Helmuth Rilling, 92, choral conductor and teacher, died February 11 in Leonberg, Germany. Born May 29, 1933, in Stuttgart, Germany, he began studies at the Protestant Seminaries in Württemberg. From 1952 to 1955 he studied organ, composition, and choral conducting at the Stuttgart College of Music, with further studies with Fernando Germani in Rome, at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, and later with Leonard Bernstein in New York City.
While still a student in 1954, he founded Gächinger Kantorei. In 1957 he was appointed organist and choirmaster at the Stuttgart Gedächtniskirche, conducting Figuralchor der Gedächtniskirche Stuttgart. Between 1963 and 1966, he taught organ and choral conducting at the Spandauer Kirchenmusikschule, working with Spandauer Kantorei. He conducted Bach-Collegium Stuttgart beginning in 1965, which often performed with Gächinger Kantorei, and he toured with both ensembles. In 1969 Rilling was appointed choral conducting professor at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts, remaining until 1985. In 1969 he became conductor of the Frankfurter Kantorei until 1982.
Rilling became best known for the interpretation and performance of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, the first to prepare and record on modern instruments the complete choral works of that composer. Other recordings included works of Classical and Romantic music, particularly the works of Johannes Brahms. He was the founder of the Oregon Bach Festival in 1970, the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart in 1981, and other Bach academies around the globe, as well as Festival Ensemble Stuttgart in 2001 and Junges Stuttgarter Bach Ensemble in 2011. He taught choral conducting at the Frankfurt Musikhochschule from 1965 to 1989. He retired from conducting in 2018.
