Thomas Böttger

Thomas Böttger (born August 15, 1957 in Neustrelitz ) is a German composer , pianist and music journalist .

Life

Böttger was born in Neustrelitz in 1957. In 1964 he received piano lessons for the first time; when he was nine he composed his first pieces. From 1969 to 1975 he attended the special school for music in Berlin . He then studied composition with Erhard Ragwitz and piano with Ruth Zechlin at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin until 1980 . This was followed by a two-year postgraduate course with Tadeusz Baird at the Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw. After all, from 1981 to 1983 he was a master class student with Ruth Zechlin at the Berlin Academy of the Arts .

In 1982 he worked in Budapest on the score for “ Guernica ” by the Hungarian director Ferenc Kósa .

In 1986 he moved to Hamburg . From 1989 to 1990 he held a teaching position at the Lübeck University of Music . He has been working for the NDR since 1997 . In recent years he has been responsible for several hundred programs on piano history. As a pianist he played a. a. in Finland, Hungary and Italy. In 1983 his 5 Rilke songs were premiered at the Warsaw Autumn . Musicians like Miklós Perényi , John-Edward Kelly , Michael Korstick and Michael Massong could be won over for his compositions.

His latest compositions include the “Concerto for 2 Pianos and Percussion” (2014, commissioned by Norddeutscher Rundfunk NDR); the “KOktett” (2016) for harp, piano, flute, clarinet and string quartet (written for members of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra) and the “K10 Preludes for piano” (2017-18), which Alexandre Paley presented in full at his festival in France , "KMoulin d ́Andé", will premiere in spring 2019.

His latest work “Hommage à Szymanowski” (2018, commissioned by NDR) will have its first performance on November 20, 2018 in the Elbphilharmonie , played by the Polish Meccore String Quartet.

In 2005 he published a book about the pianist Tamás Vásáry . He was a juror at the Svjatoslav Richter piano competition in Moscow.

Awards

• Hanns Eisler Prize of the GDR Radio (1978) (for: Concertino for oboe and strings)
• UNESCO International Composers' Tribune in Paris (1982)
• Gerhard Maasz Prize of the GEMA Foundation (1987)

Works (selection)

Orchestra and chamber orchestra

• Concertino for oboe and string orchestra, op. 1 (1977). World premiere: Friedrich-Wolf-Theater, Neustrelitz 1978.
• Concertino for oboe and piano (1980).
• Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 1 (1979/80). World premiere: Metropol-Theater , Dieter Zechlin , Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin , Heinz Rögner , Berlin March 1981.
• Nocturne for 14 strings (1981). World premiere: Staatsoper Berlin , members of the Staatskapelle Berlin , Hartmut Haenchen , Berlin October 1981.
• Hommage à Wagner for chamber orchestra (1982) World premiere: State Opera Berlin, Chamber Orchestra Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach , Hartmut Haenchen , Berlin February 1983.
• Nocturne for 2 guitars and chamber orchestra (1983). World premiere: Palast der Republik , Berlin March 1984.

Orchestral songs

• 5 Rilke songs for high voice and orchestra (1980/81). World premiere: Warsaw Autumn , Warsaw National Philharmonic, Warsaw 1983.
• 5 Rilke songs for voice and piano (1980/81). World premiere: Theater im Palast , Berlin 1982.

