Steffen Schleiermacher

Steffen Schleiermacher

Steffen Schleiermacher (born May 3, 1960 in Halle (Saale) ) is a German composer , pianist and conductor . As a pianist he recorded countless CDs on the music of the 20th and early 21st centuries.

Life

Steffen Schleiermacher comes from a family of teachers and is a descendant of the Protestant theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher . He grew up with an older brother in Halle / Saale, his nephew is the jazz musician Johannes Schleiermacher (* 1984). Steffen Schleiermacher received his first piano lessons at the age of six, he was also instructed in ear training and music theory , at times at the city music school. According to his own information, he has "approx. 10 piano teachers worn out ”. From 1968 to 1978 he sang in the Stadtsingechor zu Halle under the direction of Dorothea Köhler . After graduating from high school in 1978, he originally wanted to study architecture , but was "not accepted". Instead of opting for alternative mechanical engineering , he successfully applied for a place to study at the music college in neighboring Leipzig.

From 1980 he studied in the dance department of the University of Music "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" in Leipzig piano with Gerhard Erber , who supported him decisively. Erber introduced him to the new music of Karlheinz Stockhausen , Charles Ives and John Cage. During his exams he later played works by Pierre Boulez , Luciano Berio , Karlheinz Stockhausen and Friedrich Goldmann. In addition, Schleiermacher began studying composition with Siegfried Thiele in 1982 and with Friedrich Schenker in 1983 . At the age of twenty-two he composed his first pieces. From 1983 he also took conducting lessons from Günter Blumhagen because, as he himself said, the performance of his pieces was slow. From 1984 to 1988 he directed the contemporary music-specializing high school ensemble Gruppe Junge Musik , which had been founded four years earlier by the composer Bernd Franke . From 1985 to 1988 Schleiermacher worked as an assistant for composition , ear training and new music at the Leipzig University of Music. In the mid-1980s he was awarded the first international interpreter prizes, and in 1986 he took part in the International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt. During his assistantship in 1986/87 he was given the opportunity to study as a master student for composition with Friedrich Goldmann at the Academy of Arts in Berlin (East). In 1989/90, as a scholarship holder of the German Music Council , he completed additional studies in piano with Aloys Kontarsky at the Cologne University of Music .

Since 1988 he has directed the concert series Das neue Werk (from 1990 musica nova ), originally supervised by his teacher Friedrich Schenker, at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. In 1989 he founded a. a. the Ensemble Avantgarde with the Leipzig String Quartet . In 1990 he was one of the founding members of the Forum for Contemporary Music Leipzig . From 1991 he was responsible for the January Festival for New Music, which took place first at the Museum of Fine Arts in Leipzig and later at the Schaubühne Lindenfels . For financial and organizational reasons, the Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk took over the festival in 2000 . It was moved to the summer and continued as a contemporary series called KlangRausch, as part of the MDR music summer . Schleiermacher headed the series until 2010.

From 1989 he went on concert and lecture tours to many countries in Europe, America and the Far East. He gave concerts a. a. with the Gewandhausorchester , the German Symphony Orchestra Berlin , the Munich Philharmonic , the Orchester de la Suisse Romande and other orchestras, etc. a. under Vladimir Ashkenazy , Ingo Metzmacher , Fabio Luisi and Wladimir Jurowski . Around 60 CD recordings were released on various labels ( Hathut , WERGO , Musikproduktion Dabringhaus & Grimm ), including the first recording of John Cage's entire piano works from 1996 to 2003 . From 1999 to 2003 the entire piano works by Erik Satie followed . He also devoted himself intensively to the Vienna School and its students. He also contributed to the rediscovery of Josef Matthias Hauer , Leo Spies and Dane Rudhyar and others.

