Leipzig percussion ensemble
In the 1970s, following the international trend, the Leipzig percussion ensemble of the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra wanted to bring the percussion to the concert stage as an independent instrument. In 1973 the Berlin composer Christfried Schmidt dedicated the composition "Chamber Music VI" to the percussion group. It was not performed until 1983 by the four drummers Werner Legutke, Hans-Joachim Naumann, Gerd Schenker and Günter Pauli in Berlin, because it was only at this point in time that the problems of obtaining the instruments could be solved. This concert was the reason for the foundation of the Leipzig drum ensemble.
tasks
The tasks of the ensemble are to interpret the extremely diverse range of percussion instruments and not only refer to the existing international repertoire, but above all it initiated composers from their own environment to create new works for percussion. A considerable number of new works that arose as a result are mainly part of the repertoire.
The Leipzig drum ensemble has given concerts at the national festivals for new music in Berlin and Dresden as well as in Leipzig, Erfurt, Weimar, Gera and Halle. It made guest appearances in 1989 in Heidelberg (female composers yesterday - today), in Heidenheim (Tonkünstlerfest Baden-Württemberg) in Hanover in 1990 (open music landscape), in a course at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe , Duisburg, at the Festival Mitte Europa (1995), in 1996 in Bamberg and in Erlangen, as well as at the “Niederösterreich International” festival in 1996. Participation in the percussion workshop of the Rheinsberg Music Academy in 1998, tour of Switzerland in 2003 with a concluding concert on Deutschlandfunk in Bonn. Concerts in the contemporary music scene in Leipzig are continuous tasks of the work and presentation of the Leipzig percussion ensemble.
Some works from the repertoire of the Leipzig drum ensemble were recorded or produced in concerts and studio recordings on the then radio station of the GDR . Productions in the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Leipzig are still the focus of the work.
The Leipzig percussion ensemble today consists of the percussion group of the MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig , namely Gerd Schenker , Stefan Stopora, Winfried Nitzsche, Sven Pauli and Thomas Winkler, and, depending on the needs and the line-up, drummers from other ensembles.
Member biographies
Gerd Schenker
born 1948. Studies at the German University of Music in Berlin with Otto Reil . From 1968 to 1972 drummer at the Volksbühne Berlin . From 1972 to 1975 he was drummer with the Great Radio Orchestra Leipzig. Since 1975 drummer with the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, now MDR Symphony Orchestra . From 1974 to 1993 member of the new music group "Hanns Eisler" Leipzig, co-founder of the Leipzig drum duo 1978 and 1982 of the Leipzig drum ensemble. Numerous solo activities and editor of percussion literature.
Stefan Stopora
born 1963. Studies at the University of Music in Leipzig with Karl Mehlig. 1984–1987 solo timpanist in Gera. Since 1987 assistant principal timpanist at the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, now MDR Symphony Orchestra . Member of the chamber music association "Avantgarde" Leipzig. Teaching at the University of Music and Theater in Leipzig .
Winfried Nitzsche
born 1963. Attends the special school for music and studies at the Leipzig University of Music with Karl Mehlig. 1984 to 1988 deputy principal timpanist in the Dessau Theater , since 1988 deputy principal timpanist in the Leipzig Radio Philharmonic, now MDR symphony orchestra .
Sven Pauli
born 1969. Studies at the University of Music in Leipzig with Karl Mehlig. Member of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra. Since 1990 drummer in the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, now MDR Symphony Orchestra .
