistic range: at the international film music gala “Hollywood in Vienna” 2019, the consecration of the new organ at St. Stephen’s cathedral in Vienna in 2020 or in the ambitious video productions.
The choir’s repertoire includes oratorios, among others, by Handel (Israel in Egypt; Messiah) and Haydn (The Creation). And the Requiem settings by Mozart, Brahms, Verdi and Fauré. With contemporary music as one of the focal points, the choir premiered works by Wolfgang Sauseng, Ruth McGuire, Wolfgang Reisinger, Markus Pfandler, Wolfram Wagner and Annamaria Kowalsky.
Über Ernst Wally
“Ernst Wally, born in 1976 in Vienna, is a graduate of the Vienna High School for Music. He studied organ (Franz Falter, Michael Radulescu), composition (Michael Jarrell, Frédéric Durieux), church music and music education.
After working as a organist at various renowned churches in Vienna, he was appointed by St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, initially as assistant to the cathedral’s Director of Music; from 2010 as a full-time organist at St. Stephen’s, and since 2016 as a cathedral organist at St. Stephen’s, Vienna.
Ernst Wally has a busy international career as a concert organist, and has also performed several times with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the ‘Tonkünstler-Orchester’, and has worked with the ‘Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde’.
Ernst Wally has composed works of various genres. His works have been performed in several countries throughout Europe and in Chile; he has been commissioned for the Carinthian Summer Music Festival, among others.” (Source: Wiener Dommusik)
Über Anton Heiller
“Anton Heiller (born September 15, 1923; † March 25, 1979 there) was an Austrian composer, organist and music educator.
Heiller was a virtuoso concert organist who particularly dedicated himself to the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. As part of his work at the Vienna University of Music, he was the teacher of a number of leading organists of the 20th and 21st centuries. He led many master classes and conducted summer courses.
Anton Heiller created almost exclusively ecclesiastical works and compositions for organ in a richly polyphonic and chromatic style. His compositional output includes masses, requiems, psalms, choral works, motets, cantatas, oratorios and orchestral works. In his compositions he combines traditional Austrian music with elements of modernity, including twelve-tone technique.” (Source: Anton Heiller-Archiv)