Stelzenbach
Stelzenbach
Credo
My experiences as an interpreter of contemporary music have had a decisive influence on my attitude to composing and my view of music. I found a lot of inspiration in books. I still have the following books on my desk: "Chaos und Ordnung" and "Der Zeitbaum" by the chemist and geneticist Friedrich Cramer, Robert Schumann's "Gesammelte Schriften über Musik und Musiker" and Gertrude Stein's "Erzählen".
One of my compositional intentions is to play with the changing sense of time. A musical work is inextricably linked to the composer's personal and social environment, whereby the music not only resonates with the respective temporal conditions, but also takes place in time itself. Music can change the subjective perception of time, can suggest that it stands still or that it is accelerating. It can be experienced physically, it moves and is itself created through movement.
Giving shape to chaos and developing an individual sound language for each new piece. A sound can be brittle, smooth, blurred, light, dark... Before I write the first grades, I go through a restless time that can sometimes be agonising. I search by listening, seeing, reading, thinking and remembering. I unconsciously register what sticks with me, touches me and sometimes haunts me even into my dreams.
Short biography
Susanne Stelzenbach, born on 11 October 1947 in Reudnitz (Thuringia),
lives as a freelance composer and pianist in Berlin. Studied at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin, main subject piano /1976 Diplom. 1973 Birth of her daughter Myriam. From 1976-1983 teaching position for piano at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin.
As a composer, S. Stelzenbach is characterised by her many years of experience as a pianist of contemporary music. Her catalogue of works covers almost all genres, including electronic music, music theatre, orchestral works and texts. Her compositions are performed by renowned interpreters worldwide and broadcast on the radio.
From 1992 to 2008, she co-authored numerous music theatre works, concert and sound installations with the sound engineer and composer Ralf Hoyer.
In 2011, S. Stelzenbach composed the internationally acclaimed underwater opera "AquAria-PALAOA - Das Alter der Welt" (idea: Claudia Herr, text: Monika Rinck). In addition to a "normal" set of instruments, (live) singing and percussion actions under water are also included, as well as sound recordings from the PALAOA listening station in the Antarctic Ocean.
In 2015, their composition "Luftspiel" in five parts for large symphonic wind orchestra (commissioned by the FBO-Berlin) was premiered in the large broadcasting hall of rbb.
In 2017, four young pianists won first place in the national Jugend musiziert competition with their composition FARBEN und MUSTER for two pianos, eight hands.
2019 performance of her composition ATEMPAUSE by the Sonic Art Saxophone Quartet at the Canberra International Music Festival "Bach on the Mountain" Australia.
In addition to her work as a composer, S. Stelzenbach is the artistic director of the annual festival for new music and interdisciplinary art events "pyramidale" in Berlin Marzahn-Hellersdorf. In 2012, 2013 and 2016, she was also director of the"intersonanzen" festival in Potsdam.
S. Stelzenbach has received numerous composition scholarships, commissions and prizes. Kreuzberg Records has released two portrait CDs: "KUNST" in 2012 and "treiben" in 2017. Many of her works are published by Verlag Neue Musik Berlin.
WORKS (selection)
Chamber music | Electronic music | Vocal music | Music theatre | Orchestral works
hunt.stille for alto flute, clarinet and string trio (2006)
haut Streichquartett #1 (2007) Commissioned by the SONAR quartet
atempause for saxophone quartet (2010/1011)
spider's web for piano four hands (2012)
STRESSTEST for two accordions (2012)
Exploration #1 for percussion quartet [2014]
Formen der Wiederholung for violin, gayageum and piano (2017)
SLOW (E)MOTION for soprano, flute/bass flute and cimbalom (2018)
PUZZLE OUT for saxophone, trombone, piano, accordion and violoncello (2018)
die SONNE der WALD for violin, violoncello, clarinet, accordion and CD recording (2019)
eigentlich wollte ich mir nur ein wenig die stadt ansehen / Text-Klang-Komposition (2003)
Two miniature audio images a p f e l (2004) and five minutes hen's egg (2006)
Radio play music for "gesicht verloren" by Barbara Kenneweg, rbb Kulturradio (2011)
vis-à-vis for soprano and tape (2000)
Schokolade versüßt heute nicht for mezzo-soprano and piano (2008)
k u n s t for four singers, horn, saxophone and double bass based on texts by Robert Schumann
SCHRITTE for soprano and violoncello (2011)
L I C H T for soprano, mezzo-soprano, flute and recorder (2012/2020)
I sleep what I think with texts by Fernando Pessoa (1995/96) / Hebbel-Theater Berlin and ACARTE Festival Lisbon *
Zauberflöte 2.2 musiktheatralische Fragmente nach Goethe for four singers, three actors, four instruments and sound installation (1999) / Theatre Krefeld-Mönchengladbach and Hebbel-Theater Berlin *
druck#2.1 KLIMA_vorher.sagen (2007) for soprano, alto, speaker/rapper, chamber ensemble, sound and video installation *
* Co-author Ralf Hoyer
AquAria Palaoa - Das Alter der Welt for mezzo-soprano, alto, narrator, two choirs, cornet, violoncello, tuba, percussion and CD recording Libretto: Monika Rinck (2011)
ZiegenArt_no border no nation for soprano, speaker/performer, 6 instruments and CD recording Libretto: Tanja Langer (2017)
AUF BLAUEM GRUND for small orchestra (2012) Junge Philharmonie Brandenburg, conductor: Manuel Nawri
DIE GRÜNE SCHACHTEL (2013) Youth symphony orchestra of the Hans Werner Henze Music School Marzahn, conductor: Jobst Liebrecht
LUFTSPIEL (2014) for large symphonic wind orchestra FBOB Frauenblasorchester Berlin, musical direction: Astrid Graf
HEIMAT orchestral miniature (2015) Cottbus Philharmonic Orchestra, musical direction: Evan Christ
