Wolfgang von Schweinitz (born 7 February 1953 in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

) 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 of classical music and an academic teacher.

Career

Schweinitz studied composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, from 1971 to 1973 with Gernot Klussmann and from 1973 to 1975 with

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...

. He continued his studies at the

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 ...

with John Chowning. He was a Stipendiat of the Villa Massimo in 1978, at the same time as

Sarah Kirsch Sarah Kirsch (; 16 April 1935 – 5 May 2013) was a German poet. Biography Sarah Kirsch was originally born Ingrid Bernstein in Limlingerode, Prussian Saxony but had changed her first name to Sarah in order to protest against her father's an ...

.List of award winners
Villa Massimo. In 1980 he taught at the

Darmstädter Ferienkurse Darmstädter Ferienkurse ("Darmstadt Summer Course") is a regular summer event of contemporary classical music in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany. It was founded in 1946, under the name "Ferienkurse für Internationale Neue Musik Darmstadt" (Vacation Cou ...

. His opera ''Patmos'', based on the

Apocalypse of St John The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of R ...

, was premiered in 1990 at the second Munich Biennale. From 1994 to 1996, Schweinitz was a professor of composition at the

Hochschule für Musik "Franz Liszt", Weimar The University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar (in German: Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar) is an institution of music in Weimar, Germany. The Hochschule Franz Liszt, who spent a great deal of his life in Weimar, encouraged the founding of ...

. In 2007 he succeeded composer James Tenney at the California Institute of the Arts.

Music

Since 1997, Schweinitz has been concerned with " searching and establishing new

microtonal Microtonal music or microtonality is the use in music of microtones—intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals". It may also be extended to include any music using intervals not found in the customary Western tuning of tw ...

tuning and ensemble playing techniques based on non-tempered

just intonation In music, just intonation or pure intonation is the tuning of musical intervals Interval may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Interval (mathematics), a range of numbers ** Partially ordered set#Intervals, its generalization from numbers to ...

" in his compositions. Schweinitz's music is often characterized by its freely expressive

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 ...

exploring the distinctive melodic and

harmonic A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', the ...

networks of just intonation within a rigorously structured formal logic. Between 2000 and 2004, Schweinitz together with Canadian composer Marc Sabat developed a staff notation for just intonation called the ''Extended Helmholtz-Ellis JI Pitch Notation''.

Awards

*1986

Schneider-Schott Music Prize The Schneider-Schott Music Prize is a cash award bestowed to an outstanding composer, performing artist, or music ensemble in classical music—with emphasis, but not mandatory, on contemporary music. From 1986 to 2006, the prize was awarded annua ...

*1992 Hindemith Prize of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival

Recordings

* ''Variationen über ein Thema von Mozart'', Harmonia Mundi Deutschland * Mass for soloists, choir and orchestra op. 21, WERGO

References

External links

Wolfgang von Schweinitz
at CalArts *
List of works
a
Plainsound Music Edition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schweinitz, Wolfgang von German opera composers Male opera composers 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers 1953 births Musicians from Hamburg Living people German male classical composers 20th-century German composers 21st-century German composers 20th-century German male musicians 21st-century German male musicians