A brief historical viewVereinigter Männerchor 1820 Willich e.V. |
On 1 November 1820, Asssistant Teacher Johann
Peter Nesseler opened a Sunday School Choir in Willich consisting of 20 young
people. Willich had then 2,400
inhabitants. Although the long war years
had not gone by without leaving a trace, the economic situation gradually
improved mainly due to the potatoe crops and the making of brandy so that the
volunteer Sunday School Choir found appeal by the populace. They sang mostly folk and church songs. |
Market square and Willich's old parish church |
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Text and music were copied and so-called "numerical notes", written to help unversed singers in musical affairs, were a rarity. The Choir felt their chief duty was to beautify the church service through their singing. The choir became a regular Church Choir. The first big concert with Ball afterwards occurred already in 1822. Probably the Choir had already become a pure Male Choir (MGV) at this time. |
An illustration for so-called "numerical notes" |
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In 1858 the Choir
acquired the flag that they still have today. Changing times hindered further development. After the wars and the clashes of culture in Germany, things started to get better from around 1880. In addition to their appointment as a Church Choir, concerts were given, singing competitions were visited and also organised in their own right; a great importance was also given to dramatics. |
The flag of the old Male Voice Church Choir |
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The 1914 World War and the following years of
inflation ended this positive development; however, the Choir recovered later. In 1928 there were again 55 singers. From 1933 onwards, the Male Voice Choir Society, which was also at the same time the Church Choir, met significant handicaps and constraints due to the National Socialist Party. Membership fell dramatically and only through great effort could the Society be saved from breaking up. The Second World War and its consequences depleted the membership even further. After a division of the Choir (1947) into a secular and a (mixed) Church Choir, the Male Voice Choir Society could only exist further through the merger with the “Willicher Männerquartett” (Willich Male Quartet). |
The "Male Voice Choir" around the year 1880 |
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This association, that alongside choral
singing, mainly dedicates itself to dramatics and especially Carnival, was
founded in 1907 and had experienced a similar development as MGV. War and recession had also brought this Choir
to the brink of ruin. Through the merger
of both these choirs in 1954/55, the United Male Choir was born. The singers were again in the position to
successfully cope with concerts and other performances. Not only the membership rose slowly but
surely, but also the standard of the Choir. |
The "Willich Male Quartet" in the 1920's |
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In 1970, the 150th anniversary of
the foundation was celebrated in a week long festival, in 1995, a proud 175
years had been achieved.
A concert is regularly on the programme each year, a cultural event of note in Willich, to which the VMC has welcomed many big orchestras, soloists and well known choirs from home and abroad. |
The choir's Christmas Concert in 2000 |