German composer, pianist and accompanist (1936?2024)
Aribert Reimann
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Reimann in 2010
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Born
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1936-03-04
)
4 March 1936
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Died
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(2024-03-13)
(aged 88)
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Education
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Occupations
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- Concert pianist
- Composer
- Academic teacher
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Organizations
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Awards
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Aribert Reimann
(
German pronunciation:
['a?iːb??t
'?a?man]
, 4 March 1936 ? 13 March 2024) was a German composer, pianist, and
accompanist
, known especially for his literary operas. His version of Shakespeare's
King Lear
, the opera
Lear
, was written at the suggestion of
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
, who performed the title role. His opera
Medea
after Grillparzer's play premiered in 2010 at the
Vienna State Opera
. He was a professor of contemporary
Lied
(art song) in Hamburg and Berlin. In 2011, he was awarded the
Ernst von Siemens Music Prize
for his life's work.
Life and career
[
edit
]
Reimann was born in Berlin on 4 March 1936.
[1]
His father,
Wolfgang Reimann
[
de
]
, was the conductor of
the choir of the Berliner Dom
[
de
]
,
[1]
his mother an oratorio singer and voice teacher. As a boy of age 10, he performed in a production of the school opera (
Schuloper
)
Der Jasager
.
[2]
He studied at the
Musikhochschule Berlin
,
composition
and
counterpoint
with
Boris Blacher
and
Ernst Pepping
, and piano with Otto Rausch.
[2]
During his studies, he worked as a
repetiteur
at the
Stadtische Oper
.
[3]
His first appearances as a pianist and
accompanist
were in 1957.
[3]
He moved to Vienna to study musicology in 1958.
[3]
Working with singers such as
Catherine Gayer
,
Brigitte Fassbaender
and
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
increased his sensibility for the potential of voices.
[1]
[3]
His first work for the stage was a ballet,
Stoffreste
, to a libretto by
Gunter Grass
and first performed in 1959. His first opera was in 1965
Ein Traumspiel
,
[1]
to a libretto that
Carla Henius
based on Strindberg's
A Dream Play
in the translation by
Peter Weiss
; it was premiered on 20 June 1965 at the
Opernhaus Kiel
.
[1]
His fourth opera,
Lear
based on
Shakespeare's play
, was inspired by Fischer-Dieskau who portrayed Lear in the first performance at the
Bavarian State Opera
in 1978.
[1]
[4]
The opera became a lasting success with 30 productions as of 2024.
[1]
His commissioned work,
Cantus for Clarinet and Orchestra
, dedicated to the clarinetist and composer
Jorg Widmann
, was premiered on 13 January 2006, in the
WDR
's Large Broadcasting Hall in Cologne, Germany, in the presence of the composer, who claimed the work was inspired by
Claude Debussy
's compositions for clarinet. His opera
Medea
, after
Franz Grillparzer
, was premiered at the
Vienna State Opera
in 2010, conducted by
Michael Boder
, with
Marlis Petersen
in the title role.
[3]
[5]
It was chosen as world premiere of the year by critics.
[2]
In the early 1970s, Reimann became a member of the
Akademie der Kunste
in Berlin. He was professor of contemporary
Lied
at the
Musikhochschule Hamburg
from 1974 to 1983, then at Berlin's Hochschule der Kunste from 1983 to 1998.
[2]
[3]
Reimann was co-editor and pianist of the record label
Orfeo
's album series
Edition zeitgenossisches Lied
(contemporary song).
[6]
He was honoured repeatedly, including the
Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
and the
Order of Merit of Berlin
.
[4]
Invited by
Walter Fink
, he was the seventh composer featured in the annual
Komponistenportrat
of the
Rheingau Musik Festival
in 1997, in songs and chamber music with the Auryn Quartet, playing the piano himself.
[7]
In 2011 Reimann was awarded the
Ernst von Siemens Music Prize
"for his life's work".
[3]
Reimann was
gay
and lived in Berlin.
[8]
Reimann died on 13 March 2024, at the age of 88.
[1]
[2]
[9]
Awards
[
edit
]
Reimann received many awards:
[4]
[10]
Works
[
edit
]
Reimann's reputation as a composer rests on his literary operas, including
Lear
and
Das Schloß
, and song cycles. He also wrote
chamber music
, orchestral works and songs.
[1]
[4]
His works were published by
Schott
.
[4]
Stage
[
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]
Orchestral
[
edit
]
- Variations for Orchestra
- Nahe Ferne
(Near Distance)
- Cantus fur Klarinette und Orchester
(Cantus for Clarinet and Orchestra)
- Sieben Fragmente fur Orchester in memoriam Robert Schumann
(Seven Fragments for Orchestra, in memoriam
Robert Schumann
) (1988)
- Violin Concerto (1996)
[14]
Vocal music
[
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]
- Zyklus nach Gedichten von Paul Celan fur Bariton und Klavier
(
Song cycle
based on the poetry of
Paul Celan
for
baritone
and piano) (1956)
- Wolkenloses Christfest. Requiem nach Gedichten von Otfried Buthe.