Thomas Winkler
born 1968. Attended the Quedlinburg Music School . Studied at the Hochschule für Musik Weimar with Hans-Joachim Naumann (founding member of the Leipzig percussion ensemble). Since 1990 solo percussionist at the Radio Philharmonie Leipzig, since 1992 member of the MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig .
repertoire
| composer | plant |
|---|---|
| Steffen Schleiermacher | "Reply" for 7 percussionists |
| Sextets | |
| Carlos Chavez | Toccata |
| John Cage | first construction |
| Friedrich Schenker | Second allemande |
| Iannis Xenakis | "Persephassa" |
| Helmut Zapf | "2 + 4" harmony for 6 × percussion |
| Ellen Hünigen | "Percussion for 6" |
| Bernd Franke | "Solo 6-fold - solidified" for percussion ensemble |
| Karl-Ottomar Treibmann | "Percussion concert for 6 percussionists" |
| Henry Cowell | "Pulse" |
| Quintets | |
| Steve Reich | music for pieces of wood |
| Hansjürgen Schmidt | "Night piece and Toccata" |
| Jarmo Sermilä | "The mythic man" |
| Georg Katzer | Percussion music 2 |
| Quartets | |
| John Cage | second construction |
| John Cage / Lou Harrison | double music |
| Shinichiro Ikebe | "on the other side of rain" |
| Jürgen Buttkewitz | "progress in the time" |
| Ralf Hoyer | "Permutations" |
| Christfried Schmidt | Chamber music IV |
| Nicolaus A. Huber | "Autumn Festival" |
| Karl-Heinz Wahren | "Spiral" |
| Wilfried Satke | "Song of Work" |
| Karl Ottomar Treibmann | Percussion quartet |
| Werner Heider | "Gallery" |
| Trios | |
| Reinhard Wolschina | fantasy |
| Edisson Denisow | "Rays of distant stars in curved space" |
| Achim Müller Weinberg | "Meetings" |
| Hansjürgen Schmidt | "Music for three percussionists" |
| Horst Lohse | "Transitions" |
| Duos | |
| Karl Ottomar Treibmann | "Conversation between two drummers" |
| Karl Ottomar Treibmann | Percussion sonata |
| Bernd Franke | "3 x virtuosos for 2 × 1 percussionist" |
| Hermann Keller | Scene for two percussionists |
| Günter Neubert | Dithyramb |
| Edisson Denisow | "Arising - passing away" |
| Helmut Bornefeld | Duo concertant |
| Younghi Pagh-Paan | "Tsi-shin / Ta Ryong III" |
| Steffen Schleiermacher | Study for two percussionists |
| Václav Kučera | "Ex abrupt" |
| Solo pieces | |
| Iannis Xenakis | "Psappha" |
| Friedrich Schenker | Solo IV |
| Georg Katzer | Percussion music 1 |
| Reiner Bredemeyer | Striker I |
| Paul-Heinz Dittrich | "Assisi" |
| Wilfried Krätzschmar | Solitude III - "serenade noire" |
| Helmut Lachenmann | Interior I. |
| Ruth Zechlin | "Incantations" |
| Nicolaus A. Huber | "The same is not the same" |
| Morton Feldman | "King of Denmark" |
| Helmut Bornefeld | "Rituals I and II" |
| Gerd Domhardt | "Correspondance - Actions pour percussion" |
| Günter Neubert | Schlagspiel Dialog (can also be played as a duo) |
Discography
| year | title | |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Jean-Luc Darbellay: A Portrait with the MDR Symphony Orchestra and Fabio Luisi | |
| 2008 | Two works by Thomas Christoph Heyde on the CD or LP "High Culture Motherfucker" Works for Instruments and Live Electronics on "PHANTOMNOISE RECORDS 014/2008" | |
| 2008 | "Leipzig percussion ensemble and ..." with "querstand" | VKJK 0836 |
| 1996 | "Drums + Percussion" Heidenheim Friends' Association for New Music e. V. | LC 5699 |
| 1996 | in the MDR series "Documents on Central German Music and Radio History 4" The Leipzig percussion ensemble plays percussion music | MDR 1995 88043 / 1-2 |
Web links
- Recordings of the Leipzig percussion ensemble in the catalog of the German National Library
- The Leipzig Percussion Ensemble (MDR) ( Memento from July 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive )