Marcel Wengler
Encyclopedia
Marcel Wengler is a Luxembourg
composer and conductor. He also plays the guitar and the mandolin
. From 1972–1997, he headed the Conservatoire de Luxembourg
. Since 2000, he has been director of the Luxembourg Music Information Centre. His compositions include symphonies, concertos, chamber music and musicals.
, Wengler studied at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique in Brussels
and at the Musikhochschule in Cologne
. Igor Markevitch
and Sergiu Celibidache
were his mentors during his conducting studies.
, he has recorded a series of CDs covering works by Luxembourg composers.
Wengler has composed around 80 works, including symphonies and concertos as well as a stage, chamber and ballet music. In 1983, he wrote the music for Volker Schlöndorff
's film Un amour de Swann with the Munich Philharmonic. His musical, Rex Leo (1986), has been staged both in Luxembourg and Graz
. In 1995, he conducted the first performance of his Cello Concerto with the Portuguese National Symphony Orchestra in Lisbon
and, in 1997, his Viola Concerto with Garth Knox
and the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra. His Violin Concerto (1997) was performed during the World Music Days in Romania
and his conducted the première of his Flute Concerto (1999) with the Orquestra Nacional do Porto. His compositional style was initially influenced by Beethoven and Mahler
and later by Karl Amadeus Hartmann
and Hans Werner Henze
.
Marcel Wengler is the President of the Luxembourg Society for Contemporary Music (LSCM), founded in 1983, where he has done much to promote Luxembourg composers who would otherwise have little chance of having their music performed in their native country. One of the achievements of the LSCM was the formation of the Luxembourg Sinfonietta
ensemble which he has directed since it was founded in 1999. Since 2000, he has been director of the Luxembourg Music Information Centre which publishes catalogues of Luxembourg compositions and participates in building up an international databank of new music.
Orchestra
Band
Concertante
Chamber music
Piano
Vocal
Film scores
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
composer and conductor. He also plays the guitar and the mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
. From 1972–1997, he headed the Conservatoire de Luxembourg
Conservatoire de Luxembourg
The Conservatoire de Luxembourg is a conservatoire in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. The conservatoire was founded in 1906, after a private donation made possible its establishment, which had been mandated under a Grand Ducal decree issued in 1904...
. Since 2000, he has been director of the Luxembourg Music Information Centre. His compositions include symphonies, concertos, chamber music and musicals.
Early life and education
Born in Esch-sur-AlzetteEsch-sur-Alzette
Esch-sur-Alzette is a commune with city status, in south-western Luxembourg. It is the country's second city, and its second-most populous commune, with a population of 29,853 people...
, Wengler studied at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and at the Musikhochschule in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. Igor Markevitch
Igor Markevitch
Igor Markevitch was a Ukrainian, Italian, and French composer and conductor.- Origin :Igor Markevich was born in Kiev, to an old family of Ukrainian Cossack starshyna ennobled in the 18th century...
and Sergiu Celibidache
Sergiu Celibidache
- Biography :Celibidache was born in Roman, Romania, and began his studies in music with the piano, after which he studied music, philosophy and mathematics in Bucharest, Romania and then in Paris...
were his mentors during his conducting studies.
Career
As a conductor, Wengler has worked across Europe with a variety of radio companies, recording over a hundred works. With the RTL Symphony OrchestraLuxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra
The Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra , abbreviated to OPL, is the national orchestra of Luxembourg, and is based in Luxembourg City. The orchestra formerly performed at the Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg and the Conservatoire de Luxembourg...
, he has recorded a series of CDs covering works by Luxembourg composers.
Wengler has composed around 80 works, including symphonies and concertos as well as a stage, chamber and ballet music. In 1983, he wrote the music for Volker Schlöndorff
Volker Schlöndorff
Volker Schlöndorff is a Berlin-based German filmmaker who has worked in Germany, France and the United States...
's film Un amour de Swann with the Munich Philharmonic. His musical, Rex Leo (1986), has been staged both in Luxembourg and Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
. In 1995, he conducted the first performance of his Cello Concerto with the Portuguese National Symphony Orchestra in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
and, in 1997, his Viola Concerto with Garth Knox
Garth Knox
Garth Knox, is a violist specialized in contemporary classical music, and new music.-Biography:Knox was the youngest of four siblings, and although he was born in Ireland, he was raised in Scotland, to a family who all played a variety of musical instruments...
and the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra. His Violin Concerto (1997) was performed during the World Music Days in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and his conducted the première of his Flute Concerto (1999) with the Orquestra Nacional do Porto. His compositional style was initially influenced by Beethoven and Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
and later by Karl Amadeus Hartmann
Karl Amadeus Hartmann
Karl Amadeus Hartmann was a German composer. Some have lauded him as the greatest German symphonist of the 20th century, although he is now largely overlooked, particularly in English-speaking countries.-Life:...
and Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze is a German composer of prodigious output best known for "his consistent cultivation of music for the theatre throughout his life"...
