Peter Förtig (15 March 1934 – 12 April 2024) was a German composer and

music theorist Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the " rudiments", that ...

Life and career

Born in

Pforzheim Pforzheim () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany. It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the ...

, Förtig received his first piano lessons at the age of eight with Hedwig Fuchs and from the age of 11 onwards he received lessons in piano and music theory from Georg Mantel and Heinrich Casimir in Karlsruhe. He made his first public appearances at the age of ten, during which time he wrote his first compositions. 1951 saw the

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 ...

of a composition for the Southwest German Chamber Orchestra Pforzheim; in the same concert he appeared as soloist in Beethoven's first piano concerto in C major. After graduating from the Reuchlin Gymnasium in Pforzheim, he studied from 1953 to 1955 at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe, where Josef Schelb was his piano and composition teacher. Afterwards he worked as a freelance pianist for two years. In 1957 he continued his studies at the Freiburg Music Academy, where Carl Seemann (piano) and

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 ...

(composition) were his teachers. In 1961 he became a lecturer, later a

docent The term "docent" is derived from the Latin word , which is the third-person plural present active indicative of ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualifi ...

and from 1969 until his retirement professor for music theory at the University of Music in Freiburg. There he largely restructured the teaching of theory. From 1965 to 1967 he completed supplementary composition studies with

Klaus Huber Klaus Huber (30 November 1924 – 2 October 2017) was a Swiss composer and academic based in Basel and Freiburg. Among his students were Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Jarrell, Younghi Pagh-Paan, Toshio Hosokawa, Wolfgang Rihm, and Kaija Saaria ...

at the Basel Academy of Music. In 1966 Förtig received the Reinhold-Schneider-Preis (Promotion Prize), Culture Prize of the City of Freiburg, in Breisgau. Förtig also received the composition prize for an organ work in Nuremberg. His oeuvre, which now comprises 105 works, includes

song cycle A song cycle () is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in sequence, as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarely a combinat ...

s with piano or ensemble, choral music with and without instrumental accompaniment, as well as large-scale works for orchestra, choir and soloists, including concertos, and organ music. Förtig died on 12 April 2024, at the age of 90.

Awards

* 1966: Reinhold-Schneider-Preis of the city of Freiburg for Music * 1969: Prize winner for the composition "Stationes" at the organ composition competition of the .

Compositions

* ''Ave verum Corpus, für sechs- bis achtstimmigen gemischten Chor und acht Blasinstrumente''. * ''Und Setze meine bogen in die Wolken : Zyklus für Orgel ; Nunc dimittis''. * ''Handbuch Klinische Studien : ein Ratgeber für Ärzte und Studienschwestern (Study nurses) ; mit 5 Tabellen''. * ''Musica : scientia et ars : eine Festgabe für Peter Förtig zum 60. Geburtstag''. * List of 11 compositions in the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; ) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to collect, permanently archive, comprehens ...

.List of 11 compositions
in the

References

External links

*
Website of Peter Förtig
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortig, Peter 1934 births 2024 deaths German music theorists 20th-century German classical composers 21st-century German classical composers People from Pforzheim