Wolfgang Fortner

Wolfgang Fortner (born 12 October 1907 in Leipzig – 5 September 1987 in Heidelberg) was a German composer, composition teacher and conductor.

Life

From his parents - both singers - Fortner very early on had intense contact with music. In 1927 he began his studies at the Leipzig Conservatory (organ, composition) and at University, (philosophy, music history, and German studies). Still during his study some of his early compositions were officially performed . In Berlin he encountered Arnold Schoenberg and wrote his Leipzig professional degree thesis on the Kammermusik set of Paul Hindemith.

In 1931 he closed his studies with the State Exam for a high teaching office, after he accepted a lectureship in music theory at the Evangelischen Kirchenmusikalischen Institut Heidelberg. There followed attacks on his music as Cultural Bolshevism. In 1935 and 1936 Fortner created the Heidelberg Chamber Orchestra, with which he supported New Music and undertook expanded concert journeys for "armed forces support", from Scandinavia to Holland to Greece. In the same year he also took over the directorship of the orchestra of the Hitler Youth of Heidelberg, a string orchestra, formed from juvenile laymen, whose directorship changed in 1939 again. 1940 he was drafted into the army as a medical soldier. In 1941 he joined the Nazi Party; in the same year he published the "Heidelberg Song Book for Soldiers" (without contributions of his own.) After the end of the war, Fortner underwent Denazification due to the Bandwagon effect and was found not affected by professional disqualification. Fortner moved to the Heidelberg Kohlhof and there a group of very young students formed around him, who showed interest in the modern music of 1933. In 1948 he joined the circle of the Darmstadt courses of new music, and taught within their framework. In 1954 he became a professor for composition, then from 1957 up to his retirement in 1973 taught in Freiburg. In 1964 he took up the leadership of the Musica Viva concerts after the death of Karl Amadeus Hartmann.

Prizes

*1948 Schreker-Prize Berlin.
*1953 Louis Spohr Prize Brunswick.
*1955 Bearer of the "Great Prize of Art-Music" of from North-Rhine/Westphalia.
*1955 Member of the Academy of the Beautiful Arts of Berlin.
*1956 Member of the Bavarian Academy if the Beautiful Arts of Munich.
*1957 President of the German section of the ISCM (from 1971).
*1960 Bach-Prize of the State of Hamburg.
*1975 President of the Dramatists' Union.
*1977 Reinhold Schneider Prize of Freiburg.
*1977 Grand Medal of Service of the Federal Republic of Germany
*1977 Honorary Doctorate of the Universities of Heidelberg and Freiburg.

Among his students were composers Günther Becker, Arthur Dangel, Friedhelm Döhl, Hans Ulrich Engelmann, Diego H. Feinstein, Peter Förtig, Volkmar Fritsche, Hans Werner Henze, Milko Kelemen, Rudolf Kelterborn, Karl Michael Komma, Arghyris Kounadis, Ton de Kruyf, Uwe Lohrmann, Wolfgang Ludewig, Bruce MacCrombie, Roland Moser, Diether de la Motte, Nam June Paik, Graciela Paraskevaídis, Robert HP Platz, Rolf Riehm, Wolfgang Rihm, Griffith Rose, Mauricio Rosenmann, Dieter Schönbach, Manfred Stahnke, Henk Stam, Peter Westergaard, Hans Zender, Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Heinz Werner Zimmermann, conductors Thomas Baldner and Arturo Tamayo and translator Hans Wollschläger.

