Manfred Stahnke (born 30 October 1951) is a German

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

from

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. He writes chamber music, orchestral music and stage music. His music makes extensive use of

microtonality Microtonality is the use in music of microtones — intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals". It may also be extended to include any music using intervals not found in the customary Western tuning of twelve equal interv ...

. He plays piano and viola.

Life

Manfred Stahnke was born 1951 in Kiel. At the age of 15 he started to study violin, piano, composition in Lübeck. Stahnke studied composition with

Wolfgang Fortner Wolfgang Fortner (12 October 1907 – 5 September 1987) was a German composer, academic composition teacher and conductor. Life and career Fortner was born in Leipzig. From his parents, who were both singers, Fortner very early on had intense ...

(1970–1973), with Klaus Huber and

Brian Ferneyhough Brian John Peter Ferneyhough (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer. Ferneyhough is typically considered the central figure of the New Complexity movement. Ferneyhough has taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and ...

(1973–1974), and with

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde music, avant-garde composers in the latter half of the ...

(1974–1979). In addition, he studied piano; his primary piano teacher was Edith Picht-Axenfeld. He also holds a doctoral degree in musicology, with a thesis on the subject of

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

's Third Piano Sonata (1979, under Constantin Floros in Hamburg). In 1979–80 he went to the United States to study with the microtonalist Ben Johnston in

Urbana, Illinois Urbana ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. It is a principal city of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, which had 236,000 residents i ...

, and with the computer music researcher and composer

John Chowning John M. Chowning (; born August 22, 1934, in Salem, New Jersey) is an American composer, musician, discoverer, and professor best known for his work at Stanford University, the founding of CCRMA – Center for Computer Research in Music and ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, California. Since 1989 he is professor of composition and music theory at the

Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg The Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg is one of the larger College or university school of music, universities of music in Germany. It was founded in 1950 as ''Staatliche Hochschule für Musik'' (Public college of music) on the base of t ...

. He is an emeritus since April 2019. Since 1999 he is a member of the Freie Akademie der Künste Hamburg, where he was the director of the Section of Music until 2023. He also was a member of the board of trustees of the Goethe Institute Munich for many years. He plays the viola in the TonArt Ensemble.

Works

* 1978 ''Metallic Spaces'', Orch. in 72ET, Gaudeamus, Radio Symphony Hilversum 1978 * 1979 ''Ritus'', fl vc pno, Wolpe-Trio Essen, prem. around 1994 * 1980–81 ''Der Untergang des Hauses Usher'', Chamber Opera, Kiel 1981 * 1982 ''Wahnsinn, das ist die Seele der Handlung'' (poems of E.A.Poe), Music Theater: female voice & string quartet, Braunschweig & Gelsenkirchen 1983, Carla Henius, new version Berliner Staatsoper 2012 * 1983–86 ''Heinrich IV.'' (

Luigi Pirandello Luigi Pirandello (; ; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an Italians, Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his bold and ...

), Chamber Opera, Kiel 1987 * 1982–85 ''Partota'', pno in Vallotti-tuning, Hubertus Dreyer, Hamburg 1986 * 1986 ''Two Scales'', 2 bassoons, American Festival of Microtonal Music Ensemble: April Chapman, Johnny Reinhardt, New York * 1987 ''En cet hybride tamps'', chamber ens., 4 cl, 2 v, 2 va, harp, Yamaha DX7-II synthesizer, 2 perc, ensemble modern, Saarbrücken 1988, prem. new version Szombathely 1990 * 1987 ''Capra 1'', v solo in scordatura, prem. Michael Kollars Hamburg, CD Barbara Lueneburg, coviello, ''The Redefined Ear'' * 1988 ''Bratschensonate'', Christian Stahnke, Mike Rutledge, Hubertus Dreyer, Hamburg 1990–92, new version 2005 * 1989 ''Tanz, Almeida, tanze!'', chamber ens., fl clar trb v vc syn, Stuttgart, ensemble avance * 1990 ''Centonage'', chamber ens., fl ob clar trp trb perc harp synth 3 v va vc, ensemble modern, Frankfurt * 1990 ''Kreislieder'', chamber ens., altofl clar (MIDI)guit harp, Amsterdam, nieuw ensemble * 1991/98 ''Ansichten eines Käfers'', solo guitar in scordatura, Satoshi Oba, Odense 1995 * 1992 ''Partota II - für

