Ludger Rémy (4 February 1949 – 21 June 2017) was a German

harpsichordist A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

and

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

Biography

Born in

Kalkar Kalkar () is a municipality in the district of Kleve, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the Rhine, approx. 10 km south-east of Cleves. The catholic church St. Nicolai has preserved one of the most significant sacral inv ...

, Ludger Rémy studied the harpsichord in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

and continued his studies with

Kenneth Gilbert Kenneth Albert Gilbert (December16, 1931April15, 2020) was a Canadian harpsichordist, organist, musicologist, and music educator. Biography Born in Montreal, Gilbert studied at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal under Yvonn ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He was a teacher at several German academies including the

Folkwang Hochschule The Folkwang University of the Arts is a university for music, theater, dance, design, and academic studies, located in four German cities of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 1927, its traditional main location has been in the former Werden Abbey in ...

and 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 1998 he was appointed professor for

Early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden.Ludger Rémy (Harpsichord, Conductor)
Bach Cantatas Website His main interest was to research German music of the 17th and 18th century and to revive the discovered works in performances and recordings, taking into account their position in historic and literary context. In 1994 he founded the orchestra Les Amis de Philippe, named after

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German composer and musician of the Baroque and Classical period. He was the fifth ch ...

. From 1995 to 1999 he directed the Telemann Chamber Orchestra of Michaelstein. He taught at the Stiftung Kloster Michaelstein. On 23 September 2005 he revived the opera '' Didone abbandonata'' of

Domenico Sarro Domenico Natale Sarro, also Sarri (24 December 1679 – 25 January 1744) was an Italian composer. Born in Trani, Apulia, he studied at the Neapolitan conservatory of S. Onofrio. He composed extensively in the early 18th century. His opera '' Did ...

to a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

Pietro Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and Libretto, librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti. Early ...

, successful in 1724, in a shortened concert version, performed at the Schloss Elisabethenburg in

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 26,000 (2024).

by Les Amis de Philippe. Between 1995 and 2007 he served as a juror at the International Competition for harpsichord and

Fortepiano A fortepiano is an early piano. In principle, the word "fortepiano" can designate any piano dating from the invention of the instrument by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1700 up to the early 19th century. Most typically, however, it is used to ref ...

at the Festival van Vlaanderen in

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

. He died on 21 June 2017 at the age of 68.

Selected recordings

As a harpsichordist he recorded in 1995 concertos of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach with Les Amis de Philippe, conducting from the instrument. The recording was nominated for the Cannes Classical Award 1997 and followed by a recording of three more concertos in 1997.Diskographie
discography by composer (in German) dead link In 2004 he recorded

Lied In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

er of

Georg Philipp Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. He is one of the most prolific composers in history, at least in terms of surviving works. Telemann was considered by his contemporaries to b ...

with

Klaus Mertens Klaus Mertens (born 25 March 1949, in Kleve) is a German bass and bass-baritone singer who is known especially for his interpretation of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach for bass voice. Career Klaus Mertens took singing lessons wh ...

. As a conductor, he recorded in 1999 a collection of four

church cantata A church cantata or sacred cantata is a cantata intended to be performed during Christian liturgy. The genre was particularly popular in 18th-century Lutheran Germany, with many composers writing an extensive output: Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel ...

s, Philipp Heinrich Erlebach's '' Gelobet sei der Herr täglich'' combined with two works by

Georg Benda Georg Anton Benda (; 30 June 17226 November 1795) was a Kingdom of Bohemia, Bohemian composer, violinist and ''Kapellmeister'' of the Classical period (music), classical period. Biography Born into a Benda family, family of notable musicians in ...

and one by

Carl Friedrich Gessel Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of tel ...

, with the Michaelstein Telemann Chamber Orchestra. The same year, he recorded in 1999 Telemann's oratorio '' Der Tod Jesu'' with soloists

Dorothee Mields Dorothee Mields (born 15 April 1971) is a German soprano concert singer of Baroque and contemporary music. Career Mields was born in Gelsenkirchen. She studied at the University of the Arts Bremen with Elke Holzmann, Harry van der Kamp and Ga ...

Britta Schwarz Britta Schwarz (born 1964) is a German contralto from Neubrandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Between 1980 and 1983 she studied vocals at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" under Christa Niko, and then studied at the Hochschule für Musik ...

, Jan Kobow,

, the Magdeburger Kammerchor and the Telemann Chamber Orchestra. The recording was awarded the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik in 2000. In 2002 he recorded several

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

s for

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...

Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (13 January 1690 – 27 November 1749) was a German composer of the Baroque music, Baroque era. Biography Early life Stölzel was born in Schwarzenberg, Saxony, Grünstädtel in Saxony on 13 January 1690. His fath ...

, a prolific contemporary of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

.Cantatas for Pentecost
review of the 2002 recording by Johan van Veen, 2005 In 2004 he recorded Georg Gebel's ''Johannespassion'' with Dorothee Mields, Henning Voss, Jan Kobow, Klaus Mertens, Sebastian Bluth, the ensemble inCanto Weimar and the Weimar Baroque Ensembles.

References

External links

Ludger Rémy
website
Ludger Rémy
on the website of the Hochschule Dresden {{DEFAULTSORT:Remy, Ludger 1949 births 2017 deaths German harpsichordists German conductors (music) German male conductors (music) Academic staff of the Folkwang University of the Arts People from Kleve (district) German classical musicians Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar