Horst Meyer-Selb
Horst Meyer-Selb (born April 8, 1933 in Selb ; † December 22, 2004 in Berlin ) was a German musician , pianist , composer and music teacher .
Life
Meyer-Selb received piano and organ playing and composing lessons at an early age. From 1948 to 1950 he studied graphics and fine arts at the "Burg Giebichenstein" art school and workshops of the city of Halle, and from 1950 to 1955 piano at the Liszt School of Music in Weimar . He completed his studies as a qualified pianist on the subject of methodological and content-related analysis of the piano cycle "Papillon" by Robert Schumann .
He then worked his entire life as a university teacher: from 1955 to 1971 at the Schwerin Conservatory , at the music schools in Frankfurt / Oder, Berlin-Pankow and as a répétiteur at the State Ballet School Berlin ; from 1971 to 1974 at the University of Music "Franz Liszt" Weimar and from 1974 to 2004 as a university teacher for piano, musical composition and ear training at the University of Music "Hanns Eisler" Berlin .
From 1968 to 1971 he studied composition with Professor Johann Cilenšek at the HfM "Franz Liszt" in Weimar and in 1969 received the 1st prize for his compositions: song cycle based on texts by Wilhelm Busch for soprano and piano ("Die Selbstkritik", "She was a little flower", "When I was a little boy", "High thoughts live", "There is a bird sitting on the glue", "Nobody, nobody suits me") and: " Toccata for piano" .
As a composer, he was already registered in the Kurzgefasst Tonkünstler-Lexikon Franz / Altmann during his lifetime . He was a member of GEMA .
End of December 2004 died Meyer-Selb surprising in his apartment in Berlin-Weissensee and was on 28 January 2005 on the cemetery II of the French Reformed congregation in Berlin-Mitte, near the graves of Theodor Fontane , Arno Mohr and Peter Hacks , buried .
Horst Meyer-Selb was married three times and has a son from his first marriage.
Concerts
With a memorial concert on January 25, 2009 in the Palais am Festungsgraben in Berlin-Mitte, the Rundfunkchor Berlin commemorated the music educator and composer Horst Meyer-Selb. The compositions were published - except for the Wilhelm Busch songs - by Friedrich Hofmeister Musikverlag Leipzig:
- Gypsy songs for baritone and alto or mezzo-soprano and piano (1995)
- Four rose songs based on poems by Eva Strittmatter (1995)
- Rilke Medaillon - Five songs for female voice and piano based on texts by Rainer Maria Rilke (1998)
- Five songs based on texts by Wilhelm Busch (not yet published)
- "Zoppo" (The Limping) - a dance vision and rhapsody for piano (1996)
- Inspired by a graphic by Ernst Barlach's “Hilarious One-legged” (sheet from the series “The Outcasts”, 1922)
- Moulin Rouge - 8 waltzes for piano (2001), which were inspired by the composer's activity as a ballet accompanist and in memory of the "artistic and historical importance of the house 'Moulin Rouge' in Paris" and "outstanding ballet soloist, La Goulue ".
The musicologist Burkhardt Meischein wrote about this and other compositions by Horst Meyer-Selb in a letter from 2006:
"I enjoyed listening to and looking at the pieces and was happy to hear such appealing music once again: [...] no fiddling and brooding [...] pointed miniatures [...] witty sketches [...] elegant character pieces born from dance impulses [ ...] everything "sits", sounds, nothing tries to seem more than to be [...] has a sense of humor, clarity and ties in with older models, without giving up their own signature [...] Thank you very much for this original and funny music, whose emphasis seems to me to be on the rhythmic; the harmony - mostly rather clear. No reproach [...] but that belongs to the ideal of understandable, clear and good-sounding music that Mr. Meyer-Selb apparently had. Thanks also for the CD, which identifies him as a brilliant and resourceful pianist [...] "
With his compositions he has always said what is valid about himself, especially in his rhapsody for piano “Zoppo” (The Limping), which is the first published part of his completely unpublished composition “ Triptychon for Piano” based on images by Ernst Barlach and Vincent van Gogh is:
- I Ballad: "Dance of the hilarious one-legged" - Ernst Barlach
- II Nocturno: “La Berceuse” - Vincent van Gogh
- III - (without generic name): Despair and indignation - Ernst Barlach
and he commented as follows:
“Based on the graphic masterpiece Ernst Barlach's“ Hilarious One-Legged ”from the cycle“ The Outcasts ”, I tried to depict the wood-legged old man with an optimistic, desperate intention and evocation of a dance vision. Determined from the outset by the impossibility, there are moving, confident dancing gestures - swinging graceful or hysterically compulsive. Understanding his flattering coquetry as futile advertising, he repeatedly leads to threateningly angry failures, which then lead to a pounding and desperate collapse. With its piano and sound in a varied spectrum, the rhapsody requires a great playing ability and a convincingly strong ability to represent. "
Throughout his life Horst Meyer-Selb performed as a piano soloist and accompanist in concerts, song recitals, public cultural and festive events , at international competitions, radio recordings and concert evenings of his own compositions at many venues: Weimar, Schwerin, Berlin, Merseburg, Halle and others; also in Hof, Arzberg and Bayreuth. Some of his compositions contributed to the creation of new playing and teaching literature for piano and other instruments; he created cyclical forms of new piano music. He methodically explained his new playing and teaching literature to representatives of the GDR's Association of Composers and Musicologists and Directors of the GDR Music Schools, and a selection of piano pieces were included in the lessons of various music schools, both in the GDR and in the FRG .
Concerts with his compositions and with him as a pianist took place from 1954 to 2004.
Subsequent homage to the pianist and composer Horst Meyer-Selb from press reviews of his time:
"[...] The pianist Horst Meyer is outstanding [...] unconditional cleanliness of the tone [...] as light as a feather in the touch [...] good sense of style [...] color of the touch [...] his piano recital - proof of significant pianistic ability [...] admirable the fluency of the playing and the memory of the pianist [...] excellent technique and strong creative will [...] his free style of presentation is pleasantly touched [...] real Beethoven spirit is awakened when he pulls the orchestra with him with strength and temperament or with the deepest inwardness ( im Largo) pulls the listener under its spell […] The soloist of the evening was Horst Meyer. He performed in the C minor piano concerto by L. v. Beethoven emerged as an accurately creative interpreter [...] Horst Meyer (class of Professor Heinz Lamann) played the solo part of Beethoven's C minor piano concerto. The young pianist convinced through the calm and clear mastery of the piano part of his musical intelligence, his healthy feeling for the rhythmic values, which proved especially in the extremely fluid and agitated played rondo movement. In the Largo movement, the mental penetration of what was played was accompanied by warmth of sensation [...] "
And about the composer it says:
“[…] The evening with works by Horst Meyer-Selb turned into one of the most enjoyable events of the concert season… the best quality work was undoubtedly the Sonatina for flute and piano… we heard a quiet, internalized and dark second and a lively burlesque third Sentence [...] with his songs, Horst Meyer showed that he knew how to enrich the genre of contemporary art song [...] that he emerged as the winner with these works, was a good jury decision [...] diverse musical content proves the composer's remarkable ability [ ...] somewhat unusual tones could be heard with the "Bagatelles for piano" by the contemporary composer [...] we hope to encounter this work and other compositions by Horst Meyer-Selb again [...] "
Works
He composed songs, piano and chamber music for wind instruments, strings, guitar / mandolin, accordion / bayan, as well as compositions for special occasions.
Compositions published in music publishers by:
- Friedrich Hofmeister Musikverlag, Leipzig
- Joachim-Trekel-Musikverlag, Hamburg
- Editions Bim (Jean-Pierre Mathez)
Web links
- Works by and about Horst Meyer-Selb in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ Memorial concert of the Berlin Radio Choir (archive entry from lifePR from January 16, 2009)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Meyer-Selb, Horst |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German musician, pianist, composer and music teacher |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 8, 1933 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Same |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 22, 2004 |
| Place of death | Berlin |