Liederperlen (Choral Music Publication)
Liederperlen was an important and popular collection of choral music published by Mennonites in Imperial Russia. It began as the monthly periodical Sängerfreund which was published by Isaak Born for 18 months in 1889-1890. Then in 1891 the periodical name was changed to Liederperlen, meaning “Song Pearls.” Some volumes also have a subtitle such as the second volume which has: Sammlung von lieblichen Liedern für gemischten Chor. This translates as: “A collection of lovely songs for mixed choir”. The publication format continued as a four-page monthly and later as an eight-page bimonthly which had its pages cumulated annually into a 48-page section with a titlepage, and coloured printed paper covers. A volume was completed every three years by cumulating the three sections into a 144-page volume (Teil), which had its own title page and an Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents) as the last page of the volume listing about 115 songs comprising each volume. The page format was oblong, about 22 x18 cm. in size, with all music in the Ziffersystem of number notation. Each page was numbered and the songs were also numbered. A total of eight volumes were completed by 1914. The nineth volume was just begun in 1915 but only after six months it was shut down by restrictions on the German language caused by the start of the First World War and few copies were released.
In the last quarter of the nineteenth century a variety of village, school, and society choirs became very popular in the Russian Mennonite communities. These choirs often integrated Mennonite and Mennonite Brethren members together and they collectively created a demand for printed music. Most only knew the Ziffersystem of number music notation and the Liederperlen met that demand. A high percentage of the music in Liederperlen was 19th century German pietistic and gospel music but it also included popular American gospel songs translated into German from composers like Paul P. Bliss and Ira D. Sankey. The different volumes also held many German folk songs and a few songs from Russian Mennonite composers like Aron Sawatzky, Bernhard Dueck and Wilhelm Neufeld. Each volume also held one or more songs in the Russian language that demonstrated a loyalty to Russia, their native land.
Liederperlen was initially printed by Peter Neufeld and was the first music to be published by a Mennonite in Russia. His printing company had the Russian name Радуга (i.e., Raduga meaning ‘Rainbow”). Previous to this Mennonites sent their musical works to be published in Leipzig, Germany. There are a number of typographical errors and inconsistencies in the volumes as the editors changed and as printers were unfamiliar with the Ziffersystem of notation. Isaak Born managed the publication until 1903 when Heinrich Braun took over as editor. Braun then bought out Neufeld and with Abraham J. Kroeker and his cousin Jakob Kroeker as partners, reorganized Raduga as a printing, publishing and book selling business. In 1910 the editorship passed to Kornelius G. Neufeld of Davlekanovo of the Ufa settlement. Then in 1913 J. Janzen of Ohrloff was the last editor. Through the years the editors sought out many popular contemporary American and German songbooks as the source for songs in their Liederperlen publication. The popularity of these Liederperlen choral music collections resulted in some of the later volumes going through several editions. Further, Liederperlen’s popularity was such that volumes were also sold in America and many brought their copies with them when then immigrated to North America.
Bibliography
Berg, Wesley. “Music Among the Mennonites of Russia.” In John Friesen, Editor, Mennonites in Russia. Winnipeg, Manitoba, CMBC Publications, 1989: 203-219.
Letkemann, Peter. The Hymnology and Choral Music of Mennonites in Russia, 1789-1915. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Toronto, 1985.
| Author(s) | Victor G Wiebe |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 10 September 2023 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Wiebe, Victor G. "Liederperlen (Choral Music Publication)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 10 September 2023. Web. 27 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Liederperlen_(Choral_Music_Publication)&oldid=177502.
APA style
Wiebe, Victor G. (10 September 2023). Liederperlen (Choral Music Publication). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 27 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Liederperlen_(Choral_Music_Publication)&oldid=177502.
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