Peter Michael Hamel
Encyclopedia
Peter Michael Hamel is a German
composer. His works have been associated with the Minimalist
style of composition, and in the late 1970s with the New Simplicity
movement.
Peter Michael Hamel ranks as one of the better known and successful German composers of his generation. He studied musical composition
, psychology
and sociology
in Munich and Berlin with teachers including Günter Bialas
and Carl Dahlhaus
(Fricke 2001). He then attended workshops with Karlheinz Stockhausen
and continued his education abroad, spending several extensive periods in Asia (Fricke 2001). Hamel has entered into an intensive engagement with musical cultures from outside Europe, especially Indian classical music
. He has drawn inspiration from Asian philosophies and from encounters with the works of Jean Gebser
and C. G. Jung in order to present music that seeks to make itself accessible to the listener through meditation and self-exploration. Also he worked and studied with American composers such as John Cage
, Morton Feldman
and Terry Riley
.
In 1970, he founded "Between", an international group dedicated to improvisational music with whom he made 6 records on the intuition/wergo label and in 1978 in Munich, he founded the Freies Musikzentrum, an institute for musical education and therapy. In 1976, his book "Through Music to the Self" was published, obtaining wide circulation in Europe and the U.S.
In 1997, he succeeded György Ligeti
as professor for composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg. His orchestra and chamber music is published by Schott, Bärenreiter and E.R.P./Celestial Harmonies. He has composed four operas; many pieces for orchestra (e.g., "Gestalt"); violin and piano concertos; spiritual compositions for soprano, choirs and orchestra (e.g., "Missa"); "Shoah" (a radio-composition about the Holocaust); a number of chamber-music compositions (including four string quartets); and is in demand as a performing artist (piano, prepared piano, pipe organ, voice and live-electronics). His first symphony was premiered by Sergiu Celibidache in 1988; his second symphony had its first performance in Munich on April 29, 2008 with the Munich Philharmonic. In 2007 Hamel's "Of the Sound of life" for pianist Roger Woodward was published by Celestial Harmonies. Woodward will premiere Hamel's Piano Etudes on January 19, 2009 in the Bavarian Academy of the Fine Arts, Munich. (www.harmonies.com)
From "A few thoughts on composer PMH" by Terry Riley: "...Peter's heart did not seem to be aligned alone with the post Webern traditions that had emerged so prevalently in Germany. His sensibilities were attracted more to American minimalism and Indian music and to some degree Rock and Jazz. In this sense he stands apart in the field of modern music of Germany. He has recognized the vast importance of improvisation and being 'in the moment' in music performance. He realizes the importance of experimentation and of finding new ways to notate his ideas. However, his music is at the same time rooted in the great German tradition and today he is recognized as a major figure whose compositions have greatly enriched the development of 20th and 21st century repertoire..." (published in: "Ein neuer Ton" (Alliteraverlag, München, 2007)
He is the author of a book titled Through Music to the Self (1976).
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
composer. His works have been associated with the Minimalist
Minimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
style of composition, and in the late 1970s with the New Simplicity
New Simplicity
New Simplicity was a stylistic tendency amongst some of the younger generation of German composers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, reacting against not only the European avant garde of the 1950s and 1960s, but also against the broader tendency toward objectivity found from the beginning of the...
movement.
Peter Michael Hamel ranks as one of the better known and successful German composers of his generation. He studied musical composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
, psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
in Munich and Berlin with teachers including Günter Bialas
Günter Bialas
-Life:Bialas was born in Bielschowitz in Prussian Silesia. The adolescent Bialas received lessons in piano and music theory from Fritz Lubrich, a former student of Max Reger, in Kattowitz between 1922 and 1925...
and Carl Dahlhaus
Carl Dahlhaus
Carl Dahlhaus , a musicologist from Berlin, was one of the major contributors to the development of musicology as a scholarly discipline during the post-war era....
(Fricke 2001). He then attended workshops with Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
and continued his education abroad, spending several extensive periods in Asia (Fricke 2001). Hamel has entered into an intensive engagement with musical cultures from outside Europe, especially Indian classical music
Indian classical music
The origins of Indian classical music can be found in the Vedas, which are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu tradition. Indian classical music has also been significantly influenced by, or syncretised with, Indian folk music and Persian music. The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music...
. He has drawn inspiration from Asian philosophies and from encounters with the works of Jean Gebser
Jean Gebser
Jean Gebser was a philosopher who described the structures of human consciousness, a linguist, and a poet.-Biography:...
and C. G. Jung in order to present music that seeks to make itself accessible to the listener through meditation and self-exploration. Also he worked and studied with American composers such as John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...
and Terry Riley
Terry Riley
Terrence Mitchell Riley, is an American composer intrinsically associated with the minimalist school of Western classical music and was a pioneer of the movement...
.
In 1970, he founded "Between", an international group dedicated to improvisational music with whom he made 6 records on the intuition/wergo label and in 1978 in Munich, he founded the Freies Musikzentrum, an institute for musical education and therapy. In 1976, his book "Through Music to the Self" was published, obtaining wide circulation in Europe and the U.S.
In 1997, he succeeded György Ligeti
György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...
as professor for composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg. His orchestra and chamber music is published by Schott, Bärenreiter and E.R.P./Celestial Harmonies. He has composed four operas; many pieces for orchestra (e.g., "Gestalt"); violin and piano concertos; spiritual compositions for soprano, choirs and orchestra (e.g., "Missa"); "Shoah" (a radio-composition about the Holocaust); a number of chamber-music compositions (including four string quartets); and is in demand as a performing artist (piano, prepared piano, pipe organ, voice and live-electronics). His first symphony was premiered by Sergiu Celibidache in 1988; his second symphony had its first performance in Munich on April 29, 2008 with the Munich Philharmonic. In 2007 Hamel's "Of the Sound of life" for pianist Roger Woodward was published by Celestial Harmonies. Woodward will premiere Hamel's Piano Etudes on January 19, 2009 in the Bavarian Academy of the Fine Arts, Munich. (www.harmonies.com)
From "A few thoughts on composer PMH" by Terry Riley: "...Peter's heart did not seem to be aligned alone with the post Webern traditions that had emerged so prevalently in Germany. His sensibilities were attracted more to American minimalism and Indian music and to some degree Rock and Jazz. In this sense he stands apart in the field of modern music of Germany. He has recognized the vast importance of improvisation and being 'in the moment' in music performance. He realizes the importance of experimentation and of finding new ways to notate his ideas. However, his music is at the same time rooted in the great German tradition and today he is recognized as a major figure whose compositions have greatly enriched the development of 20th and 21st century repertoire..." (published in: "Ein neuer Ton" (Alliteraverlag, München, 2007)
He is the author of a book titled Through Music to the Self (1976).