Aribert Reimann
Encyclopedia
Aribert Reimann is a German opera
composer
, pianist and accompanist, known especially for his literary operas. His version of King Lear
was written at the suggestion of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
who sang the title role.
and piano
(under, among others, Boris Blacher) at the Berlin University of the Arts
, Reimann took a job as a repetiteur at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. His first appearances as a pianist and accompanist were towards the end of the 1960s. In the early 1970s, he became a member of the Akademie der Künste
in Berlin, and held a professorship in contemporary song at Berlin's Hochschule der Künste from 1983 to 1998.
Reimann's reputation as a composer has increased greatly with several great literary operas, including Lear
and Das Schloss (The Castle). Besides these, he has written chamber music
, orchestral works and songs. He has been honoured repeatedly, including the Großen Verdienstkreuz mit Stern der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Great German Cross of Merit, with Star) and the Verdienstorden des Landes Berlin (Berlin Order of Merit).
Invited by Walter Fink
, he was the seventh composer featured in the annual Komponistenporträt of the Rheingau Musik Festival
in 1997, in songs and chamber music with the Auryn Quartet, playing the piano himself.
His commissioned work, Cantus for Clarinet and Orchestra, dedicated to the clarinetist and composer Jörg Widmann
, was premiered on January 13, 2006, in the WDR's Large Broadcasting Hall in Cologne, Germany, in the presence of the composer, who claims 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.
In 2011 he was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize
"für sein Lebenswerk" (for his life's work).
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, pianist and accompanist, known especially for his literary operas. His version of King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
was written at the suggestion of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is a retired German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous lieder performers of the post-war period and "one of the supreme vocal artists of the 20th century"...
who sang the title role.
Biography
After studying composition, counterpointCounterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
and piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
(under, among others, Boris Blacher) at the Berlin University of the Arts
Berlin University of the Arts
The Universität der Künste Berlin, UdK is a public art school in Berlin, Germany, one of the four universities in the city...
, Reimann took a job as a repetiteur at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. His first appearances as a pianist and accompanist were towards the end of the 1960s. In the early 1970s, he became a member of the Akademie der Künste
Akademie der Künste
The Akademie der Künste, Berlin is an arts institution in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1696 by Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg as the Prussian Academy of Arts, an academic institution where members could meet and discuss and share ideas...
in Berlin, and held a professorship in contemporary song at Berlin's Hochschule der Künste from 1983 to 1998.
Reimann's reputation as a composer has increased greatly with several great literary operas, including Lear
Lear (opera)
Lear is an opera in two acts with music by the German composer Aribert Reimann, and a libretto by Claus H. Henneberg, based on Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear.-Background and performance history:...
and Das Schloss (The Castle). Besides these, he has written chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
, orchestral works and songs. He has been honoured repeatedly, including the Großen Verdienstkreuz mit Stern der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Great German Cross of Merit, with Star) and the Verdienstorden des Landes Berlin (Berlin Order of Merit).
Invited by Walter Fink
Walter Fink
Walter Fink is a German retired executive and a patron of Contemporary music. He is mostly known for being a founding member, Executive Committee member and sponsor of the Rheingau Musik Festival.- Biography :...
, he was the seventh composer featured in the annual Komponistenporträt of the Rheingau Musik Festival
Rheingau Musik Festival
The Rheingau Musik Festival is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres...
in 1997, in songs and chamber music with the Auryn Quartet, playing the piano himself.
His commissioned work, Cantus for Clarinet and Orchestra, dedicated to the clarinetist and composer Jörg Widmann
Jörg Widmann
Jörg Widmann is a German composer and clarinetist. He lives and works in Munich and Freiburg.- Education and career :...
, was premiered on January 13, 2006, in the WDR's Large Broadcasting Hall in Cologne, Germany, in the presence of the composer, who claims the work was inspired by Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
's compositions for clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
.
His opera Medea after Franz Grillparzer
Franz Grillparzer
Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer was an Austrian writer who is chiefly known for his dramas. He also wrote the oration for Ludwig van Beethoven's funeral.-Biography:...
was premiered at the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
in 2010, conducted by Michael Boder, with Marlis Petersen
Marlis Petersen
Marlis Petersen is a German coloratura soprano, particularly known for her performances in the title role of Alban Berg's opera Lulu, and as Konstanze in The Abduction from the Seraglio and Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos....
in the title role.
In 2011 he was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize
Ernst von Siemens Music Prize
The international Ernst von Siemens Music Prize is an annual music prize given by the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste on behalf of the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung , established in 1972. The foundation was established by Ernst von Siemens...
"für sein Lebenswerk" (for his life's work).
