Christfried Schmidt (born 26 November 1932) is a German composer and
arrangeur.
Life
Schmidt was born in 1932 as the son of a miller in
Markersdorf
Markersdorf ( hsb, Markoćicy) is a municipality in the district Görlitz, Saxony, Germany.
''Markersdorf'' is also the former German name of Markocice, a small township in Poland which lies about 25 kilometres directly to the south, near Bogaty ...
. In
Görlitz
Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc, cz, Zhořelec, :de:Ostlausitzer Mundart, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and ...
, he attended the grammar school and received piano lessons from
Humperdinck's pupil Emil Kühnel. From 1951 to 1954, he studied
church music
Church music is Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn.
History
Early Christian music
The onl ...
at the (B-exam) and from 1955 to 1959 with
Werner Buschnakowski (organ) and
Johannes Weyrauch Johannes Weyrauch (20 February 1897 − 1 May 1977) was a German composer and cantor.
Life Childhood
Weyrauch was born on 20 February 1897 in Leipzig. His mother, Maria Große, who had received a thorough musical education and worked in several ...
(music composition) at the
University of Music and Theatre Leipzig (A-Exam). In Leipzig, he familiarised himself with
Neue Musik
Neue Musik (English ''new music'', French ''nouvelle musique'') is the collective term for a wealth of different currents in composed Western art music from around 1910 to the present. Its focus is on compositions of 20th century music. It is char ...
with Hermann Heyer.
From 1960 to 1962, Schmidt was a church musician in
Forst
Forst may refer to:
Communities
In Germany
*, in the district of Aachen
*Forst (Baden), in Baden-Württemberg
*Forst (Lausitz), in Brandenburg
* Forst (Unterfranken), part of Schonungen, Bavaria
* Forst, Altenkirchen, in the district of Altenk ...
. From 1963 to 1964, he worked as an acting bandmaster in
Quedlinburg and then from 1965 to 1980 was a freelance piano teacher and choir director in Quedlinburg. In Warsaw, he met the Japanese musicologist Ichirō Tamura, who enabled him to perform his works in Japan. Since 1980, he has been living as a freelance composer in
Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg. The artistic breakthrough came with the premiere of his oboe concerto performed by
Burkhard Glaetzner
Burkhard Glaetzner (born 29 May 1943) is a German oboe virtuoso und conductor. He is one of the leading oboe players in Germany.
Life
Glaetzner was born in Poznań. His grandfather was the Goethe researcher , who last taught in Leipzig. In ...
at the DDR-Musiktagen 1984.
His orchestral work ''Memento'' was premiered in 2002 in the
Leipziger Gewandhaus
Gewandhaus is a concert hall in Leipzig, the home of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Today's hall is the third to bear this name; like the second, it is noted for its fine acoustics.
History
The first Gewandhaus (''Altes Gewandhaus'')
The fi ...
by the
MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by
Fabio Luisi
Fabio Luisi (born 17 January 1959) is an Italian conductor. He is currently principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and chief conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra.
Biog ...
.
In 2019, the
Sing-Akademie zu Berlin under
Kai-Uwe Jirka premiered his St. Mark Passion from 1975 after 45 years. The highly expressive, headstrong work combines aleatoric compositional procedures (influenced by
Witold Lutosławski's controlled
aleatoric music) with a polyphonic way of thinking in the wake of J.S. Bach and the
Viennese School.
Awards and memberships
* 1971: Composition prize in Nürnberg
* 1973: Composition prize in Stettin
* 1976: Composition prize in Triest
* 1978: Kompositionspreis in Boswil
* 1987:
Kunstpreis der DDR
The Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic (German: ''Kunstpreis der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik'') was an East German state award bestowed on individuals for contributions in various fields of art.
History
The Art Prize was annually a ...
* 1990: Member of the
Academy of Arts, Berlin, (East) (until 1991)
* 1991:
* 1998: Member of the
Sächsische Akademie der Künste
* 1999:
Berliner Kunstpreis (Promotion Prize)
Work
Further reading
* Ursula Stürzbecher: ''Komponisten in der DDR. 17 Gespräche.'' Hildesheim 1979, .
* Georg-Friedrich Kühn: ''Unbefangen, ungebärdig. Die Extreme des Ausdrucks. Glied der musikalischen Gesellschaft: Christfried Schmidt.'' In ''Musik-Texte'' 4/1984
*
Frank Schneider Frank Schneider may refer to:
*Frank Schneider (musicologist) (born 1942), German musicologist
* Frank Schneider (spy), Luxembourger spy
*Frankie Schneider (1926-2018), American racing driver
See also
* Frank Snyder
Frank Elton Snyder (May 27, ...
: ''Klang-Bilder. Ein alter Aspekt in neuer Musik der DDR.'' In Bildende Kunst 6/1984
* Frank Schneider: ''Christfried Schmidt.'' In Prospekt Deutscher Verlag für Musik. Leipzig 1987
* Gerald Felber: ''Verletzbare Leidenschaftlichkeit. Der Komponist Christfried Schmidt.'' In ''Sonntag'' 36/1987
* Habakuk Traber: ''Notizen. Christfried Schmidt zum 60. Geburtstag.''In ''
Neue Zeitschrift für Musik'' 12/1992.
* Beate Schröder-Nauenburg: ''Christfried Schmidt''. In ''
Komponisten der Gegenwart
The ''Komponisten der Gegenwart'' (KDG) is a music encyclopedia in German language about composers of the 20th and 21st century. It is a looseleaf service with information on currently about 900 composers.
Editors
Hanns-Werner Heister and Walter ...
'' (KDG). Edition Text & Kritik, Munich 1996,
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Christfried
20th-century classical composers
German composers
German music arrangers
1932 births
Living people
People from Görlitz (district)