Kerstin Thieme (23 June 1909, as Karl Thieme – 26 November 2001) was a German composer, composition teacher, music educator and music writer.

Life and career

Thieme was born in

Bad Schlema Bad Schlema () is a community in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in Saxony in Germany. It was merged into the new town Aue-Bad Schlema in January 2019. It belongs to the Silberberg Town League (''Städtebund Silberberg''). The Silver Road (''Si ...

Ore Mountains The Ore Mountains (, or ; ) lie along the Czech–German border, separating the historical regions of Bohemia in the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany. The highest peaks are the Klínovec in the Czech Republic (German: ''Keilberg'') at ab ...

. After her

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

at the in Aue, she studied music education and composition at the

University of Music and Theatre Leipzig The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig () is a public university in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatorium der Musik (Conservatory of Music), it is the oldest univ ...

with Hermann Grabner from 1929 to 1934. Her fellow students included

Hugo Distler August Hugo Distler (24 June 1908 – 1 November 1942)Slonimsky & Kuhn, ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', v. 2, p. 889 was a German organist, choral conductor, teacher and composer. Life and career Born in Nuremberg, Distler att ...

and

Miklós Rózsa Miklós Rózsa (; April 18, 1907 – July 27, 1995) was a Hungarian-American composer trained in Germany (1925–1931) and active in France (1931–1935), the United Kingdom (1935–1940), and the United States (1940–1995), with extensi ...

. In 1933, she successfully passed the

Staatsexamen The ("state examination" or "exam by state"; pl.: ''Staatsexamina'') is a German government licensing examination that future physicians, dentists, physical therapists, teachers, research librarians, archivists, pharmacists, food chemists, psyc ...

for teaching at secondary schools and received her

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in 1934 with a thesis on the topic of "Klangstil des Mozartorchesters". Her first teaching activities in Leipzig followed. From 1939 to 1945, Thieme was obliged to serve as a soldier on the front in the Second World War and later became a prisoner of war in Italy. After her political escape from the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet occupation zone in Germany ( or , ; ) was an area of Germany that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a communist area, established as a result of the Potsdam Agreement on 2 August 1945. On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republ ...

in 1948, she obtained a position as

Studienrat Studienrat (abbreviated StR) is an official title/rank of higher teachers in the German and Austrian education system. Even though the German and Austrian education systems use the same term, there are differences in the level and usage of this rank ...

at the Labenwolf-Oberrealschule in Nuremberg, an arts grammar school, from 1950 to 1951. From 1956 to 1960, she was a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

at the

Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg The Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg (formerly ''Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg-Augsburg'') is a music conservatoire based in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. The conservatoire has a secondary building in Augsburg. The Hochschule The Hochschule für ...

, where she taught music theory. From 1960 to 1974, she was a lecturer in the Department of Music Education at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. After her retirement in 1974, Thieme decided to undergo

gender reassignment Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other than th ...

in 1976 at the age of 67 and adopted the female first name

Kerstin Kerstin is a female German and Swedish given name; it is the European version of Christina. Notable persons with this name include: Arts and entertainment * Kerstin Anderson (born 1994), American stage actress and singer, portrayed Maria von Tr ...

. Thieme lived as a woman until her death in 2001. She continued to work as a composer until 1989. She died at the age of 92 and was buried at the in Stuttgart.

Work

Thieme already achieved her first compositional successes during her time in Leipzig. This included the world premiere of the ''Variations on a Theme by Hindemith'' for large orchestra at the

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 ...

in 1934. After the Second World War, Thieme's compositional activities focused primarily on

vocal music Vocal music is a type of singing performed by one or more singers, either with instrumental accompaniment, or without instrumental accompaniment (a cappella), in which singing provides the main focus of the piece. Music which employs singing but ...

and orchestral works. In compositions with texts, the human solo voice often takes a back seat to the use of choirs. However, Thieme's works, which are often characterised by bold harmonies, are never lacking in songfulness and clarity of text. Among Thieme's important works are ''Canticum Hoffnung'', a triptych for soprano solo and

mixed choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

(1973) based on texts by

Nelly Sachs Nelly Sachs (; 10 December 1891 – 12 May 1970) was a German–Swedish poet and playwright. Her experiences resulting from the rise of the Nazism, Nazis in World War II Europe transformed her into a poignant spokesperson for the grief and yearn ...

and the ''

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

'', the premiere of which took place in Nuremberg in 1998. Thieme also wrote numerous works for premières as part of the (ION) in Nuremberg. Thieme maintained close ties with the choirs and choral associations based in Nuremberg, such as the

Hans-Sachs-Chor Nürnberg The Hans-Sachs-Chor Nürnberg is a large concert and oratorio mixed choir with currently about 90 members. It has been directed by Guido Johannes Rumstadt since 2014. History 1891–1926 Workers' Choral Society "Union" After the repeal of B ...

and the which also

premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

d Thieme's compositions on several occasions. Thieme received several prizes for her compositions, including one in 1989 at the Fanny Mendelssohn Competition for Composition of the City of

Unna Unna () is a city of around 59,000 people in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the seat of the Unna (district), Unna district. The newly refurbished Unna station has trains to all major cities in North Rhine Westphalia including Dortmund, Köln H ...

.Fanny Mendelssohn-Wettbewerb für Komposition in Unna
/ref> Thieme has been a juror at several music competitions.

References

External links

*
Biographie und Lebenswerk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thieme, Kerstin 20th-century German classical composers German women composers Academic staff of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg 1909 births 2001 deaths People from Erzgebirgskreis Transgender women musicians 20th-century German LGBTQ people German transgender women German transgender musicians German LGBTQ composers Transgender academics Transgender composers

Life and career

Work

References

Further reading

External links