Foreword (Schott Music)

When I took up my post as cathedral conductor at Würzburg's St Kilian's Cathedral in November 2002, I quickly realised how lively the performance practice of Bertold Hummel's works is at this cathedral. The special cultivation of a composer's works in their original place of performance is a common practice in Germany - but it tends to be the exception with contemporary composers. This can certainly be attributed to Hummel's close ties with Würzburg's St Kilian's Cathedral, which took effect on various levels: through his friendship with the then bishop and my predecessor, through his participation in the Würzburg Cathedral Orchestra and also through his family ties to the choirs of Würzburg Cathedral Music: his children and grandchildren sang or still sing at St Kilian's Cathedral. It can therefore be said with some justification that Bertold Hummel's Dankhymnus, like many of the composer's choral works, was inspired by the conditions and the enormous acoustics of Würzburg Cathedral. It is therefore easy to understand why the work was premiered in 1975 by the Würzburg Cathedral Boys' Choir in Würzburg's St Kilian's Cathedral.
The text on which the hymn of thanksgiving is based comes from the 9th and 10th chapters of the Didache, a writing from Syria dating from around 100-180 AD. AD, which can probably be described as the earliest church order in Christendom. Hummel sets the emphatic text passages as a Eucharistic hymn of thanksgiving, which will also find its place in the sacred concert. He combines his own tonal language with a remarkable feel for the vocal possibilities of young choirs. In terms of performance practice, it should be noted that the more recitative-like passages of the work, which are labelled "somewhat freer", are based on a flowing language in the sense of Gregorian chant. The metrical structure of the text merely serves as a guide.

Würzburg, May 2007
Martin Berger

Many of Bertold Hummel's motets were written at the suggestion of Würzburg Cathedral's Kapellmeister Siegfried Koesler. They were all written for use in church services and were performed for the first time by the choirs of Würzburg Cathedral Music. The Dankhymnus op. 57b for 4 - 8-part mixed choir a cappella is particularly popular and has been performed many times in Germany and abroad, not only by the Würzburg Cathedral Boys' Choir, to whom the work is dedicated. The text, which dates back to the first Christian century, was given a powerful setting by Hummel, partly in unison, then again with imitations or with homophonic chord progressions that lead into hymn-like, soaring sounds. An effective a cappela work that can be studied without particular difficulty and performed in church and concert.