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Günter Jena

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Günter Jena
Born(1933-01-02)2 January 1933
Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
Died7 May 2026(2026-05-07) (aged 93)
Education
Occupations
Organizations
Awards
Websitewww.guenter-jena.de

Günter Jena (2 January 1933 – 7 May 2026) was a German choral conductor and musicologist. He was the director of church music at St. Michaelis in Hamburg from 1973 to 1997. He founded the festival Bach-Tage Hamburg, and provided music for ballet performances of choreographer John Neumeier at the Hamburg State Opera, including Bach's St Matthew Passion.

Life and career

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Organ in St. Michaelis, Hamburg, where Jena was responsible for church music from 1974

Born in Leipzig, Jena attended the Thomasschule there, and then studied musicology. He studied psychology and philosophy in Berlin, and conducting and organ at the Musikhochschule München with Karl Richter, becoming his assistant.[1]

Jena worked as the church musician at St. Johannis [de] in Würzburg. In 1969 he founded the festival Würzburger Bachtage [de].[1] From 1973 he was the church musician at Hamburg's Hauptkirche St. Michaelis, where he regularly conducted performances with a focus on the music by Bach,[2] but also works from the classical period and the romantic era.[3] He founded the festival Bach-Tage Hamburg, and was appointed Kirchenmusikdirektor (director of church music) for the region. Jena prepared choir and orchestra for performances by the choreographer John Neumeier at the Hamburgische Staatsoper, including Bach's St Matthew Passion in 1981[4][5] and Mozart's Requiem.[3] Jena conducted the performances for the premieres, and also a revival of the St Matthew Passion in 2013, now in his church.[6] The 200th performance of the production was given on Good Friday 2017.[4]

Jena prepared and conducted the NDR Chor for a recording of the complete a cappella works by Johannes Brahms from 1981,[7] including Fünf Gesänge, Op. 104. He retired in 1997.[3]

Jena published books about the musicological and theological background of Bach's Christmas Oratorio, The Art of Fugue and St Matthew Passion. He was a member of the Freie Akademie der Künste Hamburg.[1][8]

Jena died on 7 May 2026, at the age of 93.[9]

Awards

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Jena was awarded the Würzburg Cultural Prize in 1970.[10] The Hamburg Senate appointed him an honorary professor in 1986 and awarded him the Johannes Brahms Medal in 1987.[11] He was an honorary member of the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Gesellschaft in Hamburg which had been founded on his initiative in 1974.[12]

Publications

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Recordings

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  • Johannes Brahms, Chorwerke. NDR Chor. OCLC 310609581
  • Johann Sebastian Bach, Weihnachtsoratorium. Choir and orchestra of St. Michaelis, Lynne Dawson, Marjana Lipovšek, Peter Schreier, Andreas Schmidt. 1997 OCLC 1183517685

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Günter Jena (Conductor)". Bach-Cantatas. 2003. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  2. ^ "Kirchenmusik an St. Michaelis". St. Michaelis. 2026. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  3. ^ a b c Banuscher, Doris (4 January 2003). "Günter Jena feierte mit zwei Ehrenbürgern 70. Geburtstag". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Jubiläum von John Neumeiers / "Matthäus-Passion" / 200. Aufführung des Balletts am Karfreitag" (PDF). Journal (in German). Hamburgische Staatsoper. 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Die Schuldigen oder auch die Sühnenden" (in German). Ballett-Journal. 25 March 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Hamburg / St. Michaelis: Matthäus-Passion von J.S.Bach in der Choreographie von John Neumeier". Der neue Merker (in German). 18 June 2013. Archived from the original on 5 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  7. ^ Stäbler, Markus. "1979 bis 1998: Gänsehautmomente mit Menuhin und Karl Richter". 70 Jahre NDR Chor (in German). NDR. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  8. ^ "Günter Jena". Freie Akademie der Künste Hamburg (in German). 29 September 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  9. ^ Fischer-Zernin, Verena (8 May 2026). "Kirchenmusiker in Hamburg: Der frühere Michel-Kantor Günter Jena ist gestorben". Hamburger Abendblatt. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  10. ^ "Kulturpreisträger der Stadt Würzburg". Würzburg (in German). Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  11. ^ "Brahms-Medaille". aluan.de (in German). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  12. ^ "Carl-Philipp-Emanuel-Bach-Gesellschaft zu Hamburg". Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Gesellschaft (in German). 2026. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  13. ^ Jena, Günter (2001). "Das gehet meiner Seele nah": die Matthäuspassion von Johann Sebastian Bach (in German). Freiburg i. Br. Basel Wien: Herder. ISBN 978-3-451-05085-5.
  14. ^ Jena, Günter (1997). Brich an, o schönes Morgenlicht: das Weihnachtsoratorium von Johann Sebastian Bach: Erfahrungen und Gedanken eines Dirigenten (in German). Eschbach/Markgräflerland: Verlag am Eschbach. ISBN 978-3-88671-178-9.
  15. ^ Ich lebe mein Leben in wachsenden Ringen: die Kunst der Fuge von Johann Sebastian Bach; Gedanken und Erfahrungen eines Interpreten; mit zwei CDs (in German). Eschbach/Markgräflerland: Eschbach. 2000. ISBN 978-3-88671-211-3.
  16. ^ "Günter Jena: Über das Ringen mit Bachs "Kunst der Fuge"". Die Welt (in German). 16 November 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
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