Schleiermacher created numerous commissioned works: Gewandhauskapellmeister Kurt Masur helped him achieve his compositional breakthrough in 1986 when he premiered his music for timpani and orchestra (1984/85) with the soloist Karl Mehlig and the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester . Riccardo Chailly later supported Schleiermacher's music at the Gewandhaus, including GegenBild in 2006, The Shine of Singing Crystals in 2009 and Bann in 2011 . Movement - with Beethoven's First (2010) premiered. In his inaugural concert as Gewandhauskapellmeister in 2018, Andris Nelsons conducted the commissioned Relief for orchestra for the first time (2017). Schleiermacher was also able to gain a foothold in Dresden: the young composer was promoted in the 1980s by the special department for contemporary music at VEB Edition Peters . Immediately after founding the Dresden Center for Contemporary Music in 1986, he received a commission for the chamber orchestral work Kreon - Hommage à Varèse (1987), which was premiered in 1987 by the musica-viva-ensemble dresden under Hans-Peter Richter . The Dresden Philharmonic ordered the orchestral work Puls, Farbe, Schatten (1994; premiere with Kurt Masur 1995). Schleiermacher's main work is the chamber opera Kokain (2004; commissioned by the Bonn Opera ) based on the expressionist novella by Walter Rheiner .

Schleiermacher was a member of the constituent meeting of the Free Academy of Arts in Leipzig , to which he has belonged ever since. In 1998 he became a full member of the music class of the Saxon Academy of the Arts . In May 2018 Schleiermacher was elected as a new member of the music section of the Berlin Academy of the Arts .

Compositions (selection)

Single instruments

• An sich (2009) - for baritone with woodblock (one performer). Text by Paul Fleming .
• Balance - four small pieces - for György Kurtág (2008) - for piano.
• Image description - 2nd approach to Heiner Müller (2000) - for piano.
• Question! an August Stramm (2005) - for contrabass flute, version for bass flute.
• Herakles - 1st approach to Heiner Müller (2000) - for piano.
• Soundscapes in the piano - 12 pieces for young pianists (2000) - for piano.
• klavier und klaviere (1997) - for piano and tape.
• Klungkung (2006) - for piano.
• Langenbogener Overture - with GFH (2003) - for organ.
• Lîla (2003) - for piano.
• Merseburg Overture - with FL (2004) - for organ.
• Nadie nos ha visto (to Goya) (2008) - for guitar.
• Philoctetes - 3rd approach to Heiner Müller (2003) - for piano.
• Drinking song of a forest ant in love (2003) - for nail violin.