Chamber music

• Duo for violoncello and piano (1977/78). World premiere: Club der Kulturschaffenden, Berlin April 1978.
• 11 miniatures for recorder (transverse flute ad. Lib.), Violin and guitar (1978). World premiere: Berlin 1979.
• 7 small pieces for piano (keyboard), oboe and bassoon (1979). World premiere: Berlin 1979.
• 4 preludes for guitar (1978, 2004). World premiere: Theater im Palast, Berlin 1980.
• Duo for 2 guitars (1980/81). World premiere: Theater im Palast, Berlin 1981.
• Visionen for violoncello and piano (1983–1987). World premiere: Königstein Castle, Miklos Perényi , Thomas Böttger, Dresden 1988.
• Zeit (based on poems by Renata Pandula) for high voice and string quartet (1988). World premiere: Königstein Castle, Dresden 1989.
• 3 movements for piano, string quartet and percussion (1983). World premiere: Theater im Palast, New Music Weimar Group, Berlin November 1983.
• String Quartet (1982, revised 1999). World premiere: Marble Hall in the "DSF House", Morbitzer Quartet of the German State Opera Berlin, Berlin March 1984. (New version: Scardanelli Quartet , Hamburg 1999).
• 6 preludes for 3 percussionists (1988). World premiere: Musikhalle Hamburg , Hamburg 1988.
• Variations for 2 ensembles (1990). World premiere: Musikhalle Hamburg, Hamburg April 1990.
• 6 Fantasies for Violin and Piano (1992). First performance: Budapest 1992.
• Nocturne for 2 marimbas and crotales (1993). World premiere: Days of New Chamber Music Braunschweig , Braunschweig November 1993.
• Vision for Vibraphone (1992). World premiere: Hamburg 1994.
• 3 Nocturnes for piano, flute, clarinet, horn, violin and violoncello (1992). World premiere: Moritzburg , Halle 1992.
• Trio for soprano saxophone, marimba and viola (1995). World premiere: Ensemble Intégrales , Hamburg 1995.
• Danse oubliée (1995) for violoncello and marimba. World premiere: Hamburg 2004.
• Danse oubliée (1998 version) for oboe, bassoon, viola and guitar. World premiere: Ensemble Sortisatio , Leipzig.
• Città del futuro for trombone and piano (1995/1996). World premiere: Hamburg 1996.
• Trio for piano, violin and violoncello (1993–1999). World premiere: Musikhalle Hamburg, Hamburg 2000.
• 2 nocturnes for violin and piano (2002). World premiere: Rolf Liebermann Studio of the NDR , Hamburg November 2002.
• Stoa for piano and guitar (2005). World premiere: Liszt School of Music Weimar , Weimar 2005.
• Hommage à Szymanowski for chamber orchestra (2018) World premiere: Elbphilharmonie , Hamburg November 2018.

Piano music

• 3 Studies for Piano (1978). World premiere: Club der Kulturschaffenden , 1978.
• 3 Intermezzi for 4 hands (1978). World premiere: Club der Kulturschaffenden, 1978.
• 5 Intermezzi for piano (1979). World premiere: Club der Kulturschaffenden, 1979.
• Poem for piano (1982). World premiere: Maxim-Gorki-Theater , Berlin 1982.
• Nocturne for piano (2006). World premiere: Hamburg October 2006.
• Poem for piano (2009). World premiere: Berlin, April 2009.
• 10 Preludes (2017-18) - for Alexandre Paley .
• Ho ́oponopono for piano for 4 hands (2018), world premiere: Lüneburg, Glockenhaus, May 2018.

Discography

• Wolfgang-Andreas Schultz : Profile - Composer Portrait (1998)
• Zoltán Kodály : Sonata op.8 for solo cello 1915 (2002)
• Ensemble Sortisatio ( Querstand , 2004) with the Ensemble Sortisatio
• Soundways for guitar and piano (Querstand, 2006) with Reinhard Wolschina u. a.

literature

• Böttger, Thomas. In: Wilfried W. Bruchhäuser: Contemporary composers in the German Association of Composers. A manual. 4th edition, German Association of Composers, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-55561-410-X , p. 111.
• Thomas Böttger. In: Peter Hollfelder : History of piano music. Volume 1, Noetzel, Wilhelmshaven 1989, ISBN 3-7959-0436-6 , pp. 331-332.
• Böttger, Thomas. In: Axel Schniederjürgen (Ed.): Kürschner's Musicians Handbook. 5th edition, Saur Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-598-24212-3 , p. 45.

Web links

• Works by and about Thomas Böttger in the catalog of the German National Library
• Thomas Böttger at Klassika
• Thomas Böttger ( Memento from March 2, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) at: Society for New Music Hamburg