The Hallische Musiktage are a festival specialised on contemporary music, based in

Halle (Saale) Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (), is the second largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is the sixth-most populous city in the area of former East Germany after (East Berlin, East) Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Chem ...

. Founded in 1955, it is held annually in November, the second-oldest German festival of contemporary music after the

Donaueschinger Musiktage The Donaueschingen Festival, or more precisely ''Donaueschingen Music Days'' (), is a three-day October event presenting new music in the town of the same name, where the Danube River starts, at the edge of the Black Forest in southern Germany. F ...

Hans Stieber Prize

From 1977, the Hans Stieber Prize was given to young composers. It is named after Hans Stieber, a composer born in

Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNES ...

who founded a music school there.

Artistic directors

Artistic directors of the festivals included: *

Ottmar Gerster Ottmar Gerster (29 June 1897 in Braunfels, Germany – 31 August 1969 in Borsdorf) was a German viola player, conductor and composer who in 1948 became rector of the Liszt Music Academy in Weimar. Life Ottmar Gerster was born some 50 km ( ...

(1955–1956) * Ernst Hermann Meyer *

Walther Siegmund-Schultze Walther Siegmund-Schultze (6 July 1916 – 6 March 1993) was a German musicologist. He was the elder brother of musicologist Hella Brock. Biography Siegmund-Schultze was born in Schweinitz (Elster). In July 1940 he was promoted to Dr. ph ...

Hans Jürgen Wenzel Hans Jürgen Wenzel (4 March 1939 – 8 August 2009) was a German conductor and composer. He was chairman of the and professor for musical composition at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden. Life Born in Weißwasser, Wenzel ...

* Gerd Domhardt (1989–1994) *

Johannes Reiche Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, '' Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Ye ...

(1994–1995) * Thomas Buchholz (from 1995)

Venues

Festival events have been held at: * Bartholomäuskirche * Franckesche Stiftungen * Handel House *

Kulturinsel Halle The Kulturinsel Halle is a building and cultural complex in Halle (Saale). In addition to the ''Neues Theater Halle'', it houses the , the studio, the "Schaufenster" and a library. Furthermore, it includes the gastronomic establishments ''Café n ...

* Kabarett „Die Kiebitzensteiner“ * Ulrichkirche *

Marktkirche Unser Lieben Frauen The Marktkirche Unser Lieben Frauen ("Market Church of Our Dear Lady") is a church in the centre of the city of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was built between 1529 and 1554 and is the most recent of the city's medieval churches. In German, i ...

* Moritzburg * Neue Residenz *

Halle Opera House The Halle Opera House () is an opera house located in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Originally named the Halle Town Theatre (), the theatre building was constructed in 1886 by architect Heinrich Seeling. On 31 March, 1945, a bomb attack des ...

* Volkspark

Artists

The German and international ensembles and artists haveve included the orchestra of the Halle opera house, Ensemble Konfrontation, Thomas Rothert, the Universal Ensemble Berlin, Waltraut Wächter, the Kiever Kammerakademie,

MDR Sinfonieorchester The MDR-Sinfonieorchester (MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra) is a German radio orchestra based in Leipzig. It is the radio orchestra of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, the public broadcaster for the German states of Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony ...

Howard Arman Howard Arman (born 1954 in London) is an English choral conductor and opera director. He won the Handel Prize of the Handel Festival, Halle, in 1996, shaped the festival's orchestra and conducted operas of George Frideric Handel. He is a conduct ...

, Georgisches Kammerorchester, Meißner Kantorei, Orion Ensemble, Hover Chamber Choir,

Ensemble Sortisatio Ensemble Sortisatio is a quartet (viola, oboe/cor anglais, bassoon and guitar) founded by violist Matthias Sannemüller in 1992 in Leipzig, Germany. Its members are mostly soloists at the MDR Symphony Orchestra. They have specialized in contempora ...

, Leipziger Schlagzeugensemble, Rheinisches Bach-Collegium, Forum Zeitgenössischer Musik Leipzig, The Hilliard Ensemble, Elizabeth Bice,

Kairos Quartett ''Kairos'' () is an ancient Greek word meaning 'the right or critical moment'. In modern Greek, ''kairos'' also means 'weather' or 'time'. It is one of two words that the ancient Greeks had for 'time'; the other being (). Whereas the latt ...

, National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia and Salzburger Harfenduo.

Premieres

The festival premiered works by composers including: *

Reiner Bredemeyer Reiner Bredemeyer (2 January 1929 − 5 December 1995) was a German composer. Biography Bredemeyer was born in Vélez, Santander and went to school in Breslau. In 1944 he was drafted into military service and was briefly held as a prisoner of wa ...

Alan Bush Alan Dudley Bush (22 December 1900 – 31 October 1995) was a British composer, pianist, conductor, teacher and political activist. A committed communist, his uncompromising political beliefs were often reflected in his music. He composed prol ...

Sidney Corbett Sidney Corbett (born April 26, 1960, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American composer based in Germany. Biography Sidney Corbett was born in Chicago in 1960, the son of a Jewish mother and a Catholic father, but grew up without a religious upbrin ...

Paul Dessau Paul Dessau (19 December 189428 June 1979) was a German composer and conductor. He collaborated with Bertolt Brecht and composed incidental music for his plays, and several operas based on them. Biography Dessau was born in Hamburg into a m ...

* Gerd Domhardt * Matthew Greenbaum *

Georg Katzer Georg Katzer (; 10 January 1935 – 7 May 2019) was a German composer and teacher. The last master student of Hanns Eisler, he composed music in many genres, including works for the stage. Katzer was one of the pioneers of electronic new music ...

Tilo Medek Tilo Medek, originally Müller-Medek (22 January 1940 – 3 February 2006), was a German classical composer, musicologist and music publisher. He grew up in East Germany, but was inspired by the Darmstädter Ferienkurse. He composed radio plays and ...

* Rainer Riehn * Percy M. Young *

Ruth Zechlin Ruth Zechlin (22 June 1926 – 4 August 2007) was a German composer. Life Ruth Oschatz was born in Grosshartmannsdorf, where she began piano lessons at the age of five years, and wrote her first composition at the age of seven. From 1943 to 1 ...

Literature

* Thomas Buchholz (ed.): Eine Kleine Chronik. LVDK Sachsen-Anhalt, Halle/Saale 2005

References

External links

*
Hallische Musiktage
Landesverband Sachsen-Anhalt Deutscher Komponisten
Hallische Musiktage

{{authority control Music festivals in Germany 1955 establishments in East Germany