Siegfried Behrend (19 November 1933 – 20 September 1990) was a German classical

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

and

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 Defi ...

Biography

Behrend was born in Berlin. He studied piano,

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 keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duti ...

and composition at the

Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory The Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory (german: Klindworth-Scharwenka-Konservatorium) was a music institute in Berlin, established in 1893, which for decades (until 1960) was one of the most internationally renowned schools of music. It was formed f ...

in Berlin and taught himself

classical guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...

. In 1953, he gave the first German performance of Rodrigo's '' Concierto de Aranjuez''. At the age of 30 he already was a world-renowned artist with this instrument, playing for the Shah of Persia, the Emperor of Japan and

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...

in Cairo. In 1962, he met singer

Belina Belina (before 1948 ''Beňa, Biena''; hu, Béna) is a village and municipality in the Lučenec District in the Banská Bystrica Region of Slovakia. History In historical records, the village was first mentioned in 1371 (''Bezin''). The terri ...

during the making of a TV Show and they endeavoured to create some musical projects together. With their chansons, folk songs and Yiddish songs, they became highly respected and well-known representatives of German culture in the aftermath of World War II. They performed in more than 120 countries and were regular guests on German television and talkshows. In these years, they recorded several LP albums. In the 1970s Behrend married the German actress Claudia Brodzinska, also a singer. In performances with her, Behrend focused more on contemporary art music. Behrend was also renowned as a teacher for classical guitar. Martin Maria Krüger began studying the instrument with Behrend. In later years, Behrend and Krüger became famous as 'The German Guitar Duo'. In the 1970s, Behrend gave several "International Masterclasses for Artistic Guitar Play" which were attended by individuals such as Michael Tröster and Manuel Negwer. Behrend was (co-)editor of several books aimed at a professional audience, including ''Volkslieder aus aller Welt'' (Folk Songs from the World) and ''Gitarrenstunden für Kinder'' (Guitar Lessons for Children). Together with Konrad Wölki, Herman Ambrosius,

Heinrich Konietzny Heinrich Josef Konietzny (born 7 May 1910 in Gliwice; died 23 April 1983 in Saarbrücken-Dudweiler) was a German musician, professor and composer. Life Heinrich Konietzny was born as the son of a Prussian Silesian military officer and socialis ...

and others, Behrend was one of the leading proponents in the development of

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

and

plucked string Plucked string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by plucking the strings. Plucking is a way of pulling and releasing the string in such a way as to give it an impulse that causes the string to vibrate. Pluckin ...

music towards higher quality and enhanced expressivity in Germany after the war. Apart from many arrangements of baroque and folk music for plucked string instruments, Behrend focused on contemporary music. He conducted many premieres of works of Anestis Logothetis,

, Klaus Hashagen, Dietrich Erdmann, Friedrich Gaitis and others. In the years 1960 to 1973, Behrend was conductor of the Saarland Plucked String Orchestra – at that time the leading Plucked String Orchestra in Germany. From 1968 to 1990, he conducted the newly founded German Plucked String Orchestra. As a performer with an interest in the contemporary avant-garde, Behrend encouraged a number of composers to write works for the guitar. These included Xavier Benguerel (born 1931),

Brian Boydell Brian Patrick Boydell (17 March 1917 – 8 November 2000) was an Irish composer whose works include orchestral pieces, chamber music, and songs. He was Professor of Music at Trinity College Dublin for 20 years, founder of the Dowland Consort, con ...

(1917–2000), Sylvano Bussotti (born 1931), Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895–1968), Tomás Marco (born 1942), Isang Yun (1917–1995), and Thea Musgrave (born 1928). Behrend died in Hausham, aged 56.

Discography (selection)

* Belina – Behrend 24 SONGS AND ONE GUITAR (Columbia) * Belina and Siegfried Behrend MUSIC AROUND THE WORLD (Columbia) * Yiddish Songs ''Es brennt'' (Columbia) * Eviva la Guitarra – Siegfried Behrend und seine spanische Gitarre (BASF) * Requiem auf Hiroshima (Thorofon) * Galleria Gitarrenkonzert (Deutsche Grammophon) * Siegfried Behrend in Memoriam (Thorofon) * Boccherini, Schnabel: Gitarrenquintette - Siegfried Behrend, Zagreb String Quartet (Da Camera, Sastruphu, SM 93606, 1973) * Vivaldi: Concerti for Mandolin and Other Favorites - The German String Orchestra, Siegfried Behrend (CBS 35878)

Bibliography

*Helmut Richter: ''Siegfried Behrend 1933–1990 – Stationen.'' Publisher: Karl Maria Laufen, Oberhausen 2000, . *Maren Trekel: ''Siegfried Behrend: Ein Leben für die Gitarre, die Zupforchester und deren Musik'' (Siegfried Behrend: A life for the guitar, plucked string orchestras and their music). Diploma thesis. Published by: Trekel, Hamburg (Germany) 2000. 82 pages.

References

External links

*
Siegfried Behrend's official homepage, including audio and video

A complete list of compositions
by Helmut Richter, in German *

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Behrend, Siegfried 1933 births 1990 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century German composers Composers for the classical guitar German classical composers German male classical composers German classical guitarists German male guitarists Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory alumni 20th-century guitarists 20th-century German male musicians Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany