Thomas Walter Buchholz (born 27 August 1961) is a German composer and

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do original ...

Life

Buchholz was born in 1961 in Eisenach as the son of the oratorio singer and vocal pedagogue Kurt Wichmann and the concert pianist and music teacher Jutta Buchholz ''née'' Gensty. His father was editor of the vocal school of

Pier Francesco Tosi Pier Francesco Tosi (c. 16531732) was a castrato singer, composer, and writer on music. His ''Opinoni de' cantori antichi e moderni...'' was the first full-length treatise on singing and provides a unique glimpse into the technical and social asp ...

. Buchholz went to school in Eisenach and from the age of six years he received lessons in singing, piano, organ and

music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

at the ''Eisenacher Musikschule''. Afterwards he trained as a piano maker at the Pianofortefabrik in Leipzig. Afterwards he worked as

piano tuner Piano tuning is the act of adjusting the tension of the strings of an acoustic piano so that the musical intervals between strings are in tune. The meaning of the term 'in tune', in the context of piano tuning, is not simply a particular fixed ...

in Eisenach and as musical instrument restorer at the

Michaelstein Abbey Michaelstein Abbey (Kloster Michaelstein) is a former Cistercian monastery, now the home of the ''Stiftung Kloster Michaelstein - Musikinstitut für Aufführungspraxis'' ("Michaelstein Abbey Foundation - Music Institute for Performance"), near th ...

in Blankenburg. From 1983 to 1988 Buchholz studied singing with Rudi Ploß,

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...

with

Günter Neubert Günter Neubert (born 11 March 1936) is a German composer and tonmeister. Life Born in Crimmitschau, Saxony, after his Abitur at a secondary school in Crimmitschau in 1954, Neubert studied school music at the University of Music and Theatre ...

and

music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

with Hans-Georg Mehlhorn at the

University of Music and Theatre Leipzig The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...

. From 1988 to 1992 he was for composition with

Ruth Zechlin Ruth Zechlin (22 June 1926 – 4 August 2007) was a German composer. Life Ruth Oschatz was born in Grosshartmannsdorf, where she began piano lessons at the age of five years, and wrote her first composition at the age of seven. From 1943 to 1 ...

at 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 ...

. He also took composition courses with

Rudolf Kelterborn Rudolf Kelterborn (3 September 1931 – 24 March 2021) was a Swiss musician and composer. Life Born in Basel, Kelterborn studied in Basel, Detmold, Salzburg, and Zürich, among other places, with the composers Walther Geiser, Willy Burkhard, Bor ...

Witold Lutosławski Witold Roman Lutosławski (; 25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szyman ...

and

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

. From 1988 to 1992 he was assistant for

at the

Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

. He taught

instrumentation Instrumentation a collective term for measuring instruments that are used for indicating, measuring and recording physical quantities. The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific instrument-making. Instrumentation can refer to ...

counterpoint 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 ...

and

new music New music may refer to: Musical styles and movements Pre-20th century * Ars nova, musical style in 14th-century France and the Low Countries * '' Le nuove musiche'', collection of monody by Giulio Caccini * New German School, music style in late 1 ...

. From 1993 to 1995 he was

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

at the Heinrich Schütz House, Bad Köstritz. There he did research on

Georg Benda Georg Anton Benda ( cz, Jiří Antonín Benda, italic=no, link=no; 30 June 17226 November 1795) was a composer, violinist and Kapellmeister of the classical period from the Kingdom of Bohemia. Biography Born into a family of notable musicians ...

and historical music. Afterwards he worked at the

Handel House Handel House (German: ''Händel-Haus'') is a cultural site in Halle in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The composer George Frideric Handel was born here in 1685; it is now a museum, and houses a collection relating to the composer and to the musical hi ...

in Halle until 1999 and was engaged in regional music history. In the same year he was appointed

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

for composition at the

Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan ( hy, Երևանի Կոմիտասի անվան պետական կոնսերվատորիա), also known as Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory (YKSC) or Yerevan State Conservatory (YSC), is a state-owned colleg ...

in Armenia. He has also taught Ensemble conducting at the Leipzig Musikhochschule and at the ''BIP-Kreativitätszentrum'' in Leipzig and teaches in the composer class of Saxony/Anhalt. From 2011 to 2018 he was choir and orchestra conductor and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

for music theory at the free in Halle. Since 2018 he has been working as a pedagogical assistant at the IWK Institute for Further Education in Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1996 Buchholtz has been chairman of the ''Landesverband Sachsen-Anhalt Deutscher Komponisten'' (LVDK). From 1999 to 2003 he was also president of the ''Ständigen Konferenz Zeitgenössische Musik in Mitteldeutschland''. Buchholz is a member of the board of the German Composers' Association (DKV) Saxony/Saxony-Anhalt. Furthermore, he was artistic director of the Hallische Musiktage from 1996 to 2012. From 2010 to 2014 Buchholz was head of the jury of the International Komitas Festival at . He was also a jury member at the composition competition for the , Hans-Stieber Prize, International Guitar Competition Berlin and the ''Composition Prize of the City of Leipzig''. His approximately 170 works (published by

Schott Music Schott Music () is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe, and is the second oldest music publisher after Breitkopf & Härtel. The company headquarters of Schott Music were fou ...

and Verlag Neue Musik in Berlin) have been performed in 16 European countries, Japan and the USA. He has made CD and radio recordings, also as harpsichordist and organist. He has worked with Reinbert Evers,

Howard Arman Howard Arman (born 1954 in London) is an English choral conductor and opera director. He won the Handel Prize of the Handel Festival, Halle, in 1996, shaped the festival's orchestra and conducted operas of George Frideric Handel. He is a condu ...

