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Biography
Erhard Mauersberger (29 December 1903 in Mauersberg, Saxony – 11 December 1982 in Leipzig) was a German choral conductor, conducting the Thomanerchor as the fourteenth Thomaskantor since Johann Sebastian Bach. He was also an academic teacher and a composer.
Biography
Erhard Mauersberger, son of a cantor in Mauersberg (now part of Großrückerswalde, Saxony), was the younger brother of Rudolf Mauersberger, who was cantor of the Dresdner Kreuzchor. He was a Thomaner, a member of the Thomanerchor, from 1914 to 1920 under Gustav Schreck. He studied the organ with Karl Straube at the Leipziger Konservatorium.
In 1925 he became director of the Aachener Bachverein, in 1928 a teacher at the Musikhochschule Mainz and a cantor at the Christuskirche in Mainz. From 1930 he was cantor at the Georgenkirche in Eisenach. In 1932 he started teaching at the Hochschule für Musik "Franz Liszt", Weimar, appointed Professor for choral conducting in 1946. In autumn 1933 Mauersberger had joined the German Christians, from 1939 he worked in their Institute for the Study and Elimination of Jewish Influence on German Church Life and was the musical editor of their "de-Judaized" hymnal Grosser Gott, wir loben Dich. Since 1950 he directed the Thüringer Kirchenmusikhochschule in Eisenach.
From 1961 until 1972 he was Thomaskantor, succeeding Kurt Thomas. Together with his brother he conducted Bach's St Matthew Passion in a recording with Peter Schreier as the Evangelist, Theo Adam as the Vox Christi (voice of Jesus), Adele Stolte, Annelies Burmeister, Hans-Joachim Rotzsch and Günther Leib.
He composed works a cappella in late romantic style for the choir.