Chamber ensemble

• Eight! (2002) - for 4 french horns and 4 percussionists.
• Auto Werk mit Hup Raum (2005) - for brass ensemble, sampler, and tape.
• Breath Los (1998) - for trombone and accordeon.
• Johann Sebastian Bach Weg Los - Shadows over the f-minor invention (2010) - for viola, vibraphon, and piano.
• BasisWork - for bass-sax and contrabasson.
• com.pakt in.takt (2002) - for trumpet, alto sax, percussion, and piano.
• Compressed air (1999) - for five flutes.
• Echoes (2003) - for 5 pianos.
• More like Madonna & Janet & Björk than Nicolaus & Helmut & Hans (2000) - for saxophon, piano, and percussion.
• A serious change - Hommage à Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (2010) - for clarinet, violin, viola, and violoncello.
• EIS SCHATTEN with Mozart (2005) - for twelve wind instruments and contrabass.
• Fanfare Sounds - after Paul Klee (2010) - for four bassoons.
• Festgefressen (1994) - for string quartet.
• Five pieces for five young players (1991) - for small ensemble (fl, bs, v, vc, perc).
• For F (1991) - for Clarinet and string quartet.
• Gestalt ... splittert (1997) - for clarinet, violoncello, and piano.
• Gesang des Apsyrtos (1985) - for chamber ensemble (ob, cl, pno, 3 perc.).
• Glaub Haft (2000) - for ensemble (fl, cl, bs, tp, hr, tb, tb, pno).
• Gnaden Los (1997) - for piano and percussion.
• Heracleum (1992) - for saxophone quartet.
• Inside the Trance Machine (1999) - for six percussionists, also version for four percussionists.
• Klangstarre (2010) - for organ and three trumpets.
• Change of scenery (2001) - for small ensemble (fl, ob, cl, perc, pno, v, vc).
• Music for chamber ensemble (1990).
• Music for violin, harp and chamber ensemble (1991).
• Netz Werk (2002) - for ensemble (fl, ob, cl, tp, hr, tb, pno, perc, kb, tape).
• Obophon solo (2003) - for 6 oboes.
• Obsessionato (2006) - for octet (clarinet, horn, basson, string quintet).
• Pavane for a dreaming elephant (2009) - for woodwind quintet.
• Pasibutbut (1994) - for five clarinets.
• Quartet for Oboe dʼamore, Viola, Doublebass, and Guitar (1986).
• Quintet for Violin, Violoncello, Flute, Clarinet, and Piano (1989).
• Scharfe Harfe (2003) - for harp with clarinet, and flute.
• Fluctuating balance - Hommage à Paul Klee (2004) - for saxophon quartet.
• Six Bagatelles (1986) - for small ensemble (fl, cl, pno, perc, va, vc).
• GAP! (1999) - for shakuhachi and small ensemble (bcl, pno, perc, v, va, vc).
• Stau (1999) - Quartet for clarinet, trombone, violoncello, and piano.
• Stockend Fließend (1995) - for oboe, bassoon, viola, and guitar.
• SuchtTraum (2004) - for piano and string quartet.
• Taches - Hommage à Hans Hartung (2007) - for flute, percussion, and piano.
• Three Pieces for Viola and Bassclarinet (2002).
• Triptych - Hommage à Max Beckmann (2009) - for two pianos.
• Despite Reaction I (1994) - for chamber ensemble (ob, cl, tp, harp, perc, va, vc).
• Despite Reaction II (1996) - for chamber ensemble (ob, cl, tp, harp, perc, va, vc).
• Despite Reaction III (1997) - for chamber ensemble (ob, cl, tp, harp, perc, va, vc).
• Despite Reaction IV (1997) - for chamber ensemble (ob, cl, tp, harp, perc, va, vc).
• Versteinertes Umkreisen (2008) - for tp, tb, vc, e-guit, 2 perc, piano.
• Yatz Hatz (2005) - for bass clarinet and bass guitar.
• Signs in sound - Hommage à Paul Klee (2005) - for two pianos.
• Time Shift (1997) - for three instrumental units (fl, ob, cl, bs - perc, pno - 2v, va, vc).
• Zeremonie (1988) - for chamber ensemble (2 ob, tb, pno, perc, va, vc, kb).
• Zu Viert (1991) - for 2 pianists and 2 percussionists.
• Twelve Children's Pieces for Two Wind Instruments (1989) - for two wind instruments.

Mechanical music

• Homage RILEY - plenty of glassed (2001) for MIDI - keyboard .
• Four Pieces for two prepared player pianos (1999).
• Five pieces for fair organ (1997), version for player piano (2004).
• Armored! (2005) for two player pianos.
• SiK2Cl2Mn (2009) for player piano.

Chamber orchestra

• The roar of the amazed echo (2009).
• Concerto for viola and chamber orchestra (1987)
• Kreon - Homage à Varèse (1987).
• Sisyphus (1997).

Vocal works

• ATARAXIA (2008) for two or four mixed choirs. Texts by Meister Eckehart , Seneca , Heraklit and from the Anguttara-Nikaya .
• The Testament of Oedipus (2002) for two voices, saxophone, percussion , sampler and tape. Text: Heiner Müller , Sophocles .
• Daedalus (2005) for voice, clarinet, cello and piano. Text: Thomas Rosenlöcher .
• The finger nose lacks the skullcap (2004) for twelve voices. Text: Prinzhorn Collection .
• The conjuring of the drunken oasis (2009) for the Hilliard Ensemble and Orchestra.
• Die Menschheit (2000) for voice and prepared piano . Text: August Stramm .
• Engel Schlacht Fest (2003) for voice, flute, clarinet, violin and cello. Text: Leonore Kandel.
• Four Pieces, to interpolate the 3rd part of the b-minor-mass by JS Bach (2007) for mixed choir and orchestra.
• Marsyas (2008) for baritone , two trumpets, piano and two percussionists. Text: Franz Fühmann .
• MUZIKA (2000) for five voices and prepared piano. Text: Hyacinth by Wiesner.
• O painful joy - for and with Gesualdo di Venosa (2009) for five voices, clarinet, viola and accordion .
• Psalm 62 (2003/2006) for mixed choir.
• Psalm 88 (2001) for mixed choir.
• Psalm 116 (2010) for five voices.
• Starless light - a homage to Robert Schumann (2010) for large choir. Text: Joseph Christian von Zedlitz .
• Tropfblut (2003) for children's choir and five brass instruments. Text: August Stramm .
• Una cava di nostalgia - Hommage à Gesualdo di Venosa (1996) for five voices and eleven instruments.
• Four choirs based on poems by Georg Trakl (1984/85).
• When my torment hurts you - for and with Gesualdo di Venosa (2009) for five voices, clarinet, viola and accordion.
• Zahn (1997) for twelve voices and percussion.
• ZeitBbrücken (2005) for five male voices and a string quartet. Concert project with music by Steffen Schleiermacher, Josquin de Prez , Ockeghem and Johann Sebastian Bach .

Orchestral works

• Relief for orchestra (2017)
• Spell. Movement - with Beethoven's First (2010).
• The glow of the singing crystals (2008).
• Gassen Hauer mit Nebel Horn (2001) for theremin , wood and brass instruments, percussion, harp and piano.
• GegenBild (2006) for organ and orchestra.
• Home. Sore. To. Liszt (2004) for player piano and orchestra.
• Keil (1998) for saxophone and orchestra.
• Music for timpani and orchestra (1984/85).
• Pulse Color Shade (1994).
• Silence and Sound (1991).

Musical theater

• Cocaine (2004) based on a novella by Walter Rheiner .

Radio play music

• 2014: Natascha Wodin / Wolfgang Hilbig : Nachtgeschwister, provisional - Director: Ulrich Lampen (radio play - MDR / DKultur)

Prizes and awards

• 1985 Piano Prize at the Gaudeamus Competition in Rotterdam
• 1986 Kranichsteiner Music Prize (piano)
• 1987/88 Mendelssohn grant from the Ministry of Culture of the GDR
• 1989 Hanns Eisler Prize of the GDR Radio (for concert for viola and chamber ensemble)
• 1989/90 scholarship from the German Music Council
• 1991 Prize of the Christoph and Stephan Kaske Foundation in Munich
• 1992/93/94/97 composition grants from the Kulturfonds Foundation
• 1992 scholarship from the German Academy Rome Villa Massimo
• 1992 Schneider Schott Music Prize Mainz (with the Ensemble Avantgarde)
• 1997 scholarship from the Japan Foundation
• 1998 ECHO Klassik The recording of the year with music of the 20th century (for John Cage: Complete Piano Music Vol. 1)
• 1999 scholarship from the Cité Internationale des Arts Paris
• 1999 ECHO Classical Instrumentalist of the Year (for John Cage: Complete Piano Music)
• 2002 Annual Prize of the German Record Critics (for John Cage: Complete Piano Music Vol. 1–10)
• 2003 ECHO Klassik editorial service (for John Cage: Complete Piano Music Vol. 1–10)
• 2005 Hörkules - Audiobook Prize of the Book Trade (for The Pope )
• 2010 Chevalier des arts et lettres
• 2013 ECHO Klassik chamber music recording of the year (together with Andreas Seidel; for Morton Feldman: violin and piano)
• 2015 ECHO Klassik solo recording of the year (for teachers. Friends. Colleagues)
• 2017 Annual Prize of the German Record Critics ( Hanns Eisler : Lieder Vol. 1)
• 2018 Johann Walter plaque from the Saxon Music Council

literature

• Ingolf Huhn : Composer portrait: Steffen Schleiermacher . In: Leipziger Blätter , Heft 9, 1986, p. 46f.
• Johann Walter von Stramm: Steffen Schleiermacher . In: Contemporary Composers (KDG). Edition Text & Criticism, Munich 1996, ISBN 978-3-86916-164-8 .
• Gisela Nauck: Schleiermacher, Steffen. In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians . Volume 22, Macmillan, London [u. a.] 2001, ISBN 0-333-60800-3 , p. 520.
• Schleiermacher, Steffen. In: Brockhaus-Riemann Musiklexikon. CD-Rom, Directmedia Publishing, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89853-438-3 , p. 14265.
• Schleiermacher, Steffen. In: Peter Hollfelder : Piano Music. International chronological lexicon. History. Composers. Works. Supplement, Noetzel, Wilhelmshaven 2005, ISBN 3-7959-0855-8 , p. 191.
• Wolfgang Thein:  Schleiermacher, Stefen. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 14 (Riccati - Schönstein). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2005, ISBN 3-7618-1134-9 , Sp. 1399–1401 ( online edition , subscription required for full access)
• Gregor Willmes: Steffen Schleiermacher . In: Ingo Harden , Gregor Willmes: Pianist profiles: 600 performers: their biography, their style, their recordings . Bärenreiter, Kassel 2008, ISBN 978-3-7618-1616-5 , pp. 645-647.