, Thomas Blumenthal,

Matthias Sannemüller Matthias Sannemüller (born 2 September 1951) is a German violist. Life Born in Leipzig, Sannemüller was born in 1951 as son of the concertmaster Horst Sannemüller and the opera singer Philine Fischer. In his youth he learned piano and violin ...

, John Holloway,

Thomas Müller Thomas Müller (; born 13 September 1989) is a German professional footballer who plays for club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. A versatile player, Müller has been deployed in a variety of attacking roles – as an attacking m ...

Georg Christoph Biller Georg Christoph Biller (20 September 1955 – 27 January 2022) was a German choral conductor. He conducted the Thomanerchor as the sixteenth Thomaskantor since Johann Sebastian Bach from 1992 to 2015. He was also a baritone, an academic teacher, ...

, Christfried Brödel, Clemens Flämig,

Martin Schmeding Martin Schmeding (born 1975) is a German church musician, concert organist and academic teacher, who has made recordings of the complete organ works by composers such as Brahms, Mendelssohn, Franz Schmidt, Max Reger and Tilo Medek. Career Bo ...

and

Carin Levine Carin Levine is an American classical flautist. Life Levine studied at the University of Cincinnati with Jack Wellbaum (flute) and Peter Kamnitzer (chamber music), then from 1974 at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg with Aurèle Nicolet (flut ...

. Buchholz gave

workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...

s on new music in

Ufa Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya and Ufa rivers, in the centre-north of Bashkortostan, on hills forming the ...

, Yerevan, Bern, Brno, Vilnius, Riga, Prague and

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Work

Since his youth, Buchholz has been occupied with ''

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 ...

''. These include his compositions ''Eruption'' (1990/91), ''String Quartet'' (1988) and ''Two Rhapsodies'' (1990). In his first chamber symphony ''Eruption'', he included

sonoristic Sonorism (Polish: ''Sonoryzm'') is an approach to musical composition associated with a number of notable Polish composers. The scholar Józef Michał Chomiński coined the term "sonoristics" (Polish: ''sonorystyka'') to describe the urge to explor ...

and

pointillistic Pointillism (, ) is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term "Pointillism" wa ...

elements. Later he used styles of

renaissance music Renaissance music is traditionally understood to cover European music of the 15th and 16th centuries, later than the Renaissance era as it is understood in other disciplines. Rather than starting from the early 14th-century '' ars nova'', the Tr ...

and

baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Classical period after a short transiti ...

. He composed the chamber symphonies ''Perotinus'' (1994) and ''Ellipse'' (1995) and the cycle for chamber orchestra ''Five Baroque Etudes'' (1998/99). His

orchestral music An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

includes several major works, including ''Wintermusik I'' (2004), ''Die Stadt'' (2006), ''Tod des Odysseus nach einem Text von Heiner Müller'' (2009), ''Fraktale'' (2010), ''The Young Person's Guide to New Music'' (2010), ''Klingelfranz'' (2011) and ''Gegen-Impuls'' (2013). One focus of his work is

choral music 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 ...

. The major choral cycles include ''Orplid'' (1998), ''Armenia clamans'' (1999), ''Letare Germania'' (2006), ''Luther-Arkaden'' (2008), ''Novalis Madrigal (2010)'' and ''Nongenti'' (2015/16). Buchholz combines contemporary compositional techniques with tonal cells into a unity in which he breaks through classical settings as well as complex avant-garde structures. Examples are ''Les dances imaginaire'' for two orchestras (2008) and ''Armenian Hymns'' for alto solo, 2 oboes and choir (2013). The chamber music comprises about 70 works, including cyclical compositions such as ''domino per due pianoforti'' (1992), ''Trois Airs Baroques'' (1998/99), ''Fourteen States to Bach'' (1999), RICERCAR and CHORAL (1999/2000), ''UNDEUTschLICHt - eleven caricatures for two harps'' (2003), ''KRUNK for string quartet'' (2005) and ''Tetraktys'' (2009). In total, the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

registers over one hundred published works.

Prizes and scholarships

* Kompositionsstipendium der (1992, 1994, 1998, 2003) * Forum Junger Komponisten (1994) * Aufenthaltsstipendium im Künstlerhaus Schloss Wiepersdorf (1996) * Kompositionsstipendium der Stiftung Kulturfonds Sachsen-Anhalt (1998, 2000, 2005) * 1. Preis beim Kompositionswettbewerb zum Themenjahr "Reformation und Musik" of the

Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist) and United (e.g. Prussian Union) Protestant regional churches and denominations in Germany, ...

