Hofmusikkapelle#

Hofmusikkapelle (Hofkapelle) court orchestra, Vienna. Its primary function was the musical accompaniment of mass at court; its beginnings can be traced back to the High Middle Ages. After the extinction of the Luxemburg dynasty in 1438 the court orchestra was taken over by the Habsburgs. At that time excellent musicians played in the Hofmusikkapelle; the first conductor of the court orchestra known by name was J. Brassart. 1498, the year of its reform under Maximilian I, is often referred to as the year of its creation. In early modern times more worldly functions become increasingly important, a development that reached its climax (with musicians such as A. Cesti, Ziani, J. J. Fux, G. Bononcini and A. Caldara) under the "Musikkaiser" (= musical emperors) Ferdinand III, Leopold I, Joseph I and especially Karl VI. Under Maria Theresia the activities of the court orchestra were more restricted. In the 19th century they were limited to religious music and the court opera. The court orchestra was one of the last court institutions to be abolished (1921). The choirboys ("Kapellknaben") for chapel service, usually 10-15 boys who sang at Mass, were trained in the Hofmusikkapelle. When the Hofmusikkapelle was dissolved after World War I, the boys´ choir was reorganised under rector J. Schnitt to form the Vienna Boys´ Choir, with several choirs. Until then no boys´ choirs of comparable size had existed in Vienna; the tradition of considering the Vienna Boys´ Choir the successor to the Kapellknaben solely rests on their participation in sung Sunday Mass in the Hofburgkapelle.