Hans Thomalla (born 1975) is a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
composer, who has resided in the United States since 2002.
Career
Hans Thomalla was born in
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...
, and studied composition at the
Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts
The Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (german: Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main, italic=no, link=no, HfMDK) is a state Hochschule for music, theatre and dance in Frankfurt and is the only one of its k ...
, Germany, from 1994 to 1999. From 1999 until 2002 he was assistant dramaturg at the
Staatsoper Stuttgart
The Staatsoper Stuttgart (Stuttgart State Opera) is a German opera company based in Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The Staatsorchester Stuttgart serves as its resident orchestra.
History
Performances of operas, ballet and ...
(production dramaturg for
Helmut Lachenmann
Helmut Friedrich Lachenmann (born 27 November 1935) is a German composer of contemporary classical music. His work has been associated with "instrumental musique concrète".
Life and works
Lachenmann was born in Stuttgart and after the end of ...
''Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern'' et al.). This was followed by graduate studies at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
(California) with
Brian Ferneyhough
Brian John Peter Ferneyhough (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer. Ferneyhough is typically considered the central figure of the New Complexity movement. Ferneyhough has taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and ...
from 2002 until 2007. Since 2007 he is Associate Professor of Composition at
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
in Chicago, where he also directs the Institute for New Music.
Thomalla's compositions are featured at international festivals and institutions including
Donaueschingen Festival
The Donaueschingen Festival (german: Donaueschinger Musiktage, links=no) is a festival for new music that takes place every October in the small town of Donaueschingen in south-western Germany. Founded in 1921, it is considered the oldest festiva ...
,
Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival
The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (also known by the acronym HCMF, stylised since 2006 as the lowercase hcmf//) is a new music festival held annually in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Since its foundation in 1978, it has featured ...
, Eclat-Festival Stuttgart,
Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik
The Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik (Witten Days for New Chamber Music) is a music festival for contemporary chamber music, jointly organised by the town Witten in the Ruhr Area and the broadcasting station Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). The con ...
, Festival d'Automne at Paris,
Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
. Ensembles performing his works include
ensemble recherche
The ensemble recherche is a German classical music ensemble of nine soloists, especially dedicated to contemporary music. Founded in Freiburg im Breisgau in 1985, they premiered some 500 works. They were awarded the Schneider-Schott Music Prize ...
,
Trio Accanto
Trio Accanto is a contemporary piano trio formed of Marcus Weiss (saxophone), Nicolas Hodges (piano) and Christian Dierstein (percussion). It is based in Freiburg, Germany.
History
Trio Accanto was formed as the result of a discussion between Ma ...
, Ensemble Ascolta,
Ensemble musikFabrik
The Ensemble Musikfabrik (music factory ensemble) is an ensemble for contemporary classical music located in Cologne. Their official name is Ensemble Musikfabrik Landesensemble NRW e.V. (Ensemble Musikfabrik of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia ...
,
Arditti Quartet
The Arditti Quartet is a string quartet founded in 1974 and led by the British violinist Irvine Arditti. The quartet is a globally recognized promoter of contemporary classical music and has a reputation for having a very wide repertoire. T ...
, Spektral Quartet,
Ensemble Modern
Ensemble Modern is an international ensemble dedicated to performing and promoting the music of modern composers. Formed in 1980, the group is based in Frankfurt, Germany, and made up variously of about twenty members from numerous countries.
Hi ...
and the
Munich Philharmonic
The Munich Philharmonic (german: Münchner Philharmoniker, links=no) is a German symphony orchestra located in the city of Munich. It is one of Munich's four principal orchestras, along with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Rad ...
. His opera ''Fremd'' was premiered at the main stage of the Stuttgart Opera in July 2011.
Awards
* 2004: Kranichsteiner Musikpreis
* 2006: Christoph Delz Preis
* 2006–2007: Fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center
* 2009: CIRA Grant (Collaborative Initiatives for Research in the Arts) at Northwestern University
* 2011:
Composers' Prize of the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung
* 2013: Faculty Research Grant at Northwestern University
* 2014–2015: Fellow at the
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
The Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin (german: Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin) is an interdisciplinary institute founded in 1981 in Grunewald, Berlin, Germany, dedicated to research projects in the natural and social sciences. It is modeled ...
* 2017:
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation: Hans Thomalla
Retrieved 11 April 2017.
