Thomas Flessenkaemper

Thomas Flessenkaemper (german: Thomas Fleßenkämper; July 1, 1981 in Leverkusen) is a German classical composer, pianist, organist and Director of Music at Holy Trinity Cathedral, Gibraltar.

Life

Thomas Flessenkaemper is a graduate of the conservatoires in Frankfurt a. M. and Karlsruhe. As part of his PhD thesis, he dealt with the Historically informed performance of piano playing in the 19th century. After graduating, he began as a répétiteur at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou, China, and taught piano.

His preference for the Russian piano music of the '' Fin de Siècle'' characterises his repertoire; in particular Sergei Rachmaninov, Alexander Scriabin and Nikolai Medtner. Flessenkaemper has performed as a soloist, chamber music partner and lied accompanist in Germany, Great Britain and China. He was a jury member at the International Irmler Piano Competition initiated by piano-manufacturing company Bluthner and the Franz Schubert Competition in China.

Flessenkaemper's compositional output embraces choral, instrumental, vocal and chamber music works. Some of his choral works have been published by Verlag Singende Gemeinde. His collaboration with the Belgian harpist Paola Chatelle led to a series of compositions for the chromatic harp of the French harp manufacturer Pleyel. He is founder and artistic director of the Amy Woodforde-Finden Music Festival in Hampsthwaite.

Compositions (selection)

Instrumental music

* ''Passacaille on a German Christmas carol'' for piano („In memory of Handel“)
* ''Valse-Impromptu'' for piano („In memory of Chopin“)
* ''Petite Pastoral'' for pedal-harp
* ''Toccata'' for chromatic harp (Pleyel)
* ''Nocturne'' for chromatic harp (Pleyel)
* ''Minuet'' for piano

Chamber music

* ''Impromptu'' for two violins and piano
* ''Prussian Suite'' for recorder, flute and keyboard instrument („In memory of the Old Fritz“)
* ''Fantasia on the motif of Handel's "For unto us a Child is born" from the '' Messiah, for recorder, flute and keyboard instrument
* ''Fantasia on „Silent Night, holy night“'' for recorder, flute and keyboard instrument
* ''Three Rhenish Elegies'' for harp/piano and woodwinds
* ''Three Fantasy Pieces'' for cello and piano
* ''Bourrée'' for recorder, flute and keyboard instrument
* ''Barcarolle'' for flute and piano
* ''Nocturne'' for flute and piano

Vocal compositions

* ''Ballad'' „''The Butterfly in the Garden of Eden“'' for soprano, flute and piano
*„''Herz und Herz vereint zusammen“'' for medium voice and piano (arrangement of Franz Schubert's Impromptu op. 142, 3; 1st variation)
* ''Three Hugo songs'' for high voice and piano: ''Le papillon et la fleur'' / ''La tombe dit à la rose'' / ''Le soleil s’est couché ce soir dans les nuées''
* ''Three Brontë songs'' for low voice and piano: ''Fall, Leaves, Fall'' / ''O come with me (Had there been falsehood in my breast)'' / ''She dried her tears''
*''Three Eichendorff songs'' for high voice and piano: ''Die Welt ruht still im Hafen / Schöne Fremde / Dein Bildnis wunderselig''
*''Three Pessoa songs'' for high voice and piano: ''Mar Português / Não sei quantas almas tenho / Não sou nada''
*''Three Pushkin songs'' for low voice and piano: ''Exegi monumentum (Я памятник) / Ein Augenblick (Я помню) / Ich liebte dich (Я вас любил)''

Choral works

* ''Der Herr segne dich''
* ''Der Herr segne dich'' (in second edition)
* ''Ich bin dein Gott''
* ''Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht''
* ''Gott ist Liebe'' for SATB and piano
* ''Kyrie eleison'' for SATB and organ

CD recordings

* ''Licht in dieser Welt.'' 2005, ISBN 978-3-87753-049-8.
* ''Wir sind von Gott umgeben.'' 2007, ISBN 978-3-87753-073-3.
* ''Lasst uns singen 2.'' 2016, ISBN 978-3-87753-159-4.

References

External links

Website of Thomas Flessenkaemper

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flessenkaemper, Thomas
1981 births
Living people
21st-century German classical pianists
Musicians from North Rhine-Westphalia
People from Leverkusen
21st-century German composers
21st-century classical composers