'', MIDI-piano & sampler, Hubertus Dreyer, Hamburg * 1993 ''Saitenspiel'', 7 v, 3 va, 3 vc, cb, Hamburger Camerata, dir. Claus Bantzer, Hamburg * 1994 ''Partota 3'', accordion solo, Lydia Schmidl * 1994 ''Streetmusic I'', trb & steeldrums, Metal Brass, Mainz 1995. Version for bassfl & steeldrums, l'art pour l'art, Hamburg 1997 * 1994 ''Harbor Town Love at Millennium's End'', sax perc pno, Donaueschingen, trio accanto * 1997 ''Trace des sorciers'', Orch., SWR Sinfonieorchester, Dir. Olav Henzold, Donaueschingen * 1998/99 ''Lumpengalerie'', fl clar v vc pno perc, Ensemble Est!Est!!Est!!! Bonn * 2000 ''Viertes Streichquartett'', München * 2001 ''Orpheus Kristall'', Opera for stage & internet, Soprano, 2 Mezzo sopranos, Baritone. Solo perc, Internet musicians, Ensemble Resonanz, Münchener Biennale 2002 * 2003 ''Frankfurt Musicbox'', v va vc pno perc, ensemble modern, Frankfurt * 2003 ''Scales of Ages, Saxophone Symphony'', alto saxophone & orch, John-Edward Kelly, Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg, Dir. Thomas Kalb, Heidelberg 2004 * 2005 ''Partota IX - Tanz und Tod'', accordion & pno, Andreas Nebl, Oliver McCall, Trossingen 2006 * 2005 ''Ana B Chronicles'', vc solo, Jan-Filip Ťupa * 2005 ''The Alps Blues Clone'', vc & cither, Martin Jaggi, Leopold Hurt, Hamburg * 2005/09 ''Diamantenpracht'', hrp solo in scordatura, Gesine Dreyer, Hamburg 2006 * 2005 ''Capra 3, v solo, from "Danzbodnlock - Violinsinfonie"'' * 2006 ''Skins & Strings'', perc va vc, Rumi Ogawa, Jagdish Mistry, Michael Kasper (ensemble modern), Frankfurt/M * 2006 ''Danzbodnlock - Violinsinfonie'', v solo & orch., Barbara Lüneburg, SWR-Sinfonieorchester, Dir. Hans Zender, Donaueschingen * 2007/2013 ''CAPRA 2'', v solo * 2008 ''Koto solo'', in just intonation, Naoko Kikuchi * 2008 ''Hinterhofmusick'', Orch. (3 ob, trp, perc, 32 strings in microtuning), Düsseldorfer Hofmusik & Düsseldorfer Sinfoniker, dir. Mark-Andreas Schlingensiepen, Düsseldorf * 2008 ''Flötenmaschine'', fl solo & computer, Sonja Horlacher * 2008/09 ''Antlitz "Aus tiefer Not"'', soprano, bass recorder, subbass recorder, vc, harpsichord. Text:

Psalm 130 Psalm 130 is the 130th psalm of the Book of Psalms, one of the penitential psalms and one of 15 psalms that begin with the words "A song of ascents" (Shir Hama'alot). The first verse is a call to God in deep sorrow, from "out of the depths" or ...

