Status: 23.12.2023, 18:00 PM
By: Patrick Staar
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Anton Singer from Tölz has inestimable sentimental value in the first trumpet he bought as a teenager. He also played with her in 1965 at the first Christmas concert at the Tölz cemetery. © Arndt Pröhl
Every year on Christmas Eve, there is a Christmas concert at the Tölz Forest Cemetery. The tradition continues to this day, but its establishment had a sad cause.
Bad Tölz – For many Tölzers, Christmas is only complete with the concert at the forest cemetery. Candles are lit at every grave, the cemetery is a sea of lights, the musicians of the town band play Christmas carols in a poignantly atmospheric, festive atmosphere. Hundreds of Tölzer gather in front of the funeral hall to listen. The idea for this concert came from the Tölz architect Anton Singer – although the occasion was a sad one.
Anton Singer from Bad Tölz wants to learn an instrument for the first time at the age of 13
It was a long way to the first Christmas concert for the town band, which was founded in 1924 and fell apart during the Second World War and was busy reinventing itself for a long time. Singer's path to music wasn't exactly easy either. At the age of 13, he let his mother know that he would like to learn an instrument. "Mei, you say it so simply, Bua," was the reply. "An instrument like that costs a lot of money, and we don't have that."
The mother asked a member of the town band for advice. This is how they came into contact with music teacher Hermann Peters, a refugee who lived on a farm on the Buchberg. "A good man, a good person," the 83-year-old recalls. Although the family could not afford an instrument, the music teacher taught the boy. He practiced for a quarter of a year only with the mouthpiece, learned how to shape the lips properly and conjure up sounds. Singer found this time "very instructive": "I can only recommend up-and-coming musicians to do the same."
Pure joy about my first own trumpet: "I would never give it away"
In the end, however, Singer wanted to own an instrument and turned to the instrument maker Willi Gareis, who still had his workshop in Lenggries at the time. "He asked me how much money I had," Singer recalls. "I said that I was doing an apprenticeship and that I was earning five marks a week." Gareis informs him that a trumpet costs 135 marks. Singer: "When I heard that, I almost fell off my chair."
For many Tölz residents, it is inseparable from Christmas: the concert of the Tölz town band in front of the funeral hall. The event starts at 17 p.m. on Christmas Eve. © Town band
Gareis was a musician himself and was happy that the boy wanted to learn an instrument. So he suggested: "Whenever you have ten marks again, you bring them to me." And so the boy cycled to Lenggries again and again to pay off his debts. Singer was happy to do so, he was beside himself with joy at finally owning an instrument: "I took the trumpet to bed with me. I still have it today and would never give it away."
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When his father dies: Anton Singer bids farewell by playing the trumpet at the forest cemetery
In October 1965, Singer's father died in an accident. The junior thought back and forth about how he could say goodbye in a dignified way – and decided to play his trumpet in the forest cemetery. Since he had never appeared in public before, he asked the experienced Hans Erhard to support him. He agreed, even though it was his birthday on Christmas Eve. In order to have light, Erhard pressed a candle into his young son's hand.
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The two didn't think about the audience and didn't think about a repeat, but in the months that followed, the question kept coming: "When are you going to play again?" The next year, they were joined by tenor horn player Paul Hamberger and trombonist Anderl Heimkreiter. In order to have even more reverberation, they played in the entrance area of the funeral hall.
Anton Singer was active in the Tölzer Stadtkapelle for 38 years
Singer remained active in the town band for 38 years, is an honorary member, was a board member and hired Josef Kronwitter as conductor in 1988. How did this come about? "I knew that he had studied music and singing in Munich and didn't have a permanent job at the time," Singer answers. At first, Kronwitter had a hard time with the idea of leading a brass band: "He is a classical musician. He attaches great importance to purity and cleanliness of the tones, which is not always the case with a brass band." But the town band continued to flourish under his direction and now counts around 100 musicians.
Singer is still in close contact with the town band and accompanied them to Bavarian championships. And of course, he will also be there when the town band plays at the cemetery on Sunday. (pr)
You can find even more current news from the region on Merkur.de/Bad Tölz.