Web links

• Works by and about Steffen Schleiermacher in the catalog of the German National Library
• Steffen Schleiermacher in the archive of contemporary composers of the Saxon State Library - State and University Library Dresden
• Steffen Schleiermacher. In: schleiermacher-leipzig.de. (Homepage). 
• Steffen Schleiermacher. In: Bibliography of the music literature . 
• Steffen Schleiermacher. In: musicsack.com. 
• Steffen Schleiermacher. In: Breitkopf.com. Breitkopf & Härtel KG (book and music publisher) 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Gregor Willmes: Steffen Schleiermacher . In: Ingo Harden , Gregor Willmes: Pianist profiles: 600 performers: their biography, their style, their recordings . Bärenreiter, Kassel 2008, ISBN 978-3-7618-1616-5 , pp. 645–647, here: p. 645.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Ingolf Huhn : Composer portrait: Steffen Schleiermacher . In: Leipziger Blätter , Heft 9, 1986, p. 46f.
3. ↑ Very interesting concert with and by the composer Steffen Schleiermacher in the monastery church in Grimma . In: Leipziger Volkszeitung , September 7, 1998.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Steffen Schleiermacher: Lack of talent! (?) . In: Marion Saxer (ed.): Beginnings. Memories of contemporary composers of their early instrumental lessons . Wolke, Hofheim 2003, ISBN 3-936000-08-5 , pp. 147–150, here: p. 147.
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Steffen Schleiermacher: Lack of talent! (?) . In: Marion Saxer (ed.): Beginnings. Memories of contemporary composers of their early instrumental lessons . Wolke, Hofheim 2003, ISBN 3-936000-08-5 , pp. 147–150, here: p. 149.
6. ^ Leipzig: 25 years of the Junge Musik group. In: nmz.de. November 21, 2005, accessed February 26, 2019 . 
7. ↑ Steffen Schleiermacher. In: imd-archiv.de. International Music Institute Darmstadt , accessed on February 18, 2019 . 
8. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Wolfgang Thein:  Schleiermacher, Stefen. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 14 (Riccati - Schönstein). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2005, ISBN 3-7618-1134-9 , Sp. 1399–1401 ( online edition , subscription required for full access)
9. ↑ Jonathan L. Yaege: Friedrich Schenker and the Third Way . In: Kyle Frackman, Larson Powell (Eds.): Classical Music in the German Democratic Republic: Production and Reception (= Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture ). Camden House, Rochester 2015, ISBN 978-1-57113-916-0 , pp. 219-240, here: pp. 230, 239.
10. ↑ Burkhard Glaetzner : Address. On my own behalf . In: MusikTexte , 37, 1990, p. 61.
11. ↑ Marcus Erb-Szymanski: The high art of modernity beyond the spectacular. The Leipzig Ensemble Avantgarde is celebrating its tenth anniversary. In: Neue Musikzeitung . 2000, accessed on February 26, 2019 (9/2000 - 49th year). 
12. ↑ Henner Kotte : Is the intermusical networking exotic? The January Festival moves into the summer: "Klangrausch" with new music in Lindenfels. In: leipzig-almanach.de. LeipzigAlmanach - Das Online-Feuilleton, July 7, 2001, accessed on February 18, 2019 . 
13. ↑ Johannes Forner : Kurt Masur: Times and Sounds. Biography . Propylaea, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-549-07153-1 , p. 214.
14. ↑ Peter Korfmacher: Steffen Schleiermacher: "I deliver what is ordered, on time". In: lvz.de. March 16, 2018, accessed February 18, 2019 . 
15. ↑ Roland H. Dippel: The Gewandhausorchester wants to have a strong future with the new boss Andris Nelsons. In: nmz.de. February 23, 2018, accessed February 26, 2019 . 
16. ^ Armin Köhler : The special department for contemporary music of the VEB Edition Peters (1980–1986) . In: Matthias Herrmann , Hanns-Werner Heister (Ed.): Dresden and advanced music in the 20th century. Report on the colloquium organized by the Dresden Center for Contemporary Music and the Institute for Musicology at the “Carl Maria von Weber” Academy of Music in Dresden . Part 3: 1966–1999, October 9-11, 2000 in Dresden (= Music in Dresden . Vol. 6). Laaber, Laaber 2004, ISBN 3-89007-511-8 , pp. 87-95, here: p. 89.
17. ^ Marion Demuth: The Dresden Center for Contemporary Music (1986-1999) from his own point of view . In: Matthias Herrmann , Hanns-Werner Heister (Ed.): Dresden and advanced music in the 20th century. Report on the colloquium organized by the Dresden Center for Contemporary Music and the Institute for Musicology at the “Carl Maria von Weber” Academy of Music in Dresden . Part 3: 1966–1999, October 9-11, 2000 in Dresden (= Music in Dresden . Vol. 6). Laaber, Laaber 2004, ISBN 3-89007-511-8 , pp. 97–112, here: p. 103.
18. ↑ Dieter Härtwig : From Horst Förster to Michel Plasson. New music at the Dresden Philharmonic 1964–1999 . In: Matthias Herrmann , Hanns-Werner Heister (Ed.): Dresden and advanced music in the 20th century. Report on the colloquium organized by the Dresden Center for Contemporary Music and the Institute for Musicology at the “Carl Maria von Weber” Academy of Music in Dresden . Part 3: 1966–1999, October 9-11, 2000 in Dresden (= Music in Dresden . Vol. 6). Laaber, Laaber 2004, ISBN 3-89007-511-8 , pp. 211–242, here: p. 117.
19. ^ Ingrid Sonntag: The Free Academy of the Arts in Leipzig 1992–2003. Has it just emerged from an imprint of the Saxon cultural area? In: bpb.de. Federal Agency for Civic Education, May 18, 2011, accessed on February 18, 2019 ( Germany Archive , 5/2011). 
20. ^ Academy of Arts. 14 new members added. (No longer available online.) In: deutschlandfunk.de. July 10, 2018, archived from the original on July 10, 2018 ; accessed on February 18, 2019 . 
21. ↑ According to the composer, the work is a “bow” to Franz Liszt and the organ builder Friedrich Ladegast , cf. To the initials FL
22. ↑ Prize winners 2013. Chamber music recording of the year. (No longer available online.) In: ECHO Klassik 2013. Archived from the original on August 17, 2013 ; accessed on February 26, 2019 . 
23. ↑ Laureate 2015. Solo recording of the year. (No longer available online.) In: ECHO Klassik 2015. Archived from the original on October 29, 2015 ; accessed on February 26, 2019 .