Volker Blumenthaler

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Volker Blumenthaler (born January 2, 1951 in Mannheim ) is a German composer .

Life

Blumenthaler studied from 1969 in Mannheim with Hans Adomeit (cello) and Hans Vogt (composition). In 1972 he moved to the Cologne University of Music to continue his composition studies with Jürg Baur . He studied the cello with Wolfgang Mehlhorn and Johannes Goritzki . He completed his studies in 1979 with a theory exam.

In the same year he received a teaching position for theory at the Cologne University of Music, which he held with interruptions until 1989. In 1992 he became a teacher of composition and music theory at the Meistersinger Conservatory in Nuremberg (now the Nuremberg University of Music ; Karola Obermüller was one of his students there ). Guest lectures and courses took him to Taiwan (National Institute of the Arts in Taipei , 1994/95 and TMC International Music Camp, 2011) and the USA ( Harvard University , 1997 and Albuquerque University of New Mexico , 2013). In addition to his artistic and educational activities, he has been publishing regularly on radio ( SWR ) since 1993 commentaries on new music, which were published under the title Streifzüge - Comments on New Music (Pfau Verlag, Saarbrücken, 2000).

The main focus of his compositional activities are the areas of chamber opera, vocal music and chamber music. His long-term collaboration with the Ensemble Phorminx Darmstadt represents an important aspect .

He received important suggestions during his studies in 1977 by participating in the “ Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte ” in Montepulciano / Italy, a festival initiated by Hans Werner Henze . The concertino LA FURIA for violin and percussion, composed for the occasion, is a first in-depth examination of jazz. Later, musical boundaries were repeatedly crossed from the idioms of so-called new music. His stay in Taiwan at the beginning of the 1990s and his later contact with the CrossSound Festival in Juneau / Alaska began an ongoing engagement with Asian music and its instruments. So he wrote a concerto for erhu and chamber music for gayageum and koto . During his stay in Taiwan at the beginning of the 1990s, in addition to dealing with Asian art, the myth of the Argonauts legend moved into the focus of artistic projects. Jason and Medea were viewed in the conflict field of cultures. During this time he wrote several compositions on this topic ( Jason Study 1991, Jason Essay 1993 and the chamber opera Jason and Medea / Schwarz überölbt Rot 1995). The problem of disappearance - a far-reaching phenomenon of the fully capitalized western sphere - became a further important topic in the years from 1995 onwards. Compositions such as rooms / räume 1997/98, labili arti 2001, inbilderverfliessend 2003, Colori di dissidio 2004 are different facets of this topic. The occupation with Asian instruments experienced a renewed deepening. Approximation was created in 2010 through the collaboration with the Asian Art Ensemble Berlin . The work Wiese and Aether 2012 reflects the problem of man and nature against the background of the texts by Hölderlin , Ovid and Flusser . In 2013, after eight years of work, he completed the cycle voces - fragmentos de mis dias based on texts by the Argentine poet Antonio Porchia . In 2013, to commemorate Anne Frank, the JungeChor Nürnberg performed the cantata Mein Name ist Anne Frank (text by Alexander Gruber ) composed for him several times. The extended version of the work was premiered by the Holocaust Memorial Center in Detroit ( USA ) and the choir and orchestra of Berkley Highschool / Farmington in the same year.

In 1982, Volker Blumenthaler received a scholarship from the Deutsche Akademie Villa Massimo in Rome. In 1987 he received the Bernd-Alois-Zimmermann-Scholarship from the city of Cologne and composition prizes from the cities of Stuttgart (1982) and Geneva (1987).

Works (selection)

Stage works

  • Your head, Holofernes (1986) (Libretto: Otto Winzen ) Chamber opera, approx. 65 min.
  • Jason and Medea / Schwarz überölbt Rot (1995) scenic sketches for soprano, speaker, pantomime and 8 players (fl., Cl., Pf., Perc., Vl., Va. U. Vc.) And tape, approx. 50 min.
  • ... was a headstrong child! (2012) (Libretto: Vera C. Koin ) Opera scene based on the Brothers Grimm , approx. 40 min.

