Kurt Kunert

Kurt Kunert (born July 12, 1911 in Stettin ; † August 14, 1996 in Erfurt ) was a German flautist and composer .

After he had acquired his first musical spurs in the Anklam " Stadtpfeiferei ", he went to the Loewesche Conservatory in Stettin in 1929 and to the Leipzig Conservatory in 1930 . There he was trained by Maximilian Schwedler , a flautist of the Gewandhaus Orchestra .

In 1935 Kunert was hired as the first flutist to join the municipal orchestra in Erfurt and always appeared on the board of the Erfurt orchestra as an extraordinarily distinctive personality.

In addition to his service in the orchestra, the versatile musician soon devoted himself to training the next generation: 1950–1953 he taught at the then German University of Music in Berlin as a lecturer in flute, counterpoint and theory of form . He then taught flute and chamber music at the Weimar Conservatory from 1953 to 1958 . He was also temporarily deputy director of the Erfurt Conservatory.

In the musical life of the city of Erfurt it soon acquired a special significance. In 1937 he founded the Erfurt Wind Quintet and in 1946 the Erfurt Chamber Music Association , of which he was chairman for many years. For over 40 years the tireless artist vehemently organized the matinees in the Angermuseum . In this series of chamber music, he worked in personal union as an interpreter, dramaturge and manager not only for works from his pen, but also for the Thuringian contemporary music industry with equal importance. He also integrated pieces by foreign composers into the programs in order to present them to the Erfurt audience. Countless world premieres and premieres of new music are due to his personal commitment.

plant

Kunert was one of the composers who sought to remain melodious to write, and put on comprehensibility value without being superficial or conventional. He felt obliged to the audience and was involved in the composers' association in an arguably for the popularization of new music. His work includes orchestral and vocal works as well as various chamber music, including nine wind quintets . He composed some things with direct reference to the interior of the Angermuseum, e.g. B. 1959 the ug. Suite for 5 wind instruments with movements such as B. "Madonna with the Child", "Saint George on Horseback" u. a. He also wrote several interdisciplinary melodramatic works that he and his wife Iris, geb. Renner, a trained actress, performed in musical and literary programs.

His better known compositions include:

• Sonata for clarinet and bassoon op.15 (1953), Verlag Friedrich Hofmeister , Leipzig 1954
• Wind quintet No. 2 , op.17 (1953), Verlag Friedrich Hofmeister, Leipzig 1953
• Divertimento No. 2 for wind quintet , op.18
• Suite for 5 wind instruments (1959)
• Concerto for flute and orchestra , op.21, Breitkopf & Härtel Verlag , Leipzig 1961
• Three romances after Garcia Lorca for speaker, flute and harp
• Andalusian romance for F. Garcia Lorca, melodrama for speaker, flute and guitar
• Schattenland Ströme, four poems by Johannes Bobrowski for speaker, alto flute and woodwind quartet

Awards

• 1955 appointment as chamber virtuoso of the city of Erfurt
• 1981 Culture Prize of the City of Erfurt

Literature, sources and web links

• Literature by and about Kurt Kunert in the catalog of the German National Library
• Homage to Kurt Kunert , press release from the city of Erfurt from August 15, 2006
• Kurt Kunert's estate in the archive of the Angermuseum and the city archive of the city of Erfurt