. UA 7. Mai 2009 Köln (Irene Kurka oprano Lucia Mense, Karolina Baeter ecorders Burkart Zeller c Alexander Puliaev arpsichord * 2009 ''CHANGGUflage'', changgu (Korean drum) & string trio - a camouflage between "Sanjo" and "Chambermusic", Il-Ryun Chung & ensemble, Berlin * 2010 ''Drei Schwestern'', 3 cithers * 2010 ''Asymmetrischer Holzschnitt'', v vc * 2011 ''Holzschnitt'', v va vc, 2pnos in quarter tone distance, Basel, Ensemble Mondrian * 2011 ''Such(t)maschine'', chamber ens., ensemble modern, Frankfurt 2012 * 2012 ''Verminderte Elbharmonie'', soprano & ens, decoder ensemble, blurred edges festival 2013 * 2012 ''Asymptotics'', amplified flute & E-guitar in scordatura, Basel, Sonja Horlacher & Flavio Virzi * 2013 ''Klaviertanz'', pno solo * 2013 ''Beating'', 3 trb, Basel, Michael Svoboda ensemble * 2013 ''Behalte den Flug im Gedächtnis, der Vogel ist sterblich'', clar vc pno, Trio Catch, Mannheim 2014 * 2013 ''CAPRA 4'', v solo, Miranda Cuckson, New York 2022, CD "Vilag" * 2013 ''Last Supper'', organ solo, Katja Kanowski, Eckernförde 2015 * 2009/2015 ''Verwehtes Lied'', organ solo, Rainer Oster, Saarbrücken 2009 * 2014/19 ''5. Streichquartett'', 2023 TonArt Version with semi-improvisational elements * 2016 ''Ptitschki'' (Birds), soprano saxophone with quartertones, prem. Lemgo, Asya Fateyeva * 2016 ''Dunkle Materie'', vc & trb, prem. Basel, Ellen Fallowfield & Stephen Menotti * 2016/17 ''SKINS & STRINGS'', perc v vc, ensemble modern CD 2017, Rumi Ogawa, Jagdish Mistry, Michael Kasper * 2018 ''"...WOHLGESTIMMETE GEBÄRENDE HARMONEY - Annäherungen an Jacob Böhme"'', soprano & ensemble, ensemble "the schoole of night", Görlitz * 2019 ''Ciconietta'', acc & guit, Lydia Schmidl & Jorge Paz (Duolux), Hamburg, arranged from PARTOTA III for accordion solo * 2019/20 ''My Dastgāha - rewriting a beloved music from Persia with the means of JI'', va solo * 2020 ''"em 40" in memoriam Hans Zender'', fl & string quartet, ensemble modern, Frankfurt 2021, added version as ''6. Streichquartett'' 2022 * 2021 ''Just Intonation Viola'', va solo * 2022 ''7. Streichquartett'', TonArt String Quartet * 2023 ''"Singing Islands" for space oriented chamber ensemble'', Ensemble UnitedBerlin, Berlin

Publications

* György Ligeti im Spiegel seiner Hamburger Kompositionsklasse - through a glass, and darkly, but face to face, Manfred Stahnke (Co-Hrsg.), BoD, Norderstedt 2023 * György Ligeti: Eine Hybridwelt, BoD, Norderstedt 2022 * Struktur und Ästhetik bei Boulez. Dritte Sonate, Formant "Trope" - mit Mallarmé & Joyce. Diss. 1979, Neubearbeitung BoD, Norderstedt 2017 * Mein Blick auf Ligeti, Partch & Compagnons. Gesammelte Aufsätze, Vorträge und Interviews, BoD, Norderstedt 2017 * Mikrotöne und mehr - Auf György Ligetis Hamburger Pfaden, Manfred Stahnke (Hrsg.), Hamburg 2005, darin: 207 MeloHarmonik * Neue Musik 2000 Fünf Texte von Komponisten - Von Ernstalbrecht Stiebler / Manfred Stahnke / Dieter Mack / Babette Koblenz / Lothar Voigtländer. Klaus H. Stahmer (Hrsg.), Würzburg 2001 * Musik - nicht ohne Worte. Beiträge zu aktuellen Fragen aus Komposition, Musiktheorie und Musikwissenschaft. Manfred Stahnke (Hrsg.): In: Musik und, Hrsg. Hanns-Werner Heister und Wolfgang Hochstein, Hamburg 2000, darin: 121 György Ligeti und Manfred Stahnke: Gespräch am 29. Mai 1993

References

External links

*https://vamh.de/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Stahnke, Manfred 1951 births Living people 20th-century German classical composers 21st-century German classical composers German musicologists Microtonal musicians German opera composers German male opera composers Musicians from Kiel 20th-century German composers 21st-century German composers 20th-century German male musicians 21st-century German male musicians