Vocal works

  • Glasnacht (1982) ( Otto Winzen ) Night Pieces for soprano, flute, guitar, violoncello and percussion, approx. 25 min.
  • Lover's maze (1985) ( John Donne , WC Williams , James Joyce ) three songs for soprano and piano, approx. 11 min.
  • rooms / räum - cycle (1997/98) ( Robert Creeley , Wendy Battin, Martha Collins, Carolyn Forché, John Yau ) for soprano, flute (s), clarinet / bass clarinet, percussion, violin, cello and piano, approx. 21 min .
  • Garden pieces (1999/2006). Four haikus and an epilogue. Soprano, piano or accordion. Texts: Matsuo Bashō , Masaoka Shiki , Mokichi Saitō (German by Dietrich Krusche), approx. 10 min.
  • hoti chronos (2004) (Revelation of Johannes, Petrarca , Hölderlin , Shakespeare , Rimbaud , Nietzsche , Poe ) a musical commentary on the Apocalypse cycle by Max Beckmann for soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano, approx. 9 min.
  • My name is Anne Frank (2012) (Alexander Gruber) for solos, youth choir and orchestra, approx. 45 min.
  • voces - fragmentos de mis dias (2005–2013) ( Antonio Porchia ) for soprano, violin, violoncello, flute, clarinet and percussion, approx. 21 min.

Chamber music

  • Solos
    • Steinbrech is my flower - a kind of song (1989) for violoncello, approx. 9 min.
    • blueblack floating (1996) for bass clarinet solo. approx. 7 min.
    • che sta così (2001) for Kayagûm , approx. 5 min.
    • mao bi (2002) for Erhu solo, approx. 15 min.
    • Colori di dissidio (2004) for accordion, approx. 9 min.
    • Pensieri sparsi e sogni del giorno (2006/2007), cycle in 15 parts for violoncello, approx. 75 min.
  • Duos / trios
    • La Furia (1977) Concertino for violin and percussion (drum set), approx. 11 min.
    • Schattengeburt (1982) Trio for clarinet, violin and violoncello, approx. 14 min.
    • Omoitsutsu ... in thoughts of ... (1994) Conversations from afar for clarinet, violoncello and piano, approx. 13 min.
    • riscalda, ricresce, rigonfia (2002) for Erhu , violoncello and Kayagûm , approx. 12 min.
  • Quartets
    • Poemas del otoño (1979) hommage à Pablo Neruda for string quartet, approx. 32 min.
    • Jason Study (1991) string quartet, approx. 17 min.
    • labili arti (2001) for recorders (3 players) and accordion, approx. 6 min.
    • Cycle 700 (2014) for percussion quartet, approx. 11 min.

Great ensembles

  • Colle rondini (1991) Quintet (fl., Bcl., Git., Cb. And perc.), Approx. 15 min.
  • Jason - Essay (1993) for seven players (fl., Cl., Pf., Perc., Vl., Va. And vc.), Approx. 10 min. 30th
  • inbildzerfliessend (2003) quintet for flute (s), clarinet (bass), violin, violoncello and piano, approx. 15 min.
  • et homo factus est (2009/2010) hommage à Josquin Desprez for flute, clarinet, piano, violin and violoncello, approx. 12 min.
  • Approximation (2010) hommage à Hans-Jürgen Wenzel for Daegum , Janggu , violin, viola and cello, approx. 9 min.

orchestra

  • Leviathan (1980/81, revised 2004) Symphony for large orchestra, approx. 20 min.
  • SPEC (2000) for Erhu Solo, Koto and Chamber Orchestra, approx. 15 min.
  • waves and madrigals (2003) Saxophone Twelve (3ss-3as-3ts-3bars-1bss) approx. 6 min.
  • onda / ombra / orizzonte (2005) for string orchestra, approx. 12 min.
  • shifting lines (2007) for accordion orchestra, approx. 6 min.

Others

  • Fonts
    • Forays. Commentary on new music . Saarbrücken: Pfau, 2000
    • Ed. (With Jeremias Schwarzer): Myriam Marbe. Composer between ritual and intellect . Symposium report University of Music Nuremberg / Augsburg 2000, Saarbrücken: Pfau, 2001, ISBN 3-89727-155-9
  • Photographs
    • Photographs in: Otto Winzen, A piano in the garden: three journeys to Verdun , Wiesbaden: Edition 6065, 2014, ISBN 978-3-941072-15-2
    • Photo essay Glückskapsel Amorbach , in: Otto Winzen, Adorno's neighbor. Narration , Wiesbaden: Edition 6065, 2015, ISBN 978-3-941072-16-9

Web links