Konrad Boehmer (24 May 1941 – 4 October 2014) was 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 **Ge ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

educator 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 ...

, and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, ...

Life

Boehmer was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. A self-declared member of the

Darmstadt School Darmstadt School refers to a group of composers who were associated with the Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music (Darmstädter Ferienkurse) from the early 1950s to the early 1960s in Darmstadt, Germany, and who shared some aesthe ...

, he studied composition in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

with

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groundb ...

and Gottfried Michael Koenig, and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

, and

musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

, where he received a PhD in 1966. After receiving his doctorate, he settled in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, working until 1968 at the Institute for Sonology,

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

. In 1972, he was appointed professor of music history and theory at the

Royal Conservatory of The Hague The Royal Conservatoire ( nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Nether ...

Musical style

His compositions characteristically employ serial organization or montage, sometimes with elements of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States a ...

(as in his opera ''Doktor Faustus'' and the electronic ''Apocalipsis cum figuris''). In other works, such as ''Canciones del camino'' and ''Lied uit de vert'', Marxist songs serve as basic material. In 2001, the

Holland Festival The Holland Festival () is the oldest and largest performing arts festival in the Netherlands. It takes place every June in Amsterdam. It comprises theatre, music, opera and modern dance. In recent years, multimedia, visual arts, film and ...

commissioned Boehmer to write a composition for the rock band

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of t ...

, which they performed at both concerts during that festival in the

Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam The Stadsschouwburg (; Dutch: ''Municipal Theatre'') of Amsterdam is the name of a theatre building at the Leidseplein in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The building is in the neo-Renaissance style dating back to 1894, and is the former home of the N ...

Death

On 10 August 2014, while on holiday in the south of France, he suffered a

cerebral infarction A cerebral infarction is the pathologic process that results in an area of necrotic tissue in the brain (cerebral infarct). It is caused by disrupted blood supply ( ischemia) and restricted oxygen supply ( hypoxia), most commonly due to thromboemb ...

. He was taken to

, where he died on 4 October 2014.

Selected compositions

* ''Variation'' for chamber orchestra (1959–61) * ''Position'' for electronic sounds, vocal sounds, and orchestra (1960–61) * ''Zeitläufte'' for eight instruments (1962) * ''Information'' (1964–65) * ''Aspekt'' electronic music (1964–66) * ''Canciones del camino'' for orchestra (1973–74) * ''Schrei dieser Erde'' for percussion and tape, (1979) * ''Doktor Faustus'' opera (1980–83) * ''Apocalipsis cum figuris'', electronic music (1984) * ''Woutertje Pieterse'' for nine vocalists and orchestra (1985–1987) * ''Il combattimento'' for violin, cello, and orchestra (1989–90) * ''Et in Arcadia ego'' for string quartet (1992) * ''Kronos protos'' for 14 instruments (1995) * ''Nuba'' for flute, viola and harp (1998) * ''Orpheus Unplugged'' (1999–2000) piano and tape * ''Ouroboros'' for piano (2002) * ''Doktor Fausti Höllenfahrt'' for orchestra (2006)

References

Cited sources

* * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boehmer, Konrad 1941 births 2014 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century German composers 20th-century German male musicians 21st-century classical composers 21st-century German composers 21st-century German male musicians Dutch classical composers Dutch male classical composers German classical composers German male classical composers LGBT classical composers Musicians from Berlin Pupils of Karlheinz Stockhausen Academic staff of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague