Christian Münch (born 11 April 1951) is a German composer, organist, pianist and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

Life

Münch was born in

Freiberg Freiberg () is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany, with around 41,000 inhabitants. The city lies in the foreland of the Ore Mountains, in the Saxon urbanization axis, which runs along the northern edge of the Elster and ...

in 1951 in a

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...

's family. With his father he learned

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

and

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

. Since his childhood he received piano and

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

lessons at the music school in Freiberg. From 1971 to 1976 he studied

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an Originality, original piece or work of music, either Human voice, vocal or Musical instrument, instrumental, the musical form, structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new pie ...

with Manfred Weiss and Wilfried Krätzschmar,

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or Choir, 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 d ...

with Rudolf Neuhaus and piano with Günter Händel at the

Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber The Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber (or Dresden University of Music Carl Maria von Weber; also/formerly known as Dresden Conservatory or Dresden Royal Conservatory) is a university school of music, university of music in Dresden, ...

. From 1983 to 1985 he was with Georg Katzer 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 ...

. During this time he was engaged in

electroacoustic music Electroacoustic music is a Music genre, genre of Western art music in which composers use recording technology and audio signal processing to manipulate the timbres of Acoustics, acoustic sounds in the creation of pieces of music. It originated a ...

. Subsequently Münch worked as

répétiteur A (; from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. The feminine form is . Opera In opera, a is the person responsible for coaching singers ...

at the

Semperoper The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the Th ...

in Dresden. He conducted the Gruppe Neue Musik Hanns Eisler, the "musica-viva-ensemble dresden" and the "Ensemble für Neue Musik Berlin" as well as a guest conductor at the

Staatsoper Unter den Linden The Staatsoper Unter den Linden ( State Opera under the Lime Trees), also known as the Berlin State Opera (), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Pr ...

. Münch has conducted more than 100 world

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 ...

s. His compositions, including a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, have been performed by the

Dresden Philharmonic The Dresdner Philharmonie (Dresden Philharmonic) is a German symphony orchestra based in Dresden. Its principal concert venue is the '' Kulturpalast''. The orchestra also performs at the Kreuzkirche and the Frauenkirche Dresden. It receive ...

, the

Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden The Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden (), or Saxon State Orchestra Dresden, is one of the oldest orchestras in the world, created by order of Maurice, Elector of Saxony in 1548. Under communist East Germany and until 1992 it was called Staatskap ...

and the

Dresdner Kreuzchor The Dresdner Kreuzchor is the boys' choir of the Kreuzkirche in Dresden, Germany. It has a seven-century history and a world-wide reputation. Today, the choir has about 150 members between the ages of 9 and 19, from Dresden and the surroundin ...

, among others. Münch has taught at the Dresden Academy of Music since 1976 and was

honorary professor Honorary titles (professor, president, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as ...

there from 2002 to 2016. He taught performance practice of

Neue Musik Neue Musik (English ''new music'', French ''nouvelle musique'') is the collective term for a wealth of different currents in composed Western art music from around 1910 to the present. Its focus is on compositions of 20th century music. It is char ...

. In 2018 he donated his

Nachlass ''Nachlass'' (, older spelling ''Nachlaß'') is a German language, German word, used in academia to describe the collection of manuscripts, notes, correspondence, and so on left behind when a scholar dies. The word is a compound word, compound in ...

to the music department of

Saxon State and University Library Dresden The Saxon State and University Library Dresden (full name in ), abbreviated SLUB Dresden, is located in Dresden, Germany. It is both the regional library () for the Federal Republic of Germany, German State of Saxony as well as the academic libr ...

Awards

* Kritikerpreis der Stadt Berlin (1980) * Hanns-Eisler-Preis des Deutschlandsender Kultur (1990) * Kunstpreis der Hanna Johannes Arras Stiftung (2000)

Compositions

* Flüsterstück ''Briefe aus dem Gefängnis'' für Mezzosopran, Fl, Vla, Perk (1979) * Klaviervariationen (1980) * The weak power, (Ballet, 1982/86) * ''geträumt'' (1988) * ''In schöner Trägheit'' (1989) * ''Dakrion ... Dakrion'' (1992) * Canto LXXVL by

