Caspar René Hirschfeld (born 21 May 1965) is a German

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 ...

and

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists * List of contemporary classical violinists * List of jazz violinists * List of popular music violinists * List of Indian violinists * List of Persian violinists * Li ...

Life

Born 1965 in

Wernigerode Wernigerode () is a town in the Harz (district), district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the Wernigerode (district), district of Wernigerode. Its population was 32,181 in 2020. Wernigerode is located southwes ...

, Hirschfeld received his first violin lessons at the music school from the age of 5. At the age of 9 he began composing. From 1982 to 1987 he studied composition with

Udo Zimmermann Udo Zimmermann (6 October 1943 – 22 October 2021) was a German composer, musicologist, opera director, and conductor. He worked as a professor of composition, founded a centre for contemporary music in Dresden, and was director of the Leipzig ...

and Wilfried Krätzschmar and violin with Christian Redder at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden. Until 1989 he was master student of Udo Zimmermann. Other important mentors were Paul-Heinz Dittrich,

Gret Palucca Gret Palucca (born Margarethe Paluka; 8 January 1902 – 22 March 1993) was a German dancer and dance teacher, notable for her dance school, the Palucca School of Dance, founded in Dresden in 1925. Life and work Margarethe Paluka was born in M ...

, the dancer and the painter Günter Firit. From 1987 to 1994 Hirschfeld taught at the Dresden Academy of Music and the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" in Berlin. He also worked at the ACMP Foundation in New York and at the Rheinsberg Music Academy. Besides being a composer, he appeared in the 90s as a dancer and

performance A performance is an act or process of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Performance has evolved glo ...

artist as well as a pianist and . Hirschfeld's compositional oeuvre includes a large number of symphonic works and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

as well as choral music, ballets, two chamber operas, solo works and songs as well as tango and jazz cycles. In 1991 his chamber opera ''Bianca'' was premiered at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

. In 2005 his work ''Wandlungen V - Doppelkonzert für Violine, Violoncello und Orchester'' was premiered at the

Magdeburg Cathedral Magdeburg Cathedral (), officially called the Cathedral of Saints Maurice and Catherine (), is a Protestant Church in Germany, Lutheran cathedral in Germany and the oldest Gothic architecture, Gothic cathedral in the country. It is the proto-cat ...

for the award of the to former Federal President of Germany

Richard von Weizsäcker Richard Karl Freiherr von Weizsäcker (; 15 April 1920 – 31 January 2015) was a German politician ( CDU), who served as President of Germany from 1984 to 1994. Born into the aristocratic Weizsäcker family, who were part of the German nobili ...

. Until 2023 Hirschfelds works have been published b
Verlag Neue Musik Berlin
an
Friedrich Hofmeister Musikverlag Leipzig
In 2023 he was offered a contract for his entire oeuvre by Verlag Neue Musik Berlin. His musical language can be attributed to New Music, but cannot be assigned to a particular school, since his personal style combines a wide variety of influences. In many works, strongly motoric elements and culminating drama are contrasted with a distinct internalization and singing and gestural-dancing. Until 2022 Hirschfeld also performed as a violinist, primarily with

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

(among others with the Albert/Hirschfeld Duo with the guitarist Sebastian Albert) and

contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

Awards

* Carl Maria von Weber Prize of the city of Dresden (1984) * Mendelssohn Scholarship of the Ministry of Culture of the GDR (1987/88) * Göttinger Gitarrenpreis (2000) * Carl von Ossietzky Kompositionspreis (2015)

Albums

(selection) 1998 Lieder & Sonette (kreuzberg records) 2018 Chamber Music (col legno) 2019 solitudes (col legno) 2024 PI (kreuzberg records)

Literature

* ''Hirschfeld, Caspar René.'' In Peter Hollfelder: ''Klaviermusik. Internationales chronologisches Lexikon. Geschichte. Komponisten. Werke.'' Supplement, Noetzel, Wilhelmshaven 2005, , . * ''Hirschfeld, Caspar René.'' In Axel Schniederjürgen (ed.): ''Kürschners Musiker-Handbuch.'' 5. Auflage, Saur Verlag, Munnich 2006, , .

References

External links

official website from Caspar René Hirschfeld
*
Caspar René Hirschfeld
at Sound cloud *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirschfeld, Caspar Rene German classical violinists German male classical violinists German male dancers Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin 20th-century German dancers 20th-century German classical composers 21st-century German classical composers 1965 births Living people People from Wernigerode 21st-century German male musicians 20th-century German male musicians