.
Marcel Wengler is the President of the Luxembourg Society for Contemporary Music (LSCM), founded in 1983, where he has done much to promote Luxembourg composers who would otherwise have little chance of having their music performed in their native country. One of the achievements of the LSCM was the formation of the Luxembourg Sinfonietta
Luxembourg Sinfonietta
The Luxembourg Sinfonietta is an orchestral ensemble for contemporary music in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Initially it consisted of 10 to 15 instruments, including tuba, accordion, mandolin and harpsichord but now typically extends to clarinet, clarinet bass, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone,...
ensemble which he has directed since it was founded in 1999. Since 2000, he has been director of the Luxembourg Music Information Centre which publishes catalogues of Luxembourg compositions and participates in building up an international databank of new music.
Selected works
Stage- Rex Leo, Musical (1986)
Orchestra
- Sinfonietta (1976)
- Konstellationen (1980)
- Symphony No. 2 (1982)
- Versuche über einen Marsch (1984, 1995); original version for symphonic band
- Antarctica Project, Music from the documentary film for string orchestra (1986, 1988)
- Diaporama (1989)
- The Answered Question (1997)
Band
- Sinfonietta (1976)
- Versuche über einen Marsch (1984)
- European Rhapsody (1990)
- Horse Parade: Marche des petits princes (1999)
Concertante
- Concerto for harpsichord and chamber orchestra (1972)
- Antiphonie for solo trumpet, timpani and 10 brass instruments (1983)
- Concerto for oboe and string orchestra (1984)
- Novellette for also saxophone and string orchestra (1991)
- Concerto for cello and orchestra (1995)
- Concerto for viola and orchestra (1997)
- Concerto for violin and orchestra (1997)
- Concerto for flute and orchestra (1999)
Chamber music
- String Quintet for 2 violins, viola, cello and double bass (1973)
- La crique: Musique de scène for flute, clarinet, violin and cello and piano (1978)
- Sonata a tre for violin, clarinet and piano (1981)
- Nach Mitternacht for harp solo (1982)
- Divertimento a 11 for flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone, horn, trumpet, trombone, piano, percussion, violin and cello (1982)
- Bakxai for percussion ensemble (1983)
- Elegie for trumpet and organ (1985)
- Quartetto for 2 violins, cello and harpsichord (1985)
- Die Pest in Brühl: Trauer Marsch for chamber ensemble (1985)
- Ständchen (Serenade) for trumpet and guitar (1986)
- Batuque for percussion ensemble (1986)
- Marche des Capucins for flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, trumpet, trombone, cello, piano and percussion (1986)
- Ballade for brass quintet (1986)
- Tango für vier for 4 clarinets (1998)
- Fanfare noble et sentimentale for brass quintet (1991)
- String Trio (1992)
- Piano Trio (1995)
- Faux Pas de Deux for flute and harp (1996)
- Peärls Quartet for flute, violin, cello and piano (1998)
- Shadows for 4 saxophones and accordion (2000)
- Pas de trois for violin, accordion and didgeridooDidgeridooThe didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia around 1,500 years ago and still in widespread usage today both in Australia and around the world. It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or "drone pipe"...
(2000)
Piano
- Nachtstück (1982)
Vocal
- Die Weisse Wildnis for baritone and orchestra (1982)
- Rimbaud Lieder for baritone, bass flute, guitar, cello, double bass and percussion (1984); words by Arthur RimbaudArthur RimbaudJean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet. Born in Charleville, Ardennes, he produced his best known works while still in his late teens—Victor Hugo described him at the time as "an infant Shakespeare"—and he gave up creative writing altogether before the age of 21. As part of the decadent...
- Der Adler for mezzo-soprano and piano (1999); words by Hans ArpJean ArpJean Arp / Hans Arp was a German-French, or Alsatian, sculptor, painter, poet and abstract artist in other media such as torn and pasted paper....
- Le chant des Léonides, Vocalise for soprano and ensemble (1999)
- Der unbekannte Engel for soprano and chamber ensemble (2000)
- Das Karussell for soprano and 14 instruments (2001)
Film scores
- Un amour de Swann (Swann in Love) (1984)
- StammheimStammheim (film)Stammheim - Die Baader-Meinhof-Gruppe vor Gericht is a 1986 West German film directed by Reinhard Hauff...
(1986) - Antarctica Project, Documentary (1986)
- Mumm Sweet Mumm (1989)
- Blauäugig (1989)
- Schacko Klack (1989)
- Dammentour (1992)