, dedicated to
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
and
Siegfried Palm
(1974)
[15]
- Nachtstuck II fur Baryton und Klavier
(1978)
- Unrevealed, Lord Byron to Augusta Leigh fur Bariton und Streichquartett
(1981)
- Requiem for soprano, mezzo-soprano, baritone, mixed choir and orchestry, using the
Latin Requiem
and verses from the
Book of Job
(1982)
- Shine and Dark
for baritone and piano left hand (1989)
- Entsorgt
for baritone solo (1989)
- Eingedunkelt
for alto solo (1992)
- Funf Lieder nach Gedichten von Paul Celan fur Countertenor und Klavier
(Five songs based on poetry by Celan for
countertenor
and piano) (1994/2001)
- An Hermann
for tenor and piano (2008)
References
[
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]
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Luigi Bellingardi,
Alcune riflessioni sulla ≫Gespenstersonate≪ di Aribert Reimann
, in: Sabine Ehrmann-Herfort/Markus Engelhardt (eds.),
≫Vanitatis fuga, Aeternitatis amor≪. Wolfgang Witzenmann zum 65. Geburtstag
, ≫Analecta Musicologica≪, vol. 36, Laaber (Laaber) 2005, pp. 689?695.
- Wolfgang Burde,
Aribert Reimann
, Mainz (Schott) 2005.
- Albert Gier,
Zuruck zu Shakespeare! Claus H. Hennebergs Lear-Libretto fur Aribert Reimann und seine englische Ubersetzung von Desmond Clayton
, in: Herbert Schneider/Rainer Schmusch (eds.),
Librettoubersetzung: Interkulturalitat im europaischen Musiktheater
, Hildesheimn (Olms) 2009, ≫Musikwissenschaftliche Publikationen≪, vol. 32), pp. 329?349.
- Kii-Ming Lo
,
Unsichtbarer Herrscher uber ein gehorsames Volk. Aribert Reimanns Oper ≫Das Schloß≪ nach Franz Kafka
, in: Peter Csobadi,
Gernot Gruber
, Ulrich Muller et al. (eds.),
≫Weine, weine, du armes Volk!≪ ? Das verfuhrte und betrogene Volk auf der Buhne, ≫Kongreßbericht Salzburg 1994≪
, Anif/Salzburg (Muller-Speiser) 1995, pp. 663?674.
- Jurgen Maehder
,
Aribert Reimanns ≫Nachtstuck≪ ? Studien zu musikalischer Struktur und Sprachvertonung
, in: Aurora (≫Jahrbuch der Eichendorff-Gesellschaft≪) 36/1976, p. 107-121.
- Jurgen Maehder,
Aribert Reimanns ≫Lear≪ ? Anmerkungen zu einigen Strukturproblemen der Literaturoper
, program book for the world premiere at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Munchen (Bayerische Staatsoper) 1978, pp. 61?73.
- Jurgen Maehder,
Anmerkungen zu einigen Strukturproblemen der Literaturoper
, in: Klaus Schultz (ed.),
Aribert Reimanns ≫Lear≪. Weg einer neuen Oper
, Munchen (dtv) 1984, pp. 79?89.
- Jurgen Maehder,
Aribert Reimann and Paul Celan: The Setting of Hermetic Poetry in the Contemporary German Lied
, in: Claus Reschke/Howard Pollack (eds.),
German Literature and Music. An Aesthetic Fusion: 1890?1989
, ≫Houston German Studies≪, vol. 8, Munchen (Fink) 1992, pp. 263?292.
- Jurgen Maehder,
Etude sur le theatre musical d'Aribert Reimann ? de ≫Lear≪ a ≫La sonate des spectres≪
, programme de salle pour l'Opera National du Rhin, Strasbourg (TNOR) 1998, pp. 27?45.
- Jurgen Maehder,
Untersuchungen zum Musiktheater Aribert Reimanns. Musikalische Dramaturgie in ≫Lear≪ und ≫Die Gespenstersonate≪
, in: Jurgen Kuhnel/Ulrich Muller/Oswald Panagl (eds.),
Musiktheater der Gegenwart. Text und Komposition, Rezeption und Kanonbildung
, Anif/Salzburg (Muller-Speiser) 2008, p. 342?373.
- Jurgen Maehder,
Aribert Reimann et Paul Celan. La mise en musique de la poesie hermetique dans le lied allemand contemporain
, in: Antoine Bonnet/ Frederic Marteau (eds.),
Paul Celan, la poesie, la musique. ≫Avec une cle changeante≪
, Paris (Hermann) 2015, p. 351?372.
- Klaus Schultz (ed.),
Aribert Reimanns ≫Lear≪. Weg einer neuen Oper
, Munchen (dtv) 1984.
- Ulrich Tadday
(ed.),
Aribert Reimann
, ≫Musik-Konzepte≪, vol. 139, Munchen (text + kritik) 2008.
- Anselm Weyer:
Gunter Grass und die Musik
(= ≫Kolner Studien zur Literaturwissenschaft≪, vol. 16). Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main u. a. 2007,
ISBN
978-3-631-55593-4
(Zugleich: Koln, Universitat, Dissertation, 2005).
- Sigrid Wiesmann (ed.),
Fur und Wider die Literaturoper
, ≫Thurnauer Schriften zum Musiktheater≪, vol. 6, Laaber (Laaber) 1982.
External links
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