Meinrad Schmitt

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Meinrad Schmitt (born December 21, 1935 in Wasserburg am Inn ) is a German composer .

biography

Meinrad Schmitt grew up as the second son of Betty (1906-1989) and Alfons Schmitt (1898-1995) in Wasserburg am Inn . From 1946 Meinrad Schmitt attended the Staatliche Gymnasium Traunstein and was accommodated as a boarding school student in the Archbishop's study seminar St. Michael . In addition to a humanistic high school education , he received lessons in piano , organ and composition . After graduating from high school (1954) Meinrad Schmitt began studying at the University of Music in Munich . He received his composition training from Harald Genzmer and Mark Lothar . After a few years as a music teacher at the grammar school near St. Stephan (Augsburg) , Meinrad Schmitt returned to the Munich University of Music in 1965 , initially as a lecturer in ear training and music theory , and from 1974 as a professor . From 1979 to 1983 he worked in the studio for new music of the Tonkünstlerverband Bayern e. V. with. From 1983 to 2013 he directed the Pegasus-Theater Adelzhausen together with Renate Mechler-Schmitt, for which he wrote stage music . With the withdrawal from teaching in 1998, new freedom for composing opened up. Since then, orchestral and stage works as well as numerous chamber music compositions have been created in rapid succession . Schmitt lives in Aichach . He is the brother of the artist and art teacher Leo Schmitt (1930-2005) and father of the composer Markus Schmitt (* 1965).

music

The focus of Meinrad Schmitt's compositional work lies in the field of orchestral and chamber music as well as incidental music . He repeatedly experiments with unusual line- ups and combinations of timbres , such as in the duo for harp and percussion (1975), in the concert for trombone , alphorn and orchestra (2006) or in the trio appassionato for clarinet , marimba and double bass (2010). Meinrad Schmitt attaches great importance to the fact that his music appeals to both musically trained and laypeople directly. In spite of all the harmonic freedom, his music always remains a tonic "art of the times". The main compositional principle is the interplay of analogy and contrast , as Igor Stravinsky outlines in his Musical Poetics . In developing his complex melodic- harmonic structures, Meinrad Schmitt uses a process that he calls linear dodecaphonics .

Orchestral works (selection)

  • Canzonaccia , improvisation on an old hit song (1968)
  • Icarus (1969)
  • HADES , amythological game for orchestra (1978)
  • Une promenade dans le ciel , Metamorphoses after a drawing by Grandville (1987)
  • Under the Sign of Venus , reflections for large orchestra (2003)
  • Commedianti, pezzi piccoli per orchestra (2004)
  • TABU , 4 scenes for chamber orchestra (2008)
  • Blurred traces , echoes of "Solitude" by Franz Schubert for orchestra (2016)

Instrumental concerts (selection)

  • Chamber Concerto for oboe, horn, bassoon and strings (1974)
  • Concertino for harp and orchestra (1980)
  • Concerto notturno for clarinet and string orchestra (1985)
  • Concerto for horn and orchestra (1996)
  • Concerto for trombone and orchestra (2006)
  • Concerto for trombone, alphorn and orchestra (2006)
  • Rota Temporis , concerto for percussion and orchestra (2009)
  • Concerto for two flutes and string orchestra (2018)

Chamber music (selection)

  • Variations on a Renaissance Theme , 1st wind quintet for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon (1960)
  • Sonata for violin and piano (1964)
  • Souvenirs de Friedrich Kuhlau , 2nd wind quintet for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon (1970)
  • Fantasia piccola for string quartet (1971)
  • Duo for harp and percussion (1975)
  • Quadrifoglio , 4 pieces for clarinet and violoncello (1975)
  • Trio for trumpet, trombone and tuba (1975)
  • Rhapsody for harp solo (1983)
  • Discorso giocoso for clarinet, basset horn and piano (1989)
  • TRAZOM for violoncello and piano (1991)
  • Nordic song , reflections on a theme by R. Schumann for violoncello quartet (2001)
  • Jerusalem , diptych for viola, trombone and organ (2002)
  • Trio appassionato for clarinet, marimbaphone and double bass (2010)
  • GADE , Fantasy for Brasscussion (2012)
  • String Quartet No. 2 (2013)
  • Balli di Sfessania , Suite after Jacques Callot for violin, violoncello and piano (2015)
  • Saluti a Ludovico , 2nd piano quartet (2015)
  • Duettino lirico per flauto e vibrafono (2015)

