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After the demise of the Austrian monarchy, the Hofmusikkapelle and the court choristers fell on hard times. The last chorister left the school in 1920, and the Hofmusikkapelle was taken over by the Austrian ministry of education. There was no money, and no interest in keeping up a boys' choir - logistics would have been too complicated. No new boys were hired.
The ladies of the Vienna State Opera Chorus sang the soprano and alto parts in the Imperial Chapel.
When in 1922 the musicians ceased to play, something had to be done. Josef Schnitt, who had become dean of the chapel in 1921, used his own private money to revive the boys' choir, but he had to get permission from the ministry first. This was a long process. Once he had permission, Schnitt advertised auditions for choristers.
Together with Heinrich Müller, the chapel's music director, he selected 30 boys. The boys were coached over the summer of 1924, and services with boys resumed in September 1924.
In 1925, Schnitt lost all his assets and was forced to look for other sources of income.
In 1926, the choir gave their first concerts outside the Imperial Chapel. The choir sang motets and lieder, and - at the boys' own request- singspiele. The success was incredible: within a year, the boys sang in Berlin (with none other than Erich Kleiber conducting), then in Prague, Switzerland, Athens. By 1932 they reached the USA.
Today the Hofmusikkapelle consists of conductors and organists, the Wiener Sängerknaben and members of the Vienna State Opera Chorus and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The Hofmusikkapelle performs in the Imperial Chapel on Sundays. Soprano and alto solos are sung by choristers, and the liturgigal Gregorian chant is sung by the chapel's Schola Cantorum whose members are former Wiener Sängerknaben.
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