Tölzer Knabenchor - Backstage, Rehearsal, Part Selection

[solosomnus]

his sudden anger startled me.

[SummerComing]

He's mad!!

[Ussuratonkachi]

I don't get why the boy got kicked out...and who is the director 'yelling' at when he says "nicht"?...I don't understand German unfortunately...

[studentinberlin]

he did a pause in a part who isn´t a pause "gottes lamm..... mein bräutigam" that´s all. he means it not bad. the kids geht out because he want to hear who is better with this part.

[Ussuratonkachi]

ok thank you!

[zodcyborg]

hmm ok therefor you have to know that this choir is from germany and these few boys aren't all of them but only some chosen ones to fly to japan! this is a rehearsel right before a concert so it's crucial that noone makes mistakes. i think that's why. greetz

[LuckyLu93]

he said "nicht! kein absatz!"

i think he means that the boy shouldnt make a break (to breathe)

[MrMusicMan4567]

@Ussuratonkachi Nicht means not!

he said Nicht! kein absatz! which means Not! No Paragraph! or in English sense No! Dont stop to take a breath!

[MrMusicMan4567]

@Ussuratonkachi i think it is the boy who stands left to the boy who they all gave applause to but i am not sure

[catalinou80]

vorm, nicht "vom"

[catalinou80]

Du bist der Kerl der bei 1:34 gehn muss? Scheidet man da kurz vom Konzert als Solist aus oder wie geht des? Des muss schon doch schon vorher feststehn, wer was singt, oder?

[FuGiaZ]

German boys in a japanese show/report and only english comments, this is amazing :D

Wie alle Jungs bei "schöne Frauen" etwas verschämt gelacht haben, so niedlich ^^

[WhiteTiger333]

Nice! Looks like that was a fun tour and a great concert. Hehe - I jumped when the conductor stomped his foot and shouted NICHT! I've been on the receiving end of that myself. :) I just chuckled after the initial gut reaction. I know all that is just to increase focus during a limited rehearsal time. Correct it - move on. And the conductor was just as quick to praise, yes?

I love the YouTube snippets of the Tölzer Knabenchor.

[contrarymotion]

to add to the discussion below, I doubt that GSG was screaming screaming at whomever made the mistake - he was just being stern. I do not get the feeling that he was 'screaming' because he was truly angry at the boy.

Also, might there be a cultural difference here also? A lot of us in north america do not know what is "normal" in regards with relationships with children over on the other side of the pond. Things could be different.

[Dammitjimm]

I agree completely. Cultural difference, indeed. American kids, on the whole, tend to be inherently lazy when it comes to disciplines as precise as higher forms music. Most European kids are not.

[Melanoodis20]

haha i understood 1 word they said from this whole thing. "wundebar" (sp) lol

[GabrielleSuperiour]

Well I understood 2!!! "wunderbar" and "nichts"!!! YAY ME!!!!! If my mum would just get me that German program I would be able to understand it all!!!! But alas! she won't get it for me till I join LCCC!!!!:(

[tkbewunderin79]

Das letzte Kommentar ist falsch!!! The last comment is wrong! Disziplin ist nötig, um ein so guter Chor wie der Tölzer Knabenchor zu sein! Der Dirigent korrigiert ja, aber er lobt die Buben auch ständig, wenn sie es gut machen...! Falsch, dass sie die Freude an der Musik verlieren, ganz im Gegenteil! "Freude an der Musik" ist nämlich das Motto des Chores: Zunächst lieben sie, was sie singen werden; dann kommt alles einfacher! Und viele, viele gewidmen sich später der Musik!

[prismsmiles]

the conductor is quite scary.

[captxplane]

Yes....I had a choir conductor like that growing up and it is just not needed to treat thew boys like that. In the end it is the best way to make them loose interest in what they are doing and cause their talent to go to waste.

