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Konrad Ruhland

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Konrad Ruhland was a German musicologist and choral conductor, born in 1932 in Landau an der Isar and died in 2010. He studied history, medieval Latin, theology and the history of the liturgy. That broad background gave him the knowledge not only to play early music, but also to understand it.

Music and breakthrough

In 1956 he founded the Capella Antiqua München in Munich with a group of enthusiastic students. That group was one of the first to want to bring early Baroque and Renaissance music back to life with a scholarly approach. Under his direction recordings appeared of Gregorian chant, medieval hymns and motets, early Italian madrigals and a recording of Carmina Burana after thirteenth-century manuscripts. Christmas music from the fourteenth century was part of it too.

Influence

Ruhland passed on his knowledge until his death in courses, music weeks and summer schools, including at the University of Pennsylvania. He was also a sought-after choral conductor. His work shows how early music in the twentieth century acquired a sound of its own again: not a romantically exaggerated choral sound, but singing built up as far as possible from the sources.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a Gregorian chant from his recordings and notice the single-voice melody without accompaniment, which only follows the line of the text.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists