Rainer M. Thurau

Rainer M. Thurau (2009)

Rainer M. Thurau (born June 4, 1951 in Hamburg ) is a German designer and harp maker . He runs a factory for the reconstruction of historical and modern concert harps as well as a studio for fine arts ( painting ).

Life

Thurau was born as a child of performing artists. In addition to studying medicine, in the 1970s he worked as a musician, instrument maker and especially as a painter in West Berlin . He presented his works a. a. every year at the Free Berlin Art Exhibition (FBK) in the exhibition halls of Berlin. In 1976 he designed his first harp and became a pioneer in Germany and Europe in the field of the reconstruction of historical harps. In 1990 he took over Europe's oldest concert harp building workshop, Josef Löffler & Sohn in Wiesbaden. The Wiener Symphoniker acquired his first designer concert harp . Works by Thurau can be found in private and public collections and museums in Europe today.

In 2017, Rainer Thurau was appointed Artistic Director of the Musica Antiqua Bingen festival by the city of Bingen am Rhein , a festival that honors the canonized church teacher and earliest known composer Hildegard von Bingen.

Works / works by Thurau u. a. in the following collections

• Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna
• Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn, Germany
• Museum voor Muziekinstrumenten Neerpelt, Belgium
• Alamannenmuseum Ellwangen, Germany
• Alamannenmuseum Vörstetten, Germany (Source: artist's website)
• State Museum Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart, Germany
• Archaeological State Museum Baden-Württemberg, Konstanz, Germany
• Museum of Art and Cultural History, Lübeck, Germany
• Basel Historical Museum, Switzerland
• Völkerkundemuseum Berlin, Germany
• Historical Museum Vienna, Austria
• Museum Auberlehaus, Trossingen, Germany
• Museum of the Institute for the History of Arab-Islamic Sciences, Frankfurt a. Main, Germany
• Heinrich-Schütz-Haus, Bad Köstritz, Germany
• Archive, library and collections of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna, Austria
• UNESCO World Heritage Site Lorsch Monastery, Lorsch, Germany
• Museum in the Gothic House, Bad Homburg, Germany
• Archaeological Institute of the University of Cologne, Germany.
• Alamire Foundation, Heverlee, Belgium
• Historical Museum Am Strom, Bingen, Germany

literature

Own publications:

• "Aspects of the reconstruction of three-row harps based on Domenichino's" David che suona l'arpa "", Basel Music Academy, 1991.
• Co-author: "Harfen" (Ed. Dr. D. Droysen-Reber), Berlin 1999, State Institute for Music Research Prussian Cultural Heritage, ISBN 3-922378-18-8 .
• "The Trossinger Lyre " Instrument-building considerations of the grave find of an Alemannic lyre from the 6th century. (Scientific publication, Nov. 2003, on behalf of the Archaeological Institute Baden-Württemberg, Konstanz)
• "The Erard Harp Mechanics - their function and restoration (La mécanique Erard de la harpe-sa foncti)" trade journal HARPA 1991.

Mentions:

• Barbara Theune-Grosskopf, "The completely preserved lyre of the 6th century from grave 58 of Trossingen, Ldkr. Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg", special print from Germania 84, 2006, 1st half volume, Roman-German. Commission of the Dt. Archaeological Institute, Frankfurt a. M.
• "Music in Medieval Vienna", Historical Museum of the City of Vienna for the 103rd special exhibition 1986–1987, self-published by the Museums of the City of Vienna
• Basler Jahrbuch für historical Musikpraxis VIII, Medieval Musical Instruments - Iconography and Game Practice, special edition 1984, Vlg. Amadeus, ISBN 3-905049-32-5
• Basler Jahrbuch für historical Musikpraxis XXVI, 2002, Singen und Gesangspraxis in der Alten Musik, Vlg. Amadeus, ISBN 3-905049-94-5
• Catalog of the Museum for the History of Arab-Islamic Sciences, Part 1 Musical Instruments, 2000, Inst.f.Gesch.d. arab.-islam. Sciences at the Johann Wolfgang Goether University, Frankfurt am Main, ISBN 3-8298-0065-7 .
• Barbara Theune-Grosskopf, "With lyre and sword - the early medieval" singer's grave "from Trossingen", Archaeological State Museum Baden-Württemberg, 2010, Likias Vlg., ISBN 978-3-9812181-2-1 .

Movies

• Culture magazine ASPEKTE, ZDF 1980
• "The Harp Maker of Ulm", ARD 1986
• “Music trampled” NDR 1991
• "Harp construction in Wiesbaden", RTL 1991
• “Chicago Blues and Harp Dreams”, (leading actor), 1993 documentary
• "The Harp", documentary series 'Kultura' by ORT (Russian state television broadcaster), 2011
• "Musical instruments from Wiesbaden", documentary film commissioned by the city of Wiesbaden, 2017

Web links

• www.thurau-harfen.de
• www.rainerthurau.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ FOCUS NWMI-OFF / Stadtverwaltung Bingen am Rhein: City of Bingen am Rhein: A faithful Hildegard harp for the Museum am Strom. In: Focus Online . September 18, 2017, accessed October 14, 2018 . 
2. ↑ https://wiesbaden-lebt.de/film-ab-das-motto-lautet-musikinstrumente-aus-wiesbaden

https://www.allgemeine-zeitung.de/lokales/bingen/bingen/festival-mittelalterlicher-musik-in-bingen_19085531