Hesse
Hesse
Artistic statement
Composing is an essential need for me...
...because composing gives me the opportunity to express myself. It is part of my life and opens up unimagined spaces of experiences and adventures in the creative process. My aim is to make these accessible, tangible and understandable to an audience. For me, expression is therefore the indispensable basis of every musical expression. And the audience also experiences music, at least primarily, as the impression of a creative expression.
For me, it is important to write only what can be heard. I am therefore not interested in abstract and (overly) complicated structures, but all the more in organic processes that can be understood. Only these ultimately help to ensure that a musically interested but not necessarily musically educated audience has the chance to comprehend them in the sense of experiencing them. I am less interested in an intellectual understanding than in a vigilant and above all emotional re-experience.
Only then can the music unfold the effect that is appropriate to its very special power, namely to move us in our innermost being. This makes it the first among the arts when it comes to spontaneous expression. Tonality in a general sense is included in all my works as a matter of course and is no longer subject to scrutiny as to whether it is allowed. Of course, this is not the tonality of the 19th century, but a free tonality that can be orientated towards central tones, sound fields or chord constellations. This can result in chord structures of the most varied kinds, extremely dissonant, but also simply consonant.
A pronounced singing quality is also important to me. In my opinion, it is one of the foundations for understanding music, as it allows it to "speak" in a special way. However, music can only be understood where it really "speaks".
Curriculum vitae
| 1955 | born in Bonn Bad Godesberg |
| 1961 | Primary school |
| 1967 | Grammar school |
| 1974 | Abitur |
| 1975 | Begins studies in school music (Cologne University of Music, 1st State Examination) |
| 1977 | Begins studying composition (Prof. Günter Fork, Prof. Jürg Baur, Cologne University of Music, artistic maturity examination) |
| 1978 | Started studying musicology, Latin philology, ancient history (master's degree/ doctorate) |
| 1981 | Trainee teacher (2nd State Examination) |
| 1983 | Lecturer at the Musikhochschule Rheinland, Institute Wuppertal for composition, aural training and musicology |
| 2001 | Professor ibid. |
| 2008 | Elected Managing Director of the (now) Wuppertal location of the HfMT Cologne |
| 2021 | Entry into retirement |
Works (2015-07/2022)
op. 76 "The cloud-capp'd tow'rs" - Symphonic Poem No. 1 for choir and orchestra
op. 77 "Maria durch ein Dornwald ging" - motet for four- six-part mixed choir and harp
op. 78 "Danse sacrée" for trumpet and organ
op. 79 "Ballade und Epilog" for two violoncellos and piano
op. 80 "Der Einsiedler" - motet on a text by Eichendorff for four- to seven-part choir a capella
op. 81 "Klagegesang für Ophelia" for bass, violoncello and piano
op. 82 "I have chosen you..." - Symphonic poem no. 2 on texts by Else Lasker-Schüler for mezzo-soprano, narrator, choir and large orchestra with organ
op. 83 "Apogee" for flute and organ
op. 84 "Metamorphoses of a Beethoven Fragment" for plucked string orchestra
op. 85 Quintet for horn, two violins, viola and violoncello
op. 86 Variations for violoncello and piano
op. 87 "Sons de la soirèes" - Quintet for clarinet, two violins, viola and violoncello
op. 88 Quartet for flute, violin, viola and violoncello
op. 89 Ode with Epilogue for trumpet, trombone and piano
op. 90 Tres dúos característicos para dos guitarras
op. 91 Quintet for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon
op. 92 Concerto for flute, harp and orchestra