Music texts
MusikTexte - magazine for new music is a specialist magazine for new music . It has been self-published in Cologne since October 1983 . The editors are Gisela Gronemeyer (since 1983), Rainer Nonnenmann (since 2012), Bernd Künzig (since 2016) and Stefan Fricke (since 2018).
The deceased editors are Reinhard Oehlschlägel (1983 to 2014), Ulrich Dibelius (1983 to 2008) and Peter Niklas Wilson (1998 to 2003); Retired editors are Ernstalbrecht Stiebler (1983 to 1991), Frank Schneider (1991 to 2004) and Frank Hilberg (2008 to 2018).
From its foundation onwards, the magazine has been characterized by its “documentary” character: it gathers basic texts by composers and scholars and thus shows discussions in real time. The booklets each have focal points - which mostly relate to composers and only rarely to topics - and offer detailed articles, some of which are analyzes (with extensive sheet music examples) of pieces or aesthetic classifications of positions or biographical portraits; mostly accompanied by detailed catalogs of works and literature. As a result, the booklets together form an archive of the current discourses on new music.
Like most music journals, the MusikTexte have a (three-column) review section that includes current book and CD reviews, festival and concert reviews and references to radio programs.
An introductory “comment” takes up current issues and indicates discussions and problems as an expression of opinion.