Detlev Müller-Siemens (born 30 July 1957) is a German composer and conductor.

Life and career

Born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Müller-Siemens began with piano lessons at age six and began composing. He was invited to a composition class at the

Musikhochschule Köln A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

at age 13. He studied piano, composition and theory at the Musikhochschule Hamburg from 1970 with Günter Friedrichs. From 1973 to 1980, he studied 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 music, avant-garde composers in the latter half of the ...

. He studied at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

in 1977/78 with

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century, he was also an ou ...

. Back in Hamburg, he studied piano with Volker Banfield, and conducting with

Christoph von Dohnányi Christoph von Dohnányi (; born 8 September 1929) is a German conducting, conductor. Biography Youth and World War II Dohnányi was born in Berlin, Germany to Hans von Dohnanyi, a German jurist of Hungarian ancestry, and Christine von Dohnan ...

. In 1985, he studied conducting further with Klauspeter Seibel. In 1981, he was an assistant at the

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

for Ligeti's '' Le Grand Macabre''. He was

Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

of the Städtische Bühnen Freiburg from 1986 to 1988. From 1991 to 2005, he was professor of composition and music theory at the Basel Music Academy, then professor for at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. An engagement with the work of

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

since 1999 has been reflected in his opera ''Bing'', the composition ''the space of a step'' for orchestra as well as in the chamber music works ''Light blue, almost white'' and ''... called dusk''.

Prizes and awards

* 1980/1982: Villa Massimo, Rome * 1986: Schneider-Schott Music Prize * 1988: Rolf-Liebermann Grant * 1990: Rolf-Liebermann prize

Work

Compositions by Müller-Siemens were 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 foun ...

, including: * ''Under Neonlight I'' for ensemble, 1980/81 * ''Under Neonlight II'' for piano, 1980–83 * Piano Concerto, 1980–1981 * Viola Concerto, 1983–1984 * ''Under Neonlight III'' for piano, 1987 * ''Quatre Passages'' for orchestra, 1988 * Horn Concerto, 1988–1989 * ''Die Menschen'', opera, 1989–1990Schibli, Sigfried. "Zeit: Heute. Ort: Die Welt: ''Die Menschen'': Uraufführung der Oper von Detlev Müller-Siemens in Mannheim". ''

Neue Zeitschrift für Musik The New Journal of Music (, and abbreviated to NZM) is a music magazine, co-founded in Leipzig by Robert Schumann, his teacher and future father-in law Friedrich Wieck, Julius Knorr and his close friend Ludwig Schuncke. Its first issue appe ...

'', vol. 152, no. 1, 1991, p. 49. * ''Carillon'' for orchestra, 1991 * Double Concerto for violin, viola and orchestra, 1992 * ''Phoenix 1,2,3'' for ensemble, 1993–1995 * ''Maiastra'' for orchestra, 1995–1996 * ''Cuts'' for alto saxophone and ensemble, 1996/97 * ''Light blue, almost white'' for ensemble, 1998 * ''Bing'', musical theatre, 1998–2000 * String Trio, 2002 * ''Die Aussicht'' for choir and ensemble, 2003/04 * ''the space of a step'' for orchestra, 2003/04 * ''distant traces'' (in memoriam György Ligeti) for violin, viola and piano, 2007 * ''lost traces'' for piano quartet, 2007 * ''...called dusk (in memoriam György Ligeti)'' for violoncello and piano, 2008 * ''Kommos'' for large ensemble, 2008/09 * ''Privacy (in memoriam László Polgár)'' for clarinet, violin and piano, 2010 * ''...called dusk II'' for string quartet, 2011 * Three piano pieces, 2012 * ''... called dusk IV'' for orchestra, 2012/13 * ''... called dusk III'' for ensemble, 2014 * ''... called dusk V'' for violin solo, 2014 * ''Subsong 1'' for ensemble, 2015

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muller-Siemens, Detlev German male composers 20th-century German classical composers German conductors (music) 1957 births Living people Composers from Hamburg Conservatoire de Paris alumni 20th-century German male musicians