Awards
- 1962 Berliner Kunstpreis für Musik (Junge Generation) - Berlin Art Prize for Music (Young Generation)
- 1963 Rompreis mit Villa Massimo-Stipendium - Rome Prize, with Villa MassimoVilla MassimoVilla Massimo, short for Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo , is a German art institute in Rome, established in 1910 and located in the Villa Massimo....
scholarship - 1965 Robert-Schumann-Preis der Stadt Düsseldorf - Robert SchumannRobert SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
Prize of DüsseldorfDüsseldorfDüsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
City - 1966 Förderungspreis der Stadt Stuttgart - Progress Prize of StuttgartStuttgartStuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
City - 1985 Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz - The Great Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- 1985 Braunschweiger Ludwig-Spohr-Preis - The Braunschweig Ludwig Spohr Preis
- 1986 Prix de composition musicale de la Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco - Prize for musical composition, from the Prince Pierre of MonacoMonacoMonaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
Foundation - 1987 Bach-Preis der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg - Bach Prize of HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
- 1991 Frankfurter Musikpreis - FrankfurtFrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
Music Prize - 1993 zum Officier de "L’Ordre du Mérite Culturel" de la Principauté de Monaco - Officer, of the Order of Cultural Merit, of the Principality of Monaco
- 1995 Großes Verdienstkreuz mit Stern des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland - Great Cross of Merit, with the Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- 1999 Ernennung zum Commandeur de "L’Ordre du Mérite Culturel" de la Principauté de Monaco - Commander, of the Order of Cultural Merit, of the Principality of Monaco
- 1999 Verleihung der Goldenen Nadel der Dramatiker Union - Award of the Golden Needle of the Dramatic Union
- 2002 Preis der Kulturstiftung Dortmund - Cultural Foundation of DortmundDortmundDortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....
Prize - 2002 Kunstpreis Berlin - Berlin Art Prize
- 2006 Arnold Schönberg PrizeArnold Schönberg PrizeThe International Arnold-Schönberg-Prize was established in 2001, and named after the Austrian composer Arnold Schönberg, thanks to the initiative of Kent Nagano, the former principal conductor and musical director of the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester in Berlin, together with Deutschlandradio...
- 2011 Ernst von Siemens Music PrizeErnst von Siemens Music PrizeThe international Ernst von Siemens Music Prize is an annual music prize given by the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste on behalf of the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung , established in 1972. The foundation was established by Ernst von Siemens...
Stage Works
- Ein Traumspiel (A Dream Play, after August StrindbergAugust StrindbergJohan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...
) (1965) - Melusine (after Yvan GollYvan GollYvan Goll, born Isaac Lange , was a French-German poet who was perfectly bilingual and wrote in both French and German...
) (1971) - LearLear (opera)Lear is an opera in two acts with music by the German composer Aribert Reimann, and a libretto by Claus H. Henneberg, based on Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear.-Background and performance history:...
(after William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
) (1978) - Die Gespenstersonate (The Ghost Sonata, after August StrindbergAugust StrindbergJohan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...
) (1984) - Troades (after EuripidesEuripidesEuripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
) (1986) - Das Schloss (The Castle, after Franz KafkaFranz KafkaFranz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
) (1992) - Bernarda Albas Haus (Bernarda Alba's House, after Federico García LorcaFederico García LorcaFederico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
) - Medea (after Franz GrillparzerFranz GrillparzerFranz Seraphicus Grillparzer was an Austrian writer who is chiefly known for his dramas. He also wrote the oration for Ludwig van Beethoven's funeral.-Biography:...
) (2010)
Orchestral Works
- Variations for Orchestra
- Nahe Ferne (Near Distance)
- Cantus für Klarinette und Orchester (Cantus for Clarinet and Orchestra)
- Sieben Fragmente für Orchester in memoriam Robert Schumann (Seven Fragments for Orchestra, in memoriam Robert SchumannRobert SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
) (1988)
Vocal music
- Zyklus nach Gedichten von Paul Celan für Bariton und Klavier (CycleSong cycleA song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a single entity. As a rule, all of the songs are by the same composer and often use words from the same poet or lyricist. Unification can be achieved by a narrative or a persona common to the songs, or even, as in Schumann's...
based on the poetryPoetryPoetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
of Paul CelanPaul CelanPaul Celan was a poet and translator...
for baritoneBaritoneBaritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
and pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
) (1956) - Eingedunkelt für Alt-Solo (Eingedunkelt for Alto Solo) (1992)
- Fünf Lieder nach Gedichten von Paul Celan für Countertenor und Klavier (Five Songs based on the poetry of Paul Celan for countertenorCountertenorA countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or far more rarely than normal, modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble...
and piano) (2001) - Entsorgt für Bariton-Solo (Disposed for baritone solo)
- Wolkenloses Christfest Requiem nach Gedichten von Otfried Büthe, dedicated to Dietrich Fischer-DieskauDietrich Fischer-DieskauDietrich Fischer-Dieskau is a retired German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous lieder performers of the post-war period and "one of the supreme vocal artists of the 20th century"...
and Siegfried PalmSiegfried PalmSiegfried Palm was a German cellist who is known worldwide for his interpretations of contemporary music. Many 20th-century composers like Kagel, Ligeti, Xenakis, Penderecki and Zimmermann wrote music for him....
Sources
Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent German-language Wikipedia article (retrieved June 25, 2007).External links
- Reimann's Requiem at the Avant Garde Project has FLAC files made from a high-quality LP transcription available for free download.
- Aribert Reimann at the Avant Garde Project has FLAC files made from high-quality LP transcriptions of out-of-print vocal and orchestral works available for free download.