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December 4, 2002
Cathedral choir carries on Church history of best in sacred music
Renewed choir also engages in renewal of rich Catholic tradition
By Jack Bacon
Growth of the choir at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Denver constitutes a renewal in the best tradition of the Second Vatican Council, according to director Horst Buchholz.
The council, he pointed out, urged preservation and development of the great musical tradition of the Church, right down to the detail of establishing the pipe organ's "special place" as its principal instrumental voice — the only instrument recognized by name.
Buchholz, 42, took over the choir 3 1/2 years ago, when "there basically was no choir" and only six were listed as members, he said. He had been teaching conducting at the University of Denver — he still teaches organ there part-time — and had a strong background in Church music as well as in art.
The choir has grown to 35 members, and supplemented frequently by an orchestra of 10 to 20 pieces, depending on the music composition, he said.
Now the choir's liturgical and appurtenant performances are increasingly recognized for their excellence and enrichment of the cathedral's appeal to the faithful. Recent performances were at the Mass celebrated by Bishop José Gomez, S.T.D., cathedral pastor, Oct. 27 to observe the 90th anniversary of the dedication of the Denver Archdiocese's mother church and Nov. 17 in an afternoon concert, presenting Vivaldi's "Gloria" and Mozart's "Vespers."
Clergy and musicians from throughout the Denver Archdiocese observed the feast day of St. Cecelia, the patron of musicians, with a 7:30 p.m. Mass and special blessing at the cathedral Nov. 22.
The dedication featured the choir and the orchestra, which joins the choral group for special occasions. The choir is featured regularly at the 10:30 a.m. Sunday Mass, a practice Buchholz said has experienced a steady and continuing growth of the number attending that Mass.
Orchestral appearances involve additional expense, Buchholz said, because the professional musicians are paid; the ranks include performers from the Denver Chamber Orchestra, the Denver Civic Opera and other aggregations. Choir members are volunteers, although stipends are paid to the seven cantors who are rotated in their roles as soloists, lead singers and leaders of congregational responses.
Both will perform before and during Christmas midnight Mass, a standing-room-only highlight of the year at the cathedral.
Buchholz said the continuing growth of the choir is especially gratifying to him because of the large number of young members and younger singers auditioning for membership. He said musicians — including music students and professionals — are attracted by the growing reputation and the venue.
"The (cathedral's) acoustics are fantastic for music," he said.
Buchholz is leading a renewal of a rich tradition at the cathedral that began with the late Msgr. Joseph Bosetti, a native of Italy who is a music legend in the archdiocese and the wider community. In addition to founding and directing the cathedral choir (then composed entirely of men and boys), he brought regular opera performances to the city. Msgr. Bosetti's contribution to serious music was carried on by the late Msgr. Richard Heister.
Buchholz said the enthusiastic support of the music program by Bishop Gomez is an important element in its development.
"The bishop is very supportive," he said. "I'm very grateful for that."
Buchholz supervises all music at the cathedral, but isn't directly involved in the performances by guitar and other small groups at many Masses. His role, he said, is ensuring the quality of the music.
The diversity represented by all different types of music is "very important," he said. The concern is not to stick strictly to traditional as opposed to folk or other styles.
"The interest really is, 'Is it good or bad,'" he said.
Cathedral also has developed a children's choir, a project of Buchholz's wife, Cecelia, also an accomplished musician who has performed in opera and teaches voice at Metropolitan State College of Denver, and also holds a doctorate in music.
Developing the children's choir is a challenge, Buchholz said, because the parish has a low proportion of children in its largely adult, inner-city population, which also is more transient than most. Transience presents another problem for maintaining the choir's standards.
"I have never seen such a transitional place," Buchholz said. Student members graduate and move away, others transfer with their companies, still others move too far to keep up the schedule of performance and practice. The choir practices 1 1/2 to two hours a week.
"I'm very focused" in practices, he said, adding, "The choir is a wonderful group of people." They range from the professionally trained — two hold doctorates, one is a doctoral candidate — others with good voices really don't read music "but they sing, by ear, and follow along."
"In Germany where I come from," he said, choir members frequently sing in the same church all their lives — "They probably sing there until the day that the choir sings for them."
He would like to see more emphasis on liturgical music throughout the archdiocese, "particularly in the large parishes," he said. "That's what the Roman documents tell us, to keep the Catholic music tradition alive."
He blames some of the decline in parish choral development in part on misinterpretation of Vatican II, despite its emphasis on the place of music in worship.
"So many Catholics today don't even remember the rich tradition of Catholic music the Church has had over literally thousands of years," he said.
Buchholz is a member of the faculty of St. John Vianney Seminary, teaching chant and other music. Several of the musically gifted seminarians have sung with the cathedral choir. Music education is important to future priests.
"It's different just sitting in the church and singing along or you're the priest and now you have to sing by yourself, find the right pitch and sing in tune — they have to learn that," he said.
He both conducts and performs in Europe and Asia — including a pipe organ performance at the cathedral in Seoul, Korea, the largest in Asia. He has performed half a dozen or more times in Korea, he said. He also conducts the Centennial Philharmonic in the Denver area.
Buchholz has a degree in Catholic Church music from the University of Art in Berlin — the only degree of its kind — and performed and conducted in Europe before coming to the United States 13 years ago to obtain a doctorate in conducting at Indiana University. He subsequently conducted for three years in San Antonio, Texas, before taking the faculty position at DU, teaching conducting.
Holiday music for organ and trumpet
The International Concert Series at Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception will present a special recital for organ and trumpet featuring cathedral organist Horst Buchholz and guest soloist Jeremy Brekke 3 p.m. Dec. 15.
Brekke is one of the most outstanding trumpet players in Colorado and currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. He holds the principal trumpet chair in the Centennial Philharmonic, the Cathedral Brass and with the Cathedral Orchestra. The recital will feature Advent and Christmas music for organ and trumpet by composers like Bach, Purcell Telemann and others.
The concert is free and open to the public. Donations are gratefully accepted. For more information, visit the cathedral Web site: www.denvercathedral.org or call 303-282-3442.
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