Helmut Zapf (born 4 March 1956) is a German composer.

Life

Born in ,

Thüringen Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

, Zapf studied

church music Church music is 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 music The onl ...

from 1974 until 1979 at the Kirchenmusikschulen

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...

(Thüringen) and the

Evangelische Hochschule für Kirchenmusik Halle The Evangelische Hochschule für Kirchenmusik Halle (Saale) is a university, specialised in music, in Halle an der Saale. It was established as the Evangelischen Kirchenmusikschule on 18 April 1926 by the consistory of the Evangelical Church of ...

. During this time Zapf took part in the Summer Courses for

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 ...

Gera Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...

(Thuringia). After graduating, he worked as Kantor at the city church in Eisenberg (Thuringia) from 1979 to 1982. Until the beginning of his with

Georg Katzer Georg Katzer (; 10 January 1935 – 7 May 2019) was a German composer and teacher. The last master student of Hanns Eisler, he composed music in many genres, including works for the stage. Katzer was one of the pioneers of electronic new music ...

at the

Akademie der Künste der DDR The Akademie der Künste der DDR was the central art academy of the German Democratic Republic (DDR). It existed under different names from 1950 to 1993. Then it merged with the "Akademie der Künste Berlin (West)" to become the Academy of Arts, ...

in Berlin (1982–1986), he wrote his first self-taught compositions, among others ''Singender Mann'' for solo flute, ''Brechungen I und II'' for flute and string trio, ''Klangetüde II'' for orchestra, ''Recitativ'' for oboe and string quartet. Since completing his

masterclass Yanka Industries, Inc., doing business as MasterClass, is an American online education subscription platform on which students can access tutorials and lectures pre-recorded by experts in various fields. The concept for MasterClass was conceiv ...

, Zapf has lived and worked as self employed composer in (

Panketal Panketal is a municipality in the district of Barnim, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 15 km northeast of Berlin (centre). History Panketal emerged in 2003 by merging the municipalities Zepernick and Schwanebeck. Since 1996, the popu ...

) near Berlin. He has been a member of the

Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts (german: Akademie der Künste) 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 fo ...

since 2015.

Work

Source: Orchestral * 1985/86: Wechselnd * 1986: Concertino * 1988: Venezianische Erinnerungen * 1989: Piece * 1992: Dreiklang III * 1992: Dreiklang V * 2008: Und wenn die Welt voll Teufel wär * 2009: Aufwind * 2010: Lasst uns Hütten bauen * 2015: Klangbäume * 2016: Eomeonie (Mutter/mother) * 2017: im Wind ertrunken (großer Epilog zu "windwärts") * 2017: windwärts Chamber music *2003: ''Trionfale II'' for trumpet in C, horn in F, trombone, tuba and 2 accordions *2003: ''Albedo IX'' for baglama, flute, clarinet, horn and piano *2004: ''Empty and silent'' for soprano, violin and guitar *2004: ''When winter comes'' for violin and guitar *2004: ''Odem'' for C-flute (Picc. Bssfl.), oboe (Engl. horn), clarinet in B (Bsskl.), tuba *2004: ''Odem II'' for accordion and piano *2005: ''Ein Mund voll Wind'' for mezzo-soprano, alto recorder, vibraphone (and timpani) and piano text after

Wolfgang Hilbig Wolfgang Hilbig (31 August 1941 2 June 2007) was a German writer and poet. Life Wolfgang Hilbig was born in Meuselwitz, Germany. His grandfather had emigrated from Biłgoraj (Congress Poland, Russian Empire) before the First World War. In 194 ...

, ''Geste'' *2005: ''Klangetüde III'' for violin, 4 baglamas and piano *2005: ''Rechenschaft'' for alto and oboe, text Wolfgang Hilbig *2006: ''Rechenschaft'' version for soprano and soprano saxophone *2006: ''Fragmente'' for clarinet in B and string trio *2007: ''Sand'' for chamber ensemble (fl.cl.sax.vl.va.vc.pn) *2008: ''Rechenschaft'' version for soprano and violoncello Chamber music with electronics *2006: ''Skeleton'' for clarinet in B-flat, accordion, double bass and live electronics. *2006: ''Brecht ab den Sang der Maschinen. Brecht auf!'' for chamber ensemble (fl.ob.piano.hr.vl.vc.cb.pn.perc.soprano) and CD-playback *2006: ''Das goldene Kalb'' for chamber ensemble (fl.ob.kl.tp.trb.vl.va.2vc.kb.2perc.pn.soprano) and CD-performance Percussion music *2006: ''Starres Gold – Weiße Stille'' for percussion quartet *2006: ''Randspiel'' for percussion solo and CD-player Organ music *2004: ''Ombre per Organo II'' (... so sind unsere Fröhlichkeiten ...) for organ and CD-playback *2004: ''Klangbeschreibungen II'' for organ solo Choral music *2004: ''Die sorgenvollen Gesichter'' 4–8 voices,

mixed choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

and solos ( S.A.T.B.), text: W.Hilbig *2007: ''Migration'' 4–8 voices mixed choir, alto saxophone and electronics, text:

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

Music for stage *2006: ''Das Goldene Kalb'', ballet for chamber ensemble (fl.ob.kl.trp.tb.akk.hf.pn.perc.perc.vl.va.vc.vc.cb.), Sopr. & Electronics – Libretto Dr. Ulrike Liedtke – premiere *2007: Neues Schlosstheater der Musikakademie Rheinsberg – ensemble mosaik berlin – direction: Arno Waschk Radio play music * 1988: Katja Oelmann: ''Steig der Stadt aufs Dach'' – Direction: (Hörspiel –

Rundfunk der DDR Rundfunk der DDR (, 'GDR Broadcasting'; from about 1948 to 1972 Deutscher Demokratischer Rundfunk, 'German Democratic Broadcasting') was the collective designation for radio broadcasting organized by the State Broadcasting Committee in the Germa ...

)

Awards

* 1986:

Hanns Eisler Prize The Hanns Eisler Prize was an East-German music award, named after the composer Hanns Eisler. It was awarded by Radio DDR – with advisory participation of the music section of the Akademie der Künste der DDR in Berlin (East) and the (VDK) – ...

Radio DDR Radio DDR 1 ( en, Radio GDR 1) was a radio channel produced and transmitted by Rundfunk der DDR, the radio broadcasting organization of East Germany (GDR). It had a mixed schedule of news and light entertainment, with the emphasis on events in the ...

II * 1989: Hans Stieber Prize * 1990: Prize of critics of the Music Criticism Commission of the for the GDR Music Days (for organum for percussion, harp and organ)''Preis der Kritik''. In ''

Neue Zeit ''Die Neue Zeit'' (German: "The New Times") was a German socialist theoretical journal of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) that was published from 1883 to 1923. Its headquarters was in Stuttgart, Germany. History and profile Founded ...

'', 6 March 1990, Jg. 46, edition , . * 1990: Diplom of the * 1993: Promotion prize of the

and Brandenburg * 1995: Guest of Honour of the

Villa Massimo Villa Massimo, short for Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo ( it, Accademia Tedesca Roma 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 Rom ...

Rome * 1999: Scholarship holder of the

Konrad Adenauer Foundation The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (german: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, KAS) is a German political party foundation associated with but independent of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The foundation's headquarters are located in Sank ...

* 2000: Work scholarship of the State of Lower Saxony at the * 2005: Working scholarship of the Akademie der Künste Berlin at the Villa Serpentara near Rome

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zapf, Helmut 20th-century German composers 20th-century classical composers Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin 1956 births Living people Musicians from Thuringia

Life

Work

Awards

Further reading

References

External links