The tradition of the St. Michael’s Choir Boys in Gmünd goes back to 1956. The motto “Sing for the glory of God, for your joy and for the joy of mankind” has not changed until today. However, the Gmünd choir boys also suffered greatly from the forced break due to the Corona pandemic and were temporarily unable to implement this motto. The musical director Moritz Tempel, who has been setting the tone for the Michaelschorknaben since 2019, was all the more pleased that it was again possible to have both a choir concert in the hall and a performance in the minster on the weekend.
For this purpose, special musical guests came to Gmünd: the St. Martin’s Choir Boys from the Upper Swabian town of Biberach. This full-voiced boys’ choir is somewhat “younger” than the Gmünd choir boys, having been founded in 1962, but can refer to the tradition of boys’ choir singing in Biberach, which has been documented since 1400. The St. Martin’s choir boys regularly organize the services in their home church, but also give concerts elsewhere and even go on a concert tour every year, which also takes them abroad.
Compared to this, the journey to Gmünd was manageable. On Saturday afternoon, both the choir boys from Biberach and the choir boys from Gmünd impressed the audience with their clear voices. On Sunday morning, the two choirs framed the Kirchweih-Eucharistiefe. The program included demanding works by Anton Bruckner and Felix-Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.
The Gmünd St. Michael Choir Boys had the Boys Choir St. Martin from Biberach as a guest. On Saturday there was a concert in the Prediger and on Sunday the two choirs could be heard with demanding compositions in the cathedral.