[coroven]

Personally though, I think the conductor is strict, not scary. Check his track record. If the boys did lose interest, the choir wouldn't have been successful as they are now. Besides, GSG has been leading the choir for more than 50 years. Obviously he knows what he's doing.

[captxplane]

I'm not saying this is the case....but how do we know that the most talented child to ever grace the choir with his gift was recruited, screamed at in the first practice, and just said to hell with this. Coming from someone with a degree in child development who has worked with kids for years, it's just not necessary. The only thing that screaming at a child like that does is hurt their self image of themselves. Kids tend to think that they are to blame for most everything that happens to them.

[norcalrobbie2]

Something about your "self image" comment reminds me of a popular news report I saw concerning the "ME GERNERATION." It was about how kids today are narcissistic, self-centered, and expect others to conform to them. Maybe it's time kids DO learn to take some blame for their faults (I know a few Child Development majors who agree with me). When a child at a piano lesson obviously hasn't practiced at home all week, you do NOT give him a gold star for "effort," do you?

[captxplane]

Take a look at their body language when they are singing in concert. They make every effort to spend as little time as possible looking at the conductor. If you know much about psychology and choir, that says a lot.

[jpstenino]

Captxplane, you are far too impressed with your opinion.

And I suspect that in spite of your degree you are deviod of any real professional experience or capacity for understanding human interaction. Your statements are isolated from fact, self serving and self congratulatory.

[captxplane]

jpstenino, I have a major in childhood development and a minor in psych, as well as almost 10 years working with children both professionally and on a volunteer basis. I have spent time working with children from just under a year old to well into their teens. I make my observations from both personal experience and higher education in the field.

Why don't you try backing up your comments with something more than overt speculation, arrogance and rudeness.

[norcalrobbie2]

There is a difference between strictness and being an ass. Schmidt-Gaden is what any musical instructor should be. Being able to sing/play an instrument is a skill like any other... it NEEDS to be rewarded when done correctly (2:03) and reprimanded when done incorrectly. If not, the kids become unruly. Some may lose interest, but the REAL talent learns respect and stays. I've been a musician since age 4 and this is always how it's been.

[maestrovoci]

Is respect your training, but you are making a major mistake in assuming that such training and even your experience have much of anything to do with the milieu depicted in this video. These are not ordinary kids, so unless you have worked with extraordinary talents, your training and experience do not apply here, respectfully said.

[maestrovoci]

I know of no institution of higher learning, even in Munich, that teaches a class on how to achieve success with the best and most intelligent children who are just preadolescent and adolescent - these are not young kids, really. They are experienced performers, and they know very well that in order to perform music, one must be able to express through the text, emotion in addition to context.

[maestrovoci]

Music is an emotionally involved art form, no less because boys are the ones singing at world-class levels. Their self-esteem comes in heaps from performing at this level. They do not need captxplane to determine their own self-satisfaction. As a fellow conductor, I must say that GSG is unique and irreplaceable. We should be celebrating his life's work, and not diverting attention by making irrelevant and misleading comments based upon a set of false premises.

[coroven]

If GSG screams at the kids every single minute, I would definitely agree with you. But I still think he's just strict, not abusive in any way. He's not just a conductor, he's a teacher. Like every teacher in the world, he gets annoyed when they do mistakes on things that they've learned since they were six.

[coroven]

'Cause, to be in the performance group, the boys have to be the best of the best. And they are. So I can understand if GSG gets really particular on stuff like breathing and such. Which I think is the mistake that the boy did in the vid.

[norcalrobbie2]

Yes- and the boys who DO lose interest are most often the ones who are simply not cut-out for the art. I've been a classically-trained musician from a very early age, and we need to cut out the Politically Correct niceties out of such discussion. On the other hand, the ones who remain under even a strict teacher (Herr Schmidt-Gaden) are the ones who are dedicated enough to listen to and repect their teacher to realizes the importance of challenging his young artists. That's what it takes.

