Education
Born in Burg bei Magdeburg, Heinz Hennig was educated at the boarding school "Musisches Gymnasium" in Frankfurt am Main, namely by Kurt Thomas. He studied in Hannover.
Born in Burg bei Magdeburg, Heinz Hennig was educated at the boarding school "Musisches Gymnasium" in Frankfurt am Main, namely by Kurt Thomas. He studied in Hannover.
In 1950 he founded the Knabenchor Hannover. In 1961 he cofounded the youth orchestra "Junges Sinfonieorchester Hannover" (JSO). He prepared the boys choir for the recording of Bach cantatas in a collaboration with Gustav Leonhardt, published as "Das Kantatenwerk" by Teldec.
Hennig belonged to the first conductors pursuing historically informed performance.
He revived neglected works of Heinrich Schütz and Andreas Hammerschmidt, among others He also premiered works of composers such as Alfred Koerppen, who wrote in 1951 a youth opera Virgilius, der Magier von Rom that the choir performed successfully at the "Sängerfest" in Frankfurt a.M.
He also conducted its chamber choir.
He prepared the choir for collaborations with Ton Koopman, Philippe Herreweghe and the Hilliard Ensemble. To celebrate 50 years Knabenchor Hannover in 2000, Heinz Hennig conducted Bach"s Street Matthew Passion in a collaboration with the Thomanerchor prepared by Georg Christoph Biller.
He died in Hannover on 29 January 2002.