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 1949 she studied music theory with

Johann Nepomuk David Johann Nepomuk David (30 November 1895 – 22 December 1977) was an Austrian composer. Life and career David was born in Eferding. He was a choirboy in the monastery of Sankt Florian and studied at an episcopal teacher training college in Linz, ...

and Wilhelm Weismann,

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 on ...

and organ with

Karl Straube Montgomery Rufus Karl Siegfried Straube (6 January 1873 – 27 April 1950) was a German church musician, organist, and choral conductor, famous above all for championing the abundant organ music of Max Reger. Career Born in Berlin, Straube stu ...

and

Günther Ramin Günther Werner Hans Ramin (15 October 1898 – 27 February 1956) was an influential German organist, conductor, composer and pedagogue in the first half of the 20th century. Ramin, the son of a pastor, was born in Karlsruhe, Germany. At the ag ...

and piano with Rudolf Fischer and

Anton Rohden Anton may refer to: People *Anton (given name), including a list of people with the given name *Anton (surname) Places *Anton Municipality, Bulgaria **Anton, Sofia Province, a village *Antón District, Panama **Antón, a town and capital of th ...

at the Music Academy in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. After she completed the state exam, she worked at the academy for a year as a lecturer and also worked as a deputy organist at the Nikolai Church in Leipzig. In 1951 she married pianist

Dieter Zechlin Dieter Zechlin (30 October 1926 – 16 March 2012) was a German pianist. He was one of East Germany's most prominent pianists throughout the 1950-80s. In 1959 he received the Art Prize of the GDR and in 1961 the National Prize of the GDR. Ze ...

, and the marriage lasted until 1972 when the couple divorced. Zechlin gained lectureship in music theory at the German College of Music in Berlin in 1969, where she taught

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a ...

and studied harmony, counterpoint, form, orchestration and composition. After 1970 she was professor of composition at the Academy of Arts and taught a master class in composition. After her retirement in 1986, Zechlin continued teaching as a visiting professor. Beginning in 1990, she was a member of the DDR

Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts (german: Akademie der Künste) is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The Academy's predecessor organization was fo ...

and served as vice president of that organization. From 1997 she was a member of the Free Academy of the Arts of

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

, and in 1998 became an honorary member of the German Music Council. Zechlin composed works for instrumental and vocal performance and stage works, as well as music for radio plays, documentaries and TV movies. She was an active conductor, harpsichordist and organist, and received numerous awards for her work. Her students included Gerd Domhardt, Thomas Böttger and

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 ...

Death

Ruth Zechlin died in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

in 2007, aged 81, and her estate is owned by the State Library in Berlin.

Awards

*1955: Silver Medal at the World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow for the Sonatine for flute and piano *1962

Goethe Prize The Goethe Prize of the City of Frankfurt (german: Goethe-Preis der Stadt Frankfurt am Main, links=no) is an award for achievement "worthy of honour in memory of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" made by the city of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was u ...

of the City of Berlin *1965: Prize of the GDR *1968:

Hanns Eisler Prize The Hanns Eisler Prize was an East-German music award, named after the composer Hanns Eisler. It was awarded by Radio DDR – with advisory participation of the music section of the Akademie der Künste der DDR in Berlin (East) and the (VDK) � ...

for "Reflections on a piano piece by Prokofiev for piano and chamber ensemble" *1968: Critics Award of the City of Berlin for ''Reineke Fuchs'', opera for actors *1975: National Prize of

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

for Organ I *1982: National Prize of East Germany for the orchestral works *1996 Artist Award of the City of Heidelberg *1997: Merit, 1st Class of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany *2001:

Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art The Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art (german: Bayerischer Maximiliansorden für Wissenschaft und Kunst, links=no) was first established on 28 November 1853 by King Maximilian II von Bayern. It is awarded to acknowledge and reward exc ...

Works

*''Reineke Fuchs'', Opera (1968) *''La Vita'', Ballet (1985) *''Die Reise'', Chamber Opera (1992, premiered 1998) *''In Memorian Witold Lutosławski'' for viola solo (1995) *''Music for Orchestra'' (1980) *''Requiem for G. Domhardt'' for orchestra (1998) *''Three Songs on Texts of Hildegard of Bingen'' (chamber music) (1998)

References

External links

Ruth Zechlin
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Zechlin, Ruth 1926 births 2007 deaths People from Mittelsachsen National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany) politicians Christian Democratic Union (East Germany) politicians German classical pianists German women pianists Women classical composers German opera composers 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century German composers 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers 21st-century German composers Women opera composers Academic staff of the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Medal of Merit of the GDR 20th-century women composers 21st-century women composers 20th-century German women 21st-century German women 20th-century women pianists 21st-century women pianists