[norcalrobbie2]

Aber ein Lehrer MUSS ACHTUNG GEBIETEN!! He MUST command respect. To say "it's just not necessary" for a musician to be reprimanded during practice is ABSOLUTELY absurd. There must be rewards AND punishments for learning music & other behaviors correctly or incorrectly. If not, the quality of instruction suffers and the teacher loses that control. ***Your idea of "self image" is the Politically Correct tripe that spoils children rather than encouraging them to cultivate their art correctly.***

[captxplane]

I recognise that the boys need to be taught how to do things correctly, and that it needs to be pointed out when they do make a mistake. My point is that there is no need to scream at them like they are about to walk in front of a train to do so. In my time working with children I have never screamed at them while plenty of others do....and I get far more respect from the kids than they do by far. If it is not necessary to correct them through intimidation, why should it be done at all?

[captxplane]

I seriously doubt that he would scream at an adult for making a simple mistake, so why do it to them....just because they are children? Do they not deserve the same respect as anyone else?

[norcalrobbie2]

Because they're STUDENTS. As a former psych major, you should know that as a child, the dynamic of learning is different from that of an adult. It is easier for a child to learn music, therefore it is easier for a child to learn mistakes and difficult for them to become "unlearned" in later years.

[maestrovoci]

As one who has worked within the organization, I can tell you that age has nothing to do with it. By the time these boys get to this level of performance, they have been taught already for four years. They know and love Professor Schmidt-Gaden, because they know the difference between bark and bite. They know that he barks only when provoked by inattention to details already worked out in rehearsals held for weeks before they step in a concert hall. Your criticisms are not well placed.

[Toelzerfanclever]

@maestrovoci Herrn Professor Schmidt-Gaden habe ich selbst noch nie so energisch erlebt wie hier. Allerdings hatte ich auch nur sehr selten das Glück, beim Proben dabei zu sein....

[norcalrobbie2]

In my experience, MUSIC teachers who are the "nice" ones are often the ones whose students progress more slowly and less effectively. Sure, they may command a more 'amicable' relationship, but that's about it. Learning music or a sport involves PRECISION. Both are behaviors learned in the Cerebellum: oftentimes a short SCREAM is necessary to wean a student away from and point out ill-practices that are barely noticed (a subconscious effect). Otherwise the product comes out "half-assed."

[harmlessplease]

great kids!

[baritone1957]

Thank's a lot - Vielen Dank !

als ehemaliger (Fast-)Knabenchorsänger grüsse ich hier

die Limburger Domsingknaben und den Limburger Domchor,

in dem ich Ende der 80er Jahre mal habe mitsingen dürfen..

m.mus.gruss

Ein Bariton aus dem Westerwald, heute in Darmstadt

[vidbuff1]

no problems with sound here, i did not understand the language, but you get the idea from the conductor what he was after, so i liked it personaly.

[RobtRobt]

There is no audio.

[maestrovoci]

I had no problem with audio, just trying to hear their German over the Japanese announcer who never shuts up.

[RobtRobt]

Yes, I found later I had audio problems with my computer. Now it works and its nice to hear the music but since I don't speak Japanese or German I don't get much out of this clip.

[EvelynCor]

yeah he never shuts up - that's what an announcer is all about... he asks himself whether choir boys are very well-behaved all the time (and finds out "kids are kids") - boys are excited about Japan, asks what they want to do (temples, shopping), impression (lots of traffic, big buildings - and an older boy makes a joke "beautiful women").

[EvelynCor]

Stage rehearsal. And how strict the conductor is (selects soloists by throwing the others out as you can see, and gets angry about breathing at the wrong time). Just wanted to show up about languages ;) No this is a great choir, interesting to hear them rehearsing.

[hostclub17]

there really cute germans

[Srecko1]

THey are from Austria

[crazytomcat]

No, they are from Germany. Tolzer Knabenchor=Bad Tolz Boys Choir. Bad Tolz is in Germany.

[Srecko1]

srry then

[crazytomcat]

it's alright, lol.