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

, (Oratorium, 1994) * Unschlüssig (conzert, 1999) * All things lovely (Choral music, 1999) * ''ein vliessende lieht miner gotheit'' für Solisten, Chor und Ensemble (2000) * ''Jemand'', Lieder nach

Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known w ...

für Soli, Chor und Orchester (Oratorium, 2001) * Gesang der Königin, Klaviertrio * Musik für die wiederaufgebaute Dresdner Frauenkirche "als Gabe" (2006) * ''glühend'' für Alt und Klavier (2007) * Gesänge und Harmonien (Kammermusik, 2007) * ''verstummen'' für 2 Vl, Vla, Vcl (2008) * ''durchtanzen'' für Frauen- und Männerstimmen (2009) * ''unmögliche Duos'' für Tenor, Pos, Vl, Vla, Vcl, Kb, Pn (2010) * ''Klangmoment'' für Orgel, Perk (2010) * ''die Hexe, die ich meine, lacht?'' für Sopran, 2 Vl, Vla, Vcl (2011) * ''niemandem'' für 2 Klaviere, Chor und großes Orchester (2011) * ''himmlisch'' für Celesta, Sopran solo und großes Orchester (2011) * ''huldvoll gnadenreich'' für Soli, Chor (SATB), Kinderchor, Pn, Org und kleines Orchester (2012) * ''es sind die Töne'' für Orgel (2013) * ''Flöte und Fellinstrumente'' für Fl, Perk (2018) * ''Flötenkonzert (vor der Verdunklung)'' für Fl solo, Trp, Hrn, Pos, Tb, 2 Vl, 2 Vla, 2 Vc, 2 Kb, Perk (2019) * ''Frauenstimme und Trommler'' für Sopran, Drumset (2019) * ''Traum'' (mit einem Text von Franz Kafka) für Kinder- oder Frauenchor, Pn, 2 Vl, 4 Perk (2019)

Literature

* Münch, Christian. In Wilfried W. Bruchhäuser: ''Komponisten der Gegenwart im Deutschen Komponisten-Interessenverband. Ein Handbuch.'' 4th edition, Deutscher Komponisten-Interessenverband, Berlin 1995, , . * Christoph Sramek: ''Münch, Christian.'' In ''Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online.'' 20 August 2012. * Christoph Sramek: ''Christian Münch''. In ''

Komponisten der Gegenwart The ''Komponisten der Gegenwart'' (KDG) is a music encyclopedia in the German language about composers of the 20th and 21st century. It is a looseleaf service with information on currently about 900 composers. Editors Hanns-Werner Heister and Wa ...

'' (KDG). Edition Text & Kritik, Munich 1996, . * Christoph Sramek: ''Münch, Christian''. In

Ludwig Finscher Ludwig Finscher (14 March 193030 June 2020) was a German musicologist. He was a professor of music history at the University of Heidelberg from 1981 to 1995 and editor of the encyclopedia '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart''. He is respect ...

(ed.) ''

Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'' (''MGG''; "Music in the Past and Present") is a German music encyclopedia. It is among the world's most comprehensive encyclopedias of music history and musicology, on account of its scope, content, wealth ...

'' (MGG). Supplement, Bärenreiter, Kassel Saur Verlag, Munich 2006, , . * Über Münch-Aufführungen des Dresdner Kreuzchores, in Matthias Herrmann">K. G. Saur Verlag">Saur Verlag, Munich 2006, , . * Über Münch-Aufführungen des Dresdner Kreuzchores, in Matthias Herrmann (ed.): ''Dresdner Kreuzchor und zeitgenössische Chormusik. Ur- und Erstaufführungen zwischen Richter und Kreile''.''Dresdner Kreuzchor und zeitgenössische Chormusik : Ur- und Erstaufführungen zwischen Richter und Kreile''
on WorldCat Marburg 2017, (writings of the Dresdner Kreuzchor, vol. 2)

References

External links

*
Christian Münch
im Archiv Zeitgenössischer Komponisten der Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden
Kompositionen von Christian Münch
im Répertoire International des Sources Musicales, Internationalen Quellenlexikon der Musik (RISM)
Christian Münch on Munzinger

Christian Münch
on Kalliope {{DEFAULTSORT:Munch, Christian German conductors (music) 20th-century German classical composers German ballet composers 1951 births Living people Musicians from Freiberg