Word of the Day

: February 9, 2010

kapellmeister

noun kuh-PELL-mye-ster

What It Means

: the director of a choir or orchestra

kapellmeister in Context

From 1717 to 1723, Johann Sebastian Bach served as the Kapellmeister for Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen of the Holy Roman Empire.

Did You Know?

As you may have guessed, "Kapellmeister" originated as a German word -- and in fact, even in English it is often (though not always) used for the director of a German choir. "Kapelle" once meant "choir" in German, and "Meister" is the German word for "master." The Latin "magister" is an ancestor of both "Meister" and "master," as well as of our "maestro," meaning "an eminent composer or conductor." "Kapelle" comes from "cappella," the Medieval Latin word for "chapel." As it happens, we also borrowed "Kapelle" into English, first to refer to the choir or orchestra of a royal or papal chapel, and later to describe any orchestra. "Kapellmeister" is used somewhat more frequently than "Kapelle" in current English, though neither word is especially common.