Work of the Week - Stefan Heucke: Nikolaus Groß

With the subtitle "Music for a fighter" Stefan Heucke's new oratorio Nikolaus Groß, commissioned by the diocese of Essen, Germany, sees its premiere on the October 7 in the Mercatorhalle Duisburg. Performed by the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra led by Graham Jackson, the performance includes Caroline Melzer (Soprano), Tilman Lichdi (Tenor), Sebastian Noack (Baritone) und Sami Luttinen (Bass) as well as the ChorWerk Ruhr, the Philharmonic Choir of Duisburg, the vocal ensemble of the University Witten/Herdecke and the Girls' Choir of the Essen Cathedral.

"If we do not commit our lives today, how will we later endure in front of god and our nation?" (Nikolaus Groß)

Following this principle, Groß, a former miner, began his struggle against the impending reign of Nazism as chief editor of the West German worker's newspaper in 1929. After the newspaper was banned, he continued his resistance effort with the catholic labor movement until he was arbitrarily arrested in 1944 in connection with the assassination on July 20th and was murdered in 1945.

On October 7th Pope John Paul II beatified Nikolaus Groß. For the tenth anniversary the diocese Essen commissioned Stefan Heucke to write an oratorio about the life, ministry and death of this remarkable figure. With Jochen Klepper’s choral "Gott wohnt in einem Lichte" as an underlying theme throughout the musical scenes, the score contains dramatic recitatives and emotionally stirring arias and choruses. The work utilizes texts by Nikolaus Groß and contains references to the bible.

More recently, Stefan Heucke has devoted himself increasingly to the choral symphony genre, culminating in his III. Sinfonie "Sch'má Jissra'él" and Pater noster - Unser Vater. After the Premiere of Nikolaus Groß the newest work in this series can be seen again on the 9th of October in the Philharmonie Essen.

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