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Visit to the zoo
Visit to the Zoo – the current CD has been available since November 2016.
Here you will find some background information on the creation of the CD:
In 2015, the MDR Children's Choir began work on the CD "Visit to the Zoo." The first recordings of the song cycle were made in 1961 in Leipzig's Eiskeller (ice cellar). The record, which the Leipzig Radio Children's Choir recorded as a vinyl LP in 1975 under the Nova label, is still a top seller on the used LP market. The music is by choir founder Hans Sandig, and the lyrics are by Richard Hambach.
The fact that this is timeless music was recently proven. Members of the Friends' Association observed how, during an exhibition commemorating the choir's 65th anniversary, children gathered in front of a television screen, enthusiastically watching a recording from the Hoyerswerda Zoo that had aired over 50 years ago.
The LP was rounded off with songs that were created during a tour through a library (text: Ingeborg Kalisch).
Songs like "Robby" and "Regenmeer" were created that combined the spirit of the times with a look into the future.
The journey into space and the visit to the moon were already clear goals back then, and they are something we are considering again when we think about the colonization of Mars.
Page 2 ends with a very beautiful song about a tremendous storm. In addition to the song cycle "In the Bookstore", other texts by Ingeborg Kalisch were set to music.
For example, a musical picture book about cars, ships, and trains was created. The choir children have always had a close relationship with the animals at the zoo. For many years, the Leipzig Congress Hall served as the choir's rehearsal space.
Back then, the choir children could take tram line 24 directly to the entrance of the Leipzig Zoo and rehearsed on Mondays and Thursdays or Tuesdays and Fridays in the Large and Small Radio Children's Choirs on the top floor of the Leipzig Congress Hall.
The rehearsal room offered a free view of the zoo. The children were also welcome as guests at the zoo.
For example, photographs were taken in front of the elephant house as a memento (see image archive).
The record recordings were made every Wednesday at the Leipzig radio station in Springerstrasse.
Modern Japanese studio technology, under the direction of Ala Sandig, benefited the quality of the LP.
The lively way in which children are guided through the zoo with music was also a hit at the gala concert.
for the 100th birthday of Hans Sandig or in current television programs.
MDR has re-recorded this special visit to the zoo and described the music as vivid, fresh, cheerful and humorous, capturing it in a video alongside the CD for children and adults.
Below you will find the trailer for the Zoo Cantata, which we associate with a special thank you to Wieland Lemke.
He created the music with a small ensemble in a trailer and on the CD together with Ulrich Kaiser.
Choir director Ulrich Kaier, who took over the musical direction of the choir from Hans Sandig and Gunter Berger, will be the moderator here. Since January 2018, the choir has been musically directed by Alexander Schmidt. (Audio sample)
Hans Sandig would certainly have liked the contemporary, lively interpretation, as he had used more voices for his recordings in the hall on Springerstrasse at the Leipzig radio station.
The alumni will recognize the rehearsal room in the congress hall.
Anyone who remembers the first broadcast on screen from the Hoyerswerda Zoo (see archive of Freundeskreis mdr-Kinderchor eV) can inquire with the Freundeskreis about the source for a recording.
The vinyl record (LP), which originated in the 1970s, is now a sought-after rarity.
