collegium vocale Köln

The Collegium Vocale Köln was founded in 1966 by five pupils of the Rheinische Musikschule Köln and was directed by the tenor Wolfgang Fromme. Prompted by an appearance by Alfred Deller at the Kölner Kurse für Alte Musik, the ensemble combined its engagement with early music, such as madrigals by Gesualdo and Monteverdi, with contemporary vocal repertoire. In 1968 Karlheinz Stockhausen wrote his vocal work “Stimmung” for the Collegium Vocale Köln at the commission of the city of Cologne; the ensemble sang the first performance, performed the work more than 300 times up to 1970 and appeared with Stockhausen at the World Exposition in Osaka in 1970. In 1971 it gave the first performance of Stockhausen’s “Sternklang” in Berlin and in 1972 of “Alphabet für Liège”. The ensemble also sang works by Giacinto Scelsi and Georg Kröll as well as by Peter Eötvös, Matthias Pintscher and Johannes Kalitzke. Recordings appeared on Deutsche Grammophon, CBS Masterworks and EMI Electrola; for Cybele Records it took part in the album Portrait Günther Becker (1998).