Vocal works (selection)

  • Six songs based on ancient Chinese poets for baritone and piano (1966)
  • A Something in a Summer's Day for baritone and harp (1979), texts by Emily Dickinson
  • On the river in Seville , 7 songs for soprano and piano based on texts by Lope de Vega (1990/2001)
  • Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes , song cycle based on English baroque poems for mezzo-soprano and piano (2005)
  • Ecce facta est , Christmas message for soprano, mezzo-soprano and alto (2013)
  • Epiphany  for soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto and keyboard instrument (2016)
  • Do you know the country, song cycle based on poems by Friederike Kemper for mezzo-soprano and harp (2017)
  • Benedikt , oratorio for speakers, solos, choir and orchestra (2017)

Music and dramatic works (selection)

  • The Bear , chamber opera based on Anton Chekhov (1967)
  • Legenda aurea , scenic oratorio (1984)
  • ADIEDI , chamber opera, text by the composer based on the play of the same name by Jelena Kohout (1993/94)
  • Lapis lazuli , family opera (2013), text by Wilfrid Grote

Children's and family concert (selection)

  • Crespino and King Tulipan , musical fairy tale for clarinet, speaker and orchestra (1990)
  • The Tower of Aeolos , fairy tales about music for speakers, Orff group and orchestra (1998)
  • Gaulimauli Porcupine , Mozartino for speaker, Orff group, orchestra and audience (2005)
  • The north wind and the butterfly for orff instruments, harp and speaker (2008)

Honors

  • 1963 Richard Strauss grant from the city of Munich
  • 1969 Composition Prize of the State Capital Stuttgart
  • 1970 Uelzen Kuhlau Prize
  • 1971 Marler Composition Prize
  • 1980 Music Prize from the City of Munich

literature

  • Theresa Henkel & Franzpeter Messmer (eds.): Meinrad Schmitt. (Composers in Bavaria. Documents of musical creativity in the 20th and 21st centuries, vol. 59). Allitera, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-86906-830-5 .
  • Christian Lichtenstern: At the age of 15 at the organ at the primacy of today's Pope. Professor Meinrad Schmitt from Klingen played in 1951 in the double prime of the two Ratzinger brothers in Traunstein. In: Aichacher Nachrichten , April 22, 2005.
  • Niko Firnkees: Respect of the "grandchildren" for every note. The composer and professor Meinrad Schmitt will be 70 in December. In: Neue Musikzeitung , December 2005 (12/05, 01/06), p. 51.
  • Gino Fraguela: When the CD player becomes a music box ... Philharmonic present first CD for children. In: Augsburger Allgemeine , November 19, 2003.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. Puffer, Gabriele: Biographical Notes on Meinrad Schmitt. In: Theresa Henkel & Franzpeter Messmer (eds.): Meinrad Schmitt. (Composers in Bavaria. Documents of musical creativity in the 20th and 21st centuries, vol. 59). Allitera, Munich 2015, pp. 9–20.
  2. ↑ Cf. Igor Stravinsky: Musical Poetics. B. Schott's Sons, Mainz undated [1949].
  3. ↑ See Theresa Henkel & Franzpeter Messmer (eds.): Meinrad Schmitt. (Composers in Bavaria. Documents of musical creativity in the 20th and 21st centuries, vol. 59). Allitera, Munich 2015. A complete catalog of works and a discography can also be found here.
personal data
SURNAME Schmitt, Meinrad
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer
DATE OF BIRTH December 21, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Wasserburg am Inn