Hans Friedrich Micheelsen (9 June 1902 – 23 November 1973) 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 Defi ...
and
church musician
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
.
Micheelsen's composition instructors included
Paul Kickstat and
Paul Hindemith.
[Zöllner, S. (1999-2007.) Micheelsen, Hans Friedrich. In F. Blume and L. Finscher (eds.), ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'' (2nd edition, neuebearbeitete Ausg., 2:12, pp. 166-167 ). Bärenreiter.] Micheelsen wrote vocal and instrumental music, especially for organ. He primarily composed sacred music, though he did write some secular chamber music. His sacred music is similar to the
neo-Baroque music of other contemporary German organist-composers, such as
Helmut Walcha
Arthur Emil Helmut Walcha (27 October 1907 – 11 August 1991) was a German organist, harpsichordist, music teacher and composer who specialized in the works of the Dutch and German baroque masters.
Blind since his teenage years, he is known f ...
and
Hugo Distler. His style combined
contrapuntal
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
textures, melodies and harmonies drawn from the medieval
church modes, and the angular rhythms and meters of the 20th century. Many of his works, including five of his seven Orgelkonzerte (organ concertos), are based on
Lutheran chorales.
As a church musician, Micheelsen worked in
Brunsbüttel
Brunsbüttel () is a town in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany that lies at the mouth of the Elbe river, near the North Sea. It is the location of the western entrance to the Kiel Canal.
History
The earliest re ...
,
Berlin, and
Hamburg.
In addition to his work as an organist, Micheelsen also taught church music. Beginning in 1938, he directed the Kirchenmusikschule der Hamburgischen Landeskirche (Hamburg's regional church music school). When that school merged with the
Staatliche Hochschule für Musik (the public music college in Hamburg), Micheelsen became head of its church music department. He taught there until his retirement in 1962.
In 2002,
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...
produced an album,''18 Keyboard Studies by Hans Friedrich Micheelsen''.
Roger Eno recorded several of Micheelsen's preludes and short chorale-based works, which Brian then processed to create "a sort of analogy of the variety of organ stops."
[Eno, B. (2002). ]iner notes Iner or INER may refer to:
* Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, or INER
* Iner Souster
FemBots are a Canadian indie rock band from Toronto formed in 1998. FemBots are known for their unique sound of combining instrumental everyday items, junk ...
In R. Eno & B. Eno, ''18 Keyboard Studies By Hans Friedrich Micheelsen'' lbum Opal Records.
References
1902 births
1973 deaths
German composers
20th-century German musicians
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