Cantars in Basel opens in style

The entrance is controlled in a very earthly way, no unauthorized persons are allowed in. The concerts at the opening festival of cantars in Basel are tightly organized and yet everything runs smoothly, not to say heavenly. At twelve o'clock on March 14, the church sound festival opens with a spiritual spectacle in Basel Minster. This will be followed by more than 20 concerts lasting a maximum of 40 minutes every hour until midnight, some of which will take place simultaneously in five different churches. This event model will be followed within three months by around 440 concerts with 12,000 participants on 36 occasions, each under the care of its own organizational team. A total of around 100,000 listeners are expected. Cantars is now taking place for the second time not only in the diocese of Basel as in 2011, but on a larger scale in the cantons of AG, BE, BS/BL, FR, GR, LU, SG, SH, SO, SZ, TG, VS and ZH. This remarkable event is being organized by the Swiss Catholic Church Music Association, supported by the Swiss Church Choral Federation.

Photo: © cantars

Theatrum Sacrum Basiliensis

cantars - here we go! Spiritual spectacle in the cathedral

The preparations took three years under the direction of Sandra Rupp Fischer. On the evening of the first day of the event, they culminated in a first highlight, the ceremony in Basel's Predigerkirche. The simple and at the same time impressive celebration was entirely in keeping with the cantars motto: diverse - connecting - cross-border - forward-looking. There were baroque brass sounds, songs in various styles including the cantars jingle by Christoph Honegger and keyboard improvisations, young and old, choirs from different cantons and guests sang together, and Catholics and Protestants met in the Christkatholiken church, flanked by Balinese prayer flags. The guest speakers (Bishop Markus Büchel, President of the Swiss Bishops' Conference, Pastor Gottfried Locher, President of the Council of the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches and Pastor Michael Bangert, host of the Predigerkirche and representative of the Swiss Christian Catholic Church) emphasized the extraordinary importance of church music, which is lived in so many different ways, for culture in general and the church in particular, while keynote speaker Anita Fetz (SP/BS) emphasized the ecumenical background of our national anthem, the Swiss Psalms, brought to the fore.

Photo: © cantars

Ceremony in the Predigerkirche

Delegations from the 36 event organizers: Entry with Balinese prayer flags

A visit to some of the events revealed the broad spectrum of contemporary church music. For example, classical and baroque music thrilled the audience under the energetic leadership of a capable conductor and polished in sound by professional instrumentalists and soloists. Or a cleverly put together program almost made the unmistakable weaknesses of another choir forgotten. One would have wanted to listen to an excellent male voice ensemble for a long time, while elsewhere the performance lasted far too long after the first few bars. Of course, these concerts were only a tiny fraction of all the performances that will be heard during cantars 2015. Nevertheless, a summary statement is permitted: choral music - regardless of style - sounds most beautiful where it is competently conducted, i.e. where the potential of an ensemble is recognized and optimally developed.

Photo: © cantars

Himmelwiit - Family concert in the Elisabethen open church

Andrew Bond & ecumenical children's choir ökiko Oberwil, Therwil, Ettingen, Biel-Benken

Cantars (from Latin cantare - sing and ars - Art) now offers the opportunity until the beginning of June to get to know the most diverse aspects of church culture in concerts, exhibitions, lectures, encounters, readings, guided tours ... Some of the main themes from the 36 events are highlighted here:
 

The Schweizer Musikzeitung is a media partner of cantars.