Selected works

Operas

* "Bluthochzeit". Lyric Tragedy in 2 Acts/7 Pictures, Libretto by the Composer after the Drama "Bodas se sangre" by Federico García Lorca (1957)
* "Corinna". Opera buffa in one Act after a Comedy by Gérard de Nerval (1958)
* "In seinem Garten liebt Don Perlimplin Belisa". Opera after Federico García Lorca (1962)
* "Elisabeth Tudor". Opera in three Acts after a Libretto by Matthias Braun (1972)
* "That time". Scenic Cantata after Samuel Beckett (1977)

Ballets

* "Die weiße Rose". Ballet after Oscar Wilde (1950)
* 'Die Witwe von Ephesus". Pantomime after a scenario of Petronius
* "Carmen (Bizet Collagen)". Music for a ballet by John Cranko (1971)

Selected Works

* String quartet no. 1 (published 1930) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/22912438]
* Concerto for organ and strings (published 1932) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/20761217]
* Sonatina for piano (1935) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/8984425]
* Concerto for string orchestra (1935?) [cite journal
last = Vinton
first = John
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = For Jan LaRue: The Concerto for Orchestra
journal = Notes, 2nd Ser.
volume = 30
issue = 1
pages = 17
publisher = The Music Library Association
date = Sep. 1973
url = http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0027-4380%28197309%292%3A30%3A1%3C15%3AFJLTCF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-V
doi =
issn = 00274380
accessdate = 2007-06-22 ]
* Sinfonia concertante (published 1937) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/51859047]
* String quartet no. 2 (published 1938) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/7608375]
* Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (published 1943) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/68000369]
* Sonata for violin and piano (1945) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/22912450]
* Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1947)
* Sonata for flute and piano (1947) ( [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/4174846] )
* Symphony "1947" (1947)
* String quartet no. 3 (1948) [cite journal
last = von Lewinski
first = Wolf-Eberhard
authorlink =
coauthors = Donald Mintz
title = The Variety of Trends in Modern German Music
journal = Musical Quarterly
volume = 51
issue = 1
pages = 167
publisher = The Oxford University Press
date = Jan. 1965
url = http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0027-4631%28196501%2951%3A1%3C166%3ATVOTIM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-B
doi =
issn = 00274631
accessdate = 2007-06-22
month = Jan
year = 1965 ]
* "Phantasie über die Tonfolge BACH" for Orchestra (1950)
* Concerto for Cello and orchestra (1951) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2272997]
* "The Creation" (Die Schōpfung) for middle voice and orchestra (1954). Recorded by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (with the Sinfonie Orchester des Norddeutschen Rundfunks conducted by Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt.)
* "Impromptus" for large Orchestra 1957 [cite journal|last=Powell|first=Mel|title=Review of the Impromptus for Orchestra|journal=Notes|pages=482|publisher=the Music Library Association|year=1960|volume=17|issue=3|url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0027-4380%28196006%292%3A17%3A3%3C482%3AIFO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-H|id=ISSN 00274380|accessdate=2007-01-10|doi=10.2307/892360]
* "Die Pfingstgeschichte nach Lukas", Evangelist-scoring for Tenor solo, six-part choir, 11 instruments and organ (1963)
* "Triplum" for 3 Klaviere and Orchestra (1965/6) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/66185435]
* "Prismen" for Flute, Oboe, Harp, Percussion and Orchestra (1967)
* "Marginalien. Dem Andenken eines guten Hundes". For Orchestra (1969)
* "Zyklus" for Cello and Chamber Orchestra without strings (1970)
* "Machaut-Ballden" for Singer and Orchestra (1974)
* String Quartet no. 4 (1975) [cite journal|last=Oppelt|first=Robert|title=Review of the String Quartet No. 4|journal=Notes|pages=984|publisher=the Music Library Association|year=1979|volume=35|issue=4|url=http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.cornell.edu:2048/view/00274380/ap030202/03a00480/0?currentResult=00274380%2bap030202%2b03a00480%2b0%2c03&searchUrl=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0027-4380%28197906%292%3A35%3A4%3C984%3ASQN1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-S|id=ISSN 00274380|accessdate=2007-01-10]
* "Triptychon" for Orchestra (1977)
* Two string trios (1951, 1983 [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/18166320] )
* Piano trio (1978)

Literature on Fortner

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* Lohrmann, Uwe (1982). "Wolfgang Fortner". "Neue Zeitschrift für Musik" 143, no. 10:page number. de icon
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External links

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