Dietrich Knothe

Knothe's tombstone

Dietrich Knothe (6 January 1929 – 7 September 2000) was a German conductor and choral conductor. He is the winner of the 1985 Handel Prize presented by the city of Halle.[1]

Biography

Knothe was born in Dresden. At the age of 10, he joined the Thomanerchor of the St. Thomas School, Leipzig under conductor Günther Ramin in 1939. After his studies at the music academies of Leipzig and Berlin-Charlottenburg, Knothe worked from 1953 with the MDR Rundfunkchor of Leipzig.[2]

In 1955, he founded the "Capella Lipsiensis",[3] an ensemble of soloists with whom he mainly performed music of the Renaissance and the Baroque eras.[4]

For political reasons Knothe was dismissed without notice in 1962 when he and his choir gave up singing the National Anthem after a concert.[5] Until he was appointed vice-director of the Berliner Singakademie in 1966, Knothe was a taxi driver and pianist in a ballet school. In 1975, he was promoted to director of the Berlin Singakademie. In 1979, he was awarded the Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic.[6]

From 1982 to 1993, Knothe was music conductor of the Rundfunkchor Berlin.[7][8]

He died in Berlin, on 7 September 2000, aged 71.

References

  1. ^ Dietrich Knothe on Bach Cantatas Website
  2. ^ GDR Review. Verlag Zeit im Bild. 1987. p. 38. Retrieved 30 May 2019. Dietrich Knothe Born in Dresden in 1929, he sang as a choirboy in the Leipzig Thomaner Choir until 1947. He then studied to become a choirmaster at the Leipzig and Berlin colleges of music. From 1953 till 1962 he led the Leipzig Radio ...
  3. ^ Capella Lipsiensis on Discogs
  4. ^ "Capella Lipsiensis – RundfunkSchätze". RundfunkSchätze – Dresdner und Leipziger Sternstunden aus Oper und Konzert (in German). Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  5. ^ "05 Provokateur Knothe – RundfunkSchätze". RundfunkSchätze – Dresdner und Leipziger Sternstunden aus Oper und Konzert (in German). Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  6. ^ Kunstpreise der DDR 1979 wurden verliehen, In Neues Deutschland, 18 May 1979, p. 5
  7. ^ Gerber, B. (1988). Kultur und Kunst in Berlin: ein Wegweiser (in German). Berlin-Information. p. xiv. ISBN 978-3-7442-0022-6. Retrieved 30 May 2019. ... Im September 1982 wurde Dietrich Knothe zum Chefdirigenten des Chores berufen.
  8. ^ Deutsche Orchestervereinigung (2004). Das Orchester (in German). Deutsche Orchestervereinigung. p. 146. Retrieved 30 May 2019. Abgesehen von der Geschichte: Was ist das Besondere am Rundfunkchor Berlin im Vergleich mit anderen professionellen ... Dietrich Knothe (oben Mitte), 1982 bis 1993 Chefdirigent des Chors, perfektionierte den Chorklang durch verstärkte ...