Theo Brandmüller (* 2 February 1948 in

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

; † 26 November 2012 in

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

) was 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 ...

contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

and

university Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

.''Komponist, Organist und Hochschullehrer: Theo Brandmüller ist tot''.
Neue Musikzeitung online, retrieved 28 November 2012.

Life

Brandmüller studied school and

church music Church music is a genre of 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 musi ...

as well as

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

with

Giselher Klebe Giselher Wolfgang Klebe (28 June 19255 October 2009) was a German composer, and an academic teacher. He composed more than 140 works, among them 14 operas, all based on literary works, eight symphonies, 15 solo concerts, chamber music, piano work ...

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century, he was also an ou ...

and

Cristóbal Halffter Cristóbal Halffter Jiménez-Encina (24 March 1930 – 23 May 2021) was a Spanish classical composer. He was the nephew of two other composers, Rodolfo and Ernesto Halffter, and is regarded as the most important Spanish composer of the gen ...

and instrumental theatre with

Mauricio Kagel Mauricio Raúl Kagel (; 24 December 1931 – 18 September 2008) was an Argentine-German composer and academic teacher. Life and career Early life and education Mauricio Raúl Kagel was born on 24 December 1931 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, into an ...

;Oxford Music Online
Theo Brandmüller article.
Retrieved 14 December 2012. he was accepted as a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

holder of the ''

Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes The German Academic Scholarship Foundation (German: , or ''Studienstiftung'' for short) is Germany's largest and most prestigious scholarship foundation. According to its statutes, it supports "the university education of young people who, on ac ...

''. After working as organist at St. George's in Mainz-Bretzenheim, he received a call to the '' Hochschule für Musik Saar'' in 1979.Boosey and Hawkes
Short biography and worklist.
Retrieved 14 December 2012. There he first worked as professor for

music theory 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 "Elements of music, ...

, then for composition, analysis and organ

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

. Later he was also director of the Institute for Contemporary Music. Since 1982 he has also been titular organist at the Ludwigskirche in Saarbrücken and since 1986 consiliarius of the ''Consociatio Internationalis Musicae Sacrae'' in Rome. He achieved his international breakthrough as a composer in 1977 at the World Music Days in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

with the work ''Ach, trauriger Mond'', a commissioned work for Südwestfunk. His compositional output, consisting of some 130 works, includes

secular music Non-religious secular music and Religious music, sacred music were the two main genres of Western world, Western music during the Middle Ages and Renaissance music, Renaissance era. The oldest written examples of secular music are songs with Lat ...

and

, chamber and

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 ...

as well as music for stage works and

symphonic A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning ...

compositions. An opera commissioned by the Saarland State Theatre remained unfinished. He found inspiration for his compositions in the

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

Christian Morgenstern Christian Otto Josef Wolfgang Morgenstern (6 May 1871 – 31 March 1914) was a German writer and poet from Munich. Morgenstern married Margareta Gosebruch von Liechtenstern on 7 March 1910. He worked for a while as a journalist in Berlin ...

and

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

, among others, as well as in the

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

s (such as

Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...

). In addition to his work as a

university 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 ...

, he was also active as a lecturer in various composition courses: he supervised the youth composition courses of the Jeunesses Musicales and taught at the "''Forum junger Komponisten''". He was also active internationally as a lecturer in organ composition and improvisation. In his worldwide organ concerts, Brandmüller preferred contemporary works and improvisations. He worked with internationally renowned conductors such as

Marcello Viotti Marcello Viotti (29 June 195416 February 2005) was a Swiss classical music conductor, best known for opera. Viotti was born in Vallorbe, in the French-speaking region of Switzerland, to Italian parents. He studied cello, piano and singing at th ...

, Max Pommer, Gabriel Chmura,

Leif Segerstam Leif Selim Segerstam ( , 2 March 1944 – 9 October 2024) was a Finnish conductor, composer, violinist, violist, and pianist, especially known for writing over 300 symphonies, along with other works. From 1963 onward Segerstam conducted a vari ...

and Peter Ruzicka.