Selected works
Solo instrument
* ''Cello Counterpart'' for violoncello solo (2006)
* ''Piano Counterpart'' for piano (2008)
* ''Percussion Counterpart''. Rhapsody for four reverberating sound-objects (2009)
* ''Ballade.Rauschen'' for piano (2014)
Chamber music
* ''wild.thing'' for amplified piano and two percussionist (2002–2003)
* ''Momentsmusicaux'' for five instruments (2003–2004)
* ''noema'' for two prepared pianos (2004)
* ''Stücke Charakter'' for six instruments (2005)
* ''Lied'' for tenor saxophone, vibraphone and piano (2007–2008)
* ''Albumblatt'' for string quartet (2010)
* ''Albumblatt II'' for saxophone quartet (2011)
* ''Wonderblock'' for ensemble (trumpet, trombone, electric guitar, piano, 2 percussionists, violoncello) (2012–2013)
* ''Fracking'' for saxophone and string trio (2013)
* ''Bagatellen'' for string quartet (2015)
Ensemble / orchestra
* ''Ausruff'' for chamber orchestra or large ensemble (2007)
* ''The Brightest Form of Absence''. Multimedia Composition (Video: William Lamson) for soprano, ensemble, live-electronics, and video (2011)
* ''Flüchtig''. Intermezzo for string orchestra (and guitar and percussion) (2011)
* ''Ballade'' for piano and orchestra (2016)
Vocal music
* ''I come near you'' for choir and ensemble (2016)
Opera
* ''Fremd''. Opera in three scenes, one intermezzo, and one epilogue for soprano, choir, orchestra, and live-electronics (2005–2011)
* ''Kaspar Hauser''. Opera in three acts for countertenor (Kaspar Hauser), 8 singers, orchestra, and sound director (2013–2015)
Discography
* ''Fremd. Opera in three scenes, one intermezzo, and one epilogue by Hans Thomalla'', Recording: Staatsoper Stuttgart. col legno 2012 (WWE 2SACD 40403)
* ''Hans Thomalla: Momentmusiceaux / wild.thing / Cello Counterpart / Stücke Charakter'', WERGO
WERGO is a German record label focusing on contemporary classical music. It was founded in 1962 by German art historian and music publisher (1903–1975) and the musicologist Helmut Kirchmeyer. Their first release, filed under "WER 60001", was S ...
2008 (WER 6571 2)
* ''The Brightest Form of Absence. Multimedia Composition for soprano, ensemble, live-electronics, and video'', ''Donaueschinger Musiktage 2011'', NEOS 2012 (NEOS 11214-16)
* ''Ausruff'' for chamber orchestra, ''Donaueschinger Musiktage 2007'', Vol. 2, NEOS 2008 (NEOS 10825)
* ''Lied'', "Songs and Poems", Trio Accanto, WERGO (forthcoming)
Bibliography
* Kunkel, Michael. 2009. "Ist 'Widerstand' heute eine musikalische Kategorie? Einige Standpunkte", ''Dissonanz'' 105, pp.4–11
* Thomalla, Hans. 2006. "Aspekte Analytischen Komponierens", ''Komponieren in der Gegenwart. Texte der 42. Internationalen Ferienkurse für Neue Musik 2004'', edited by Jörn Peter Hiekel
Jörn Peter Hiekel (born 1963) is a German musicologist.
Life
Born in Göttingen, Hiekel first studied musicology, art history and history at the universities of Cologne and Bonn before he completed his double bass studies at the Musikhochschule ...
, Saarbrücken: Pfau, , pp.96–112
* Thomalla, Hans. 2008. "Counterparts", ''Facets of the Second Modernity'', edited by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Frank Cox, Wolfram Schurig, Hofheim: Wolke, , pp.229–241
* Thomalla, Hans. 2010. "'An den Rand des Augenblicks.' Komponieren als Schaffung von Gegenwart", ''Vorzeitbelebung. Vergangenheits- und Gegenwarts-Reflexionen in der Musik heute'', edited by Jörn Peter Hiekel, Hofheim: Wolke, , pp.71–82
* Thomalla, Hans. 2011. "Bedeutungsspuren – Widersprüche im zeitgenössischen Musiktheater", ''Die Kunst der Dramaturgie. Ein Handbuch'', edited by Anke Roeder and Klaus Zehelein, Leipzig: Henschel, , pp.58–70
References
External links
*
*
Publisher's website
Hans Thomalla at Edition Juliane Klein
"A Horizon from Hendrix to Chopin – Hans Thomalla"
by Björn Gottstein, Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung website
a chronicle of the genesis of Hans Thomalla's opera ''Kaspar Hauser'', premiered April 2016 at Theater Freiburg
Theater Freiburg is a theatre in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Freiburg Theatre, sometimes also referred to as Stadttheater Freiburg (Freiburg municipal theatre), formerly Städtische Bühnen (Municipal Stages) Freiburg, is the oldest and bigg ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomalla, Hans
1975 births
Living people
Musicians from Bonn
German opera composers
Male opera composers
21st-century classical composers
German male classical composers
Stanford University alumni
Northwestern University faculty
Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts alumni
Ernst von Siemens Composers' Prize winners
21st-century German composers
21st-century German male musicians