(2012)

Discography

*1996: ''Lutherarkaden'' *1998: ''Kammersinfonien VI – IX'' (

Thorofon Thorofon Schallplatten KG is a classical record label based in Wedemark, Germany. Among the several series of recordings the label has published, there are works and titles such as Ludwig van Beethoven's piano sonatas, the complete works for solo ...

) *1999: ''Eruption'' *2000: ''Liebsame Beschäftigung'' () *2001: ''Musik in Deutschland 1950–20ff *2004: ''Nostradamus I'' (Stylton) *2007: ''Neue Musik für Streichorchester im Händelhaus, Halle/Saale'' *2008: ''Sonnengesänge'' (

MDG The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millenniu ...

) *2008: ''Alle Jahre wieder'' *2010: ''UNDEUTschLICHt – zyklen für ensembles'' (Kreuzberg Records) *2011: ''Momentaufnahme 20 Jahre'' (Kreuzberg Records) *2011: ''Komponisten aus Sachsen-Anhalt, Vol. 3'' *2011: ''Ehre sei Gott für alles'' ( Querstand)

Writings

* ''Schöpferischer Umgang mit musikalisch-historischen Quellen. Bemerkungen zu meiner Kammersinfonie vii ''Ex-sequi'' (1995)''. In Ingeborg Stein (ed.): ''Diesseits- und Jenseitsvorstellungen im 17. Jahrhundert. Interdisziplinäres Kolloquium vom 3.–5.2.1995''. Quartus-Verlag, Jena 1996, , . (Sonderreihe Monographien, vol. 4) * ''Rezeption von Musik der Schützzeit in Kompositionen des 20. Jahrhunderts''. In Ingeborg Stein (ed.): ''Rezeption alter Musik. Protokollband. Kolloquium anläßlich des 325. Todestages von Heinrich Schütz.'' Forschungs- und Gedenkstätte Heinrich-Schütz-Haus, Bad Köstritz 1999, , . (Sonderreihe Monographien, vol. 6) * ''Einige Abstraktionsgestalten barocker Strukturelemente in Kompositionen des 20. Jahrhunderts''. In ''Beiträge der Kolloquien 1998–2001''. Forschungs- und Gedenkstätte Heinrich-Schütz-Haus, Bad Köstritz 2002, , . (Beiträge zur musikalischen Quellenforschung, vol. 5)

Literature

* ''Buchholz, Thomas.'' In Wilfried W. Bruchhäuser: ''Komponisten der Gegenwart im Deutschen Komponisten-Interessenverband. Ein Handbuch.'' 4th edition Deutscher Komponisten-Interessenverband, Berlin 1995, , p. 157. * Gert Richter: ''Thomas Buchholz''. In ''

Komponisten der Gegenwart The ''Komponisten der Gegenwart'' (KDG) is a music encyclopedia in 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 Walter ...

'' (KDG). Edition Text & Kritik, Munich 1996, . * ''Buchholz, Thomas.'' In Axel Schniederjürgen (ed.): ''Kürschners Musiker-Handbuch.'' Axel Schniederjürgen 5th edition, Saur Verlag, Munich 2006, , . *

Christoph Sramek Christoph Sramek (born 6 September 1950) is a German music historian and music critic. Life Born in Chemnitz, Sramek passed his Abitur in 1969 in Burgstädt. He also obtained a skilled worker degree as bricklayer. From 1969 to 1973 he studied ...

: ''Buchholz, Thomas''. 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 respecte ...

(ed.): ''

Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik (MGG)'' is one of the world's most comprehensive encyclopedias of music history and musicology, on account of its scope, content, wealth of research areas, and reference t ...

'' (MGG). Supplement, Bärenreiter, Kassel

mong others Mong may refer to: People *A proposed original name for the Hmong people, based on the main group, the Mong community * Bob Mong (), American journalist and academic administrator *Henry Mong (), American surgeon and Presbyterian missionary *Mong ...

2008, . * Christoph Sramek: ''Thomas Buchholz. Skizzenblätter zu Leben und Werk des halleschen Komponisten''.''Thomas Buchholz. Skizzenblätter zu Leben und Werk des halleschen Komponisten''
on WorldCat

References

External links

* *
Literatur von Thomas Buchholz
in the

Bibliography of Music Literature The Bibliography of Music Literature (BMS or BMS online, german: Bibliographie des Musikschrifttums) is an international bibliography of literature on music. It considers all kind of music and includes both current and older literature. Since 196 ...

Thomas Buchholz - Biogramm Munzinger

Biographie und Werkverzeichnis von Thomas Buchholz
im Komponistenlexikon des DKV

at Klassika {{DEFAULTSORT:Buchholz, Thomas 1961 births Living people People from Eisenach 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers 20th-century hymnwriters German composers Academic staff of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg Academic staff of the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig German music educators