Thomas Hertel (19519December 2024) was a German composer. He was head of

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

at the

Staatsschauspiel Dresden The Staatsschauspiel Dresden (State Playhouse Dresden) is a theatre in Dresden. It is maintained by the Free State of Saxony, hence its name. It consists of a main auditorium, the ' (play house), and a studio theatre, the '. It was created in 19 ...

from 1974 to 1982. In 1985, he left

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. He focused on musical-scenic projects, for example at the

Donaueschinger Musiktage The Donaueschingen Festival, or more precisely ''Donaueschingen Music Days'' (), is a three-day October event presenting new music in the town of the same name, where the Danube River starts, at the edge of the Black Forest in southern Germany. F ...

and the

Lucerne Festival Lucerne Festival is one of the leading international festivals in the world of classical music and presents a series of classical music festivals based in Lucerne, Switzerland. Founded in 1938 by Ernest Ansermet and Walter Schulthess, it curr ...

. He taught in

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 ...

Bochum Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federa ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. From 2002 to 2008 he was head of incidental music at the Schauspiel Leipzig.

Life and career

Hertel was born in

Bad Salzungen Bad Salzungen () is a town in Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wartburgkreis district. Geography Location Bad Salzungen is situated on the river Werra, east of Tiefenort and south of Eisenach. Divisions In July 2018 the form ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

, in 1951. After his ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

'' in the special branch for music in

Wernigerode Wernigerode () is a town in the Harz (district), district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the Wernigerode (district), district of Wernigerode. Its population was 32,181 in 2020. Wernigerode is located southwes ...

, Hertel studied

musicology 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, ...

in Halle from 1969 to 1973. Afterwards he was a master student for composition at the

Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts () 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 founded in 1696 by Elector F ...

, with

Siegfried Matthus Siegfried Matthus (13 April 1934 – 27 August 2021) was a German composer, conductor, and festival founder and manager. Some of his operas, such as ''Judith'', were premiered at the Komische Oper Berlin in East Berlin. In 1991, he founded the c ...

. Hertel was head of

at the

from 1974 to 1982. He worked as a freelance composer and head of the Young Composers Section in the Dresden Composers' Association. He composed two commissioned operas, ''Leonce and Lena'' and ''Till''. He received composition prizes in Halle and the Hans Stieber Prize of the Radio of East Germany. His compositions were promoted by two Leipzig music publishers Peters and . Travelling to

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 ...

and

IRCAM IRCAM (French: ''Ircam, '', English: Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music) is a French institute dedicated to the research of music and sound, especially in the fields of Avant-garde music, avant garde and Electroacoustic ...

in Paris was not granted to him. He was banned from working on and realising cross-genre projects. Hertel left East Germany in 1985 for artistic, cultural and political reasons; he devoted himself primarily to the realisation of musical-scenic projects, among them ''Cernunnos for 7 reed players, bulls and live electronics'' for the 1993

edition with the ; the opening installation for the 1996

''aus der erde durch den wind'' – a mobile open-air music for various wind, vocal and bell ensembles and the sound transport of natural sound samples, and in 1999 the cartoon opera ''Das Biest des Monsieur Racine'' after

Tomi Ungerer Jean-Thomas "Tomi" Ungerer (; 28 November 1931 – 9 February 2019) was a French artist and writer from Alsace (a French region on the French/German border). He published over 140 books ranging from children's books to adult works and from the f ...

commissioned by the

Theater Basel Theater Basel is the municipal theatre of the city of Basel, Switzerland, which is home to the city's opera and ballet companies. The theatre also presents plays and musicals in addition to operas and operettas. Because the theatre does not h ...

. In 1991, he received the Art Prize of the City of Munich for experimental theatre. He held teaching posts at music academies and drama schools among others in Hamburg, Bochum, Frankfurt and Munich. He realised numerous commissioned works, song recitals and theatre music for over 40 German-speaking theatres. He returned to Leipzig and was from 2002 to 2008 head of incidental music at the ; there he created the experimental musical-scenic series ''mund & knie 1–12'', for which he was awarded the Leipzig Theatre Prize in 2009. Hertel died in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

after a long illness, on 9 December 2024, at the age of 73.

Awards

* 1982: Hans Stieber Prize * 1982: Hanns Eisler Prize * 1991: Kunstpreis der Landeshauptstadt München * 2009: Leipziger Theaterpreis

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hertel, Thomas 1951 births 2024 deaths 20th-century German classical composers 21st-century German classical composers People from Bad Salzungen 20th-century German male musicians 21st-century German male musicians German male classical composers

Life and career

Awards

References

Further reading

External links