Karl-Rudi Griesbach

Karl-Rudi Griesbach (born June 14, 1916 in Breckerfeld , † May 8, 2000 in Dresden ) was a German composer .

Life

Griesbach attended a grammar school in Hamburg and then studied composition (with Philipp Jarnach ) and conducting in Cologne from 1937 . After completing his studies in 1941, he had to fight as a soldier in World War II and was taken prisoner by the Soviets in 1944, from which he was only released in 1949. The following year Griesbach settled in Dresden, where he lived until his death. In 1952 and 1953 he worked briefly at a Berlin theater. He also wrote reviews and worked as a dramaturge. Griesbach had already taught at the "Carl Maria von Weber" Academy of Music in Dresden from 1952 to 1955 ; from 1966 he was initially a lecturer there, from 1968 as a professor of composition, until in 1981 he gave up teaching again. Griesbach was awarded the Martin Andersen Nexö Art Prize of the City of Dresden (1961), the Art Prize of the GDR (1967) and the Patriotic Order of Merit (1976). Griesbach's wife Margrit appeared as a pianist and mainly interpreted works by her husband.

Audio language

Griesbach always tried to write music that was relatively easy to understand. Therefore, although he took up suggestions from Béla Bartók and Arnold Schönberg , in the end he did not break completely with the tonality and was altogether a rather conservative composer for his generation. His music is characterized by a concise rhythm, rather rough tone colors and terse forms. Griesbach sometimes referred to political issues in his works. In the early 1960s he dealt with foreign musical cultures and was also inspired by the blues and African music. With his "African Symphony" composed at the time, he had considerable success. The focus of his oeuvre, however, is on stage works. In the GDR and especially in Dresden Griesbach was a respected composer, although he was largely forgotten after reunification.

Works

• Orchestral works
  • Little Symphony (1950)
  • African Symphony (1963)
  • Symphony (67) to commemorate the Great October Socialist Revolution (1967)
  • "Ostinati" for orchestra (1976)
  • "Contacts" for orchestra (1978)
  • "Scene" for orchestra
  • Concertante music for piano and chamber orchestra (1964)
• Stage works
  • "Columbus", opera (1958)
  • "The black - the white - and the woman", opera (1963)
  • "Belle and Armand", opera (1988)
  • "Aulus and his parrot", opera (1982)
  • 4 more operas
  • "Clothes make the man", ballet (1954)
  • "Snow White", ballet (1956)
  • "Reinecke Fuchs", ballet (1977)
  • "Samson", ballet (around 1980)
• Vocal music
  • "Planetary Manifesto", cantata based on Johannes R. Becher for soprano, baritone, piano, choir and orchestra (1962)
  • "Drink the courage of pure life", musical coordination for baritone, female choir and orchestra based on texts by Goethe (1981)
  • Song cycles u. a. based on texts by Shakespeare , Brecht and Becher
  • Folk song arrangements
• Chamber and piano music
  • String Quartet (1977)
  • Music for flute and string trio (1953)
  • "Little Olympiad: Piano Pieces for Young People" (1961)
  • "Blues-impressions", five piano pieces in jazz style (1962)
  • Partita for piano (1986)

literature

• Friedbert Streller: Less experimentation - more acceptance. On the Dresden composers' school of the post-war period and on the compositional work of Karl-Rudi Greisbach in Dresden , in: Dresden and advanced music in the 20th century. Part II: 1933-1966 , ed. by Matthias Herrmann and Hanns-Werner Heister, Laaber 2002, pp. 411–426 ( Musik in Dresden 5), ISBN 3-89007-510-X

Web links

• Literature by and about Karl-Rudi Griesbach in the catalog of the German National Library
• Karl-Rudi Grießbach's estate in the Saxon State Library - Dresden State and University Library