Awards

* 1972: Prize for Composers of the State of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

* 1977: Composition Prize of the City of

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

* 1979: Rome Prize of the

Villa Massimo Villa Massimo, short for Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo (), is a German cultural institution in Rome, established in 1910 and located in the Villa Massimo. The fellowship of the German Academy in Rome, often referred to as the German Rome P ...

* 1986: Art Prize of the

Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...

* 1986: Prix Marzena,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

* 1998: Art Prize of

* 2005: Honorary Diploma of the ''Observatoire des Relations Franco-Allemandes pour la Construction Européenne'' * 2007: Guest of Honour of the Villa Massimo (Rome)

Works (selection)

Chamber music

* ''Musik der Stille und Obertöne'' (1972, rev. 1978) für for piano trio and percussion * ''Cis-Cantus II'' (1986) for viola, violoncello and double bass * ''Still und heiter'' (1991) for recorder (Sino.A.T.B) and percussion * ''Konzert auf dem E-Zweig'' (1991) (after a picture by Paul Klee) for viola solo (dedicated to Eckart Schloifer) * ''Imaginations'' (1991) for viola and chamber ensemble * ''Nirwana-Fax I – in memoriam John Cage'' (1996) for chamber ensemble * ''Nirwana-Fax II – in memoriam Olivier Messiaen'' (1996/97) for chamber ensemble * ''Nachtflug mit Messiaenfenster'' (2008) for piano quartet * ''Geheime Botschaften'' (2012) for clarinet quintet

Concert works

* ''Sonata a tre'' (1973) for flute, mezzo-soprano and violoncello * ''Apokalyptische Vision'' (1975) for bass voice and organ after words from the Holy Scriptures * ''Reminiszenzen'' (1975, rev. 1976) for orchestra * ''Ach, trauriger Mond'' (1977).. Lament for Federico García Lorca for percussion solo and strings * ''Morgenstern – Abendstern'' (1977). "Settings" of some evening poems by Christian Morgenstern for baritone, two pianos, tuba, double bass and percussion. * ''Wie Du unseren Vätern geschworen hast'' (1978). Cantata for alto voice, two trumpets, two trombones, organ after texts of the Holy Scripture * ''Dramma per Musica'' (1979/80) for large orchestra * ''Venezianische Schatten'' (1981). Epitaph to

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

for small orchestra * ''Konzert für Orgel und Orchester'' (1981) - Concerto for organ and orchestra * ''U(h)rtöne'' (1985) for large orchestra * ''Cis-Cantus III „Lorca-Kathedralen"'' (1987) for large orchestra * ''OrganuM–zart'' (1991). Orchestral fantasy on a Mozartian minor triad for clarinet, strings, percussion and organ * ''Und der Mond heftet ins Meer ein langes Horn aus Licht und Tanz'' (1992/93). 5 cosmic episodes for viola, violoncello, double bass and large orchestra (with tape) after text ideas by Federico García Lorca * ''Chimères'' (1996) for saxophone quartet and orchestra (with tape) * ''Antigone'' (1999) 3rd sound song for choir with soli, 2 pianos and percussion * ''Lass den Balkon geöffnet'' (2004/05). 5 Night Calls for orchestra

Stage music

* for ''Zwei zu Ross und einer auf dem Esel'' by

Oldřich Daněk Oldřich Daněk (January 16, 1927 – September 3, 2000) was a Czech dramatist, writer, director and screenwriter. After graduating from high school in Ostrava, he studied at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague ...

* for ''Die Bluthochzeit'' by

* for ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

* for ''Sir John und Goldjunge Heinz'' (freely based on The Merry Wives of Windsor) * for ''Katharina Knie'' by

Carl Zuckmayer Carl Zuckmayer (27 December 1896 – 18 January 1977) was a German writer and playwright. His older brother was the pedagogue, composer, conductor, and pianist Eduard Zuckmayer. His first two dramas were failures. In 1929, he wrote the script ...

* ''Löwe, leih mir deine Stimme. Luzifer-Monodram'' (1999–2000) after a poem by Johannes Kühn

Organ works

* ''Hommage à Pérotin'' (1978) for organ * ''La nuit de Pâques'' (1980). A Litany for Organ and Live Electronics * ''Innenlicht'' (1982) for organ * ''Sieben Stücke zur Passionszeit'' (1983) for organ * ''Enigma I'' (1989) for violin and organ * ''Monodie für I.'' in memoriam Isang Yun (1995) for organ * ''Drei Engel für Scelsi'' (2001) for three clarinets and organ * ''Norge'' (2007). Mountain resonances with shepherd calls for Organ

Pupils

His students include, among others: Manuel Gera (* 1963),

Zeynep Gedizlioğlu Zeynep Gedizlioğlu (born 4 December 1977) is a Turkish composer who won the Ernst von Siemens Composer Prize Award in 2012. Biography Zeynep Gedizlioğlu was born 4 December 1977 in İzmir and grew up in Istanbul. She has spent most of her life ...

(* 1977), Wolfram Graf (* 1965), Han Aseon (* 1963), Christian Klein (* 1967), Stefan Lindemann (* 1969), Karola Obermüller (* 1977), Javier Party (* 1980), Marc Schubring (* 1968), Wang Lin (王琳) (* 1976), Anton Steinecker (* 1971) and the organist Dan Zerfaß (* 1968), Hyeyoon Ahn(* 1980).

Literature

* Theo Brandmüller: ''Arrièregarde – Avantgarde. Texte zur Musik 1980–1998.'' (= ''Quellentexte zur Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts.'' Bd. 6.1.) Edited by Stefan Fricke, Wolfgang Frobenius, Sigrid Konrad and Friedrich Spangemacher. Pfau-Verlag, Saarbrücken 1998, ISBN 3-89727-006-4. * Joachim Dorfmüller: ''Impulse von Perotin bis Messiaen. Zum Schaffen Theo Brandmüllers für und mit Orgel.'' In: '' Musica Sacra.'' Regensburg 1980. Pages 316–318. * Jörg Abbing, Sigrid Konrad: ''Vingt Regards sur Theo. Komponist, Konzertorganist, Hochschullehrer.'' Pfau-Verlag, Saarbrücken 2013, ISBN 978-3-89727-496-9. * Friedrich Spangemacher: ''Creator, Spiritus, Musicus: Theo Brandmüller – eine Biographie.'' Pfau-Verlag, Saarbrücken 2013, ISBN 978-3-89727-497-6.

Discography

* ''Canzona lirica e danza di morte''. Reinbert Evers (guitar). CD Darbinghaus and Grimm 3292 * ''Cis-Cantus II. trio basso''. CD Koch-Schwann 310 041 * ''Enigma I''. Christiane Edinger (violin), Theo Brandmüller (organ). CD MDG 625 0551-2 * ''Enigma III „Ex oriente lux"''. Albert Schönberger (organ), Benedikt Sturm and Christopher Ludwig (boy sopranos of the Mainz Cathedral Choir), ''Mainzer Dombläser'', Direction: Mathias Breitschaft. CD "''Komponisten aus Rheinland-Pfalz''", Studio Tonmeister 10778-01 * ''"Und der Mond heftet ins Meer ein langes Horn aus Licht und Tanz ..."''. Contra-Trio, ''Radio-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken'', direction:

. CD MDG 625 0551-2

References

External links

Biografie und Werkliste
(biography and list of works) on breitkopf.com
Kurzbiografie und Werkliste
(short biography and list of works) on boosey.com German composers 1948 births 2012 deaths Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Saar 20th-century German musicians {{Germany-composer-stub