Loh-Orchester Sondershausen
Their first deployment was at the consecration of the town church (St Trinitatis) in 1699 (the ensemble consisted of eight trumpeters and one army timpanist).
Known court conductors from the early days of the orchestra are: Johann Friedrich Holtzer (1659), Jeremias Koch (1662), Elias Christoph Stock (1686).
A sing-ballet composed by Stock was a small opera with dance (ballet) under the title In honour of the great Pan.
The text was written by the Swedish scholar Carl Gustav Heraeus [de], who was employed at court.
The composer Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (1690-1749) had applied for the post in Sondershausen after Stock's death.
A musical stage play in the style of an opera entitled Irene and Apollo was written in 1733 for the music-savvy patron of the arts Prince Günther I.
After the death of Günther I, the "Kapellführer" changed frequently without any loss of quality in the musical life of the Sondershausen court.
In addition to the commitment of the princes, citizens of the town, such as Ernst Ludwig Gerber and Hofrat Suckow, increasingly became involved in music, also due to the effects of the French Revolution.
They played music in military uniform in the Lohpark in the so-called "half moon", a spot south of the later Lohhalle.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the court orchestra was staffed not only with professional musicians, but also with capable amateurs from the middle classes and the civil service.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the repertoire included operas by Mozart, Luigi Cherubini, Dittersdorf and Carl Maria von Weber.
After opera performances had always taken place in temporary rooms, Prince Carl Günther I had a court theatre built next to the palace in 1825.
Another important orchestra conductor besides Max Bruch was Karl Schröder II, who served as Hofkapellmeister from 1881 to 1885 and 1890 to 1907.
[1] Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote to his son August after hearing the Hautboistencorps in Bad Tennstedt in 1816: "The music director Hermstedt from Sondershausen blows the clarinet excellently.
In 1856, Hans von Bülow wrote for the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik: "It seemed as if with the greatness of the task, the forces to defeat it had also grown.
The Sondershausen band may claim the fame of the initiative without the worry that it will soon be surpassed in this beautiful achievement by another."
Franz Liszt in a letter to Baron Lothar von Thüna: "The orchestra which he (Max Erdmannsdörfer) conducts ranks among the most renowned in Germany, and rightly so, for the orchestral works have nowhere been performed with so much cleverness, accuracy and power.
I have a fixed salary of 1000 Thaler and even enjoy the priceless title of "Court Kapellmeister", have a great deal of time to work, conduct a quite excellent court orchestra, am together with the orchestra almost daily, perform all the good music that exists, am completely independent in determining the programmes, and am sure of the full approval of our music-loving princess in all undertakings".
Richard Wagner in a letter dated 3 May 1858 from Zurich to Kapellmeister Eduard Stein concerning the performance of Lohengrin at the Court Theatre in Sondershausen on 26.
I have just read a report on your performance of my Lohengrin, and I see from it that I was so happy to meet in you one of those rare friends whose beautiful and uplifting participation alone does not make me regret having given my works to the public, where they so often and usually experience the fate of maltreatment and ridicule.
In no other place in Germany are so many orchestral novelties performed during the concert season as here......The intercourse with the orchestra is easy and pleasant.
