Laurence Traiger (born October 16, 1956) is an American composer. Originally from Bellmore, Long Island, New York, he has studied and worked in Europe since 1976.[1]
His list of works include chamber music, choral music, orchestral music, film music as well as compositions for educational works and historical instruments.[4] Many of his works reflect an interest in Jewish mysticism.[5][6] For didactic works he strives to provide something that the student could use as a vehicle for expression, attempting to capture the teenage disposition in a moody and thoughtful, yet energetic and optimistic tone.[7] Traiger has received numerous commissions from renowned ensembles and radio choirs.[8] Traiger has had many collaborations with the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Choir,[9] including an invitation to compose a piece for Schumann-2010,[10] honoring the 200th anniversary of Robert Schumann's birth.[11] His work has appeared on MDR's CD "Das Hohelied Salomos."[12] He has been described by Howard Arman as one of the few composers of music for Baroque instruments today.[1]
Laurence Traiger teaches at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and the Innsbruck branch of Mozarteum University of Salzburg.[13] His areas of interest include music history, theory for music teachers, composition and arrangement, and vocal polyphony of the 16th Century.[14] At the 2013 Internationale Sommerakademie Mozaertum, Traiger was featured in a Komponistenporträt (the presentation of a living composer in talk and music).[15]
Musical style
In 1986, Traiger "turned away from the 'avant-garde' and tried to find my own voice in tonality."[1]
Notable works
With Richard Voss,[16] Traiger has written two tune book collections of Irish folk music, arranging the songs for piano solo in both. "Roving Through Ireland" is a collection of 38 traditional Irish ballads.[17] "O'Carolan's Tunes for Piano"[18] is a collection of 32 songs, originally for harp, by Turlough O'Carolan, 17th Century Irish harper. Voss and Traiger have three other tune book collaborations, including "Auf Den Spuren Der Inkas".[19]
"According to Juliet" is a monodrama (in four scenes for soprano, flute and accordion) written by Traiger. Using excerpts from the original text of Arthur Brooke's Romeus and Juliet, written shortly before Shakespeare's birth, Traiger tells the beautiful but hopeless love story from Juliet's perspective.[20][21] The work was premiered at the 2007 Black Forest Music Festival in Badenweiler; the Munich premiere of the libretto was 16 March 2010.[22] Reviewer Bianca Flier reported that the interplay of the voice and instruments grips the audience until the dramatic finale, and that "the composer has created a moving and compelling, almost unearthly work."[23]
"Aliyat" is a work for mezzo-soprano and orchestra. Based on mystical teachings of Judaism, the composition describes the journey of a disembodied soul through the various stages of life after death, as one imagines oneself in the mystical tradition of Kabbalah.[24]
Traiger wrote the cantata, "Be Still," in memory of the 9/11/2001 tragedy. Commissioned by the Orpheus Choir[de] of Munich,[25]Joel Frederiksen was the narrator/bass soloist for the 30 June 2002 premiere,[26] at the Europäischen Wochen, Passau.[27] The OCM has long collaborated with Traiger, and premiered many of his works.[25] Traiger and Frederiksen have other collaborations, most recently their work honoring Baroque architect Domenico Martinelli. For "Project Martinelli,"[28] Traiger was commissioned, and wrote a Baroque piece for arciliuto, theorbo and soprano based upon text by Frank Lloyd Wright.[29]
"Prayer Without Words"[30] has been widely played piece, with three concerts at the Scharzwald Festival in 2006,[31] as well as at the International Festival of Sacred Choral Music in Rottenburg am Neckar 2008,.[32]
"Nach Im Schlaf" was written in 1998 for the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Chor; a 12-part composition, it is based on text from the Song of Songs. It was performed by the Norddeutscher Rundfunk Chor at the opening of its 2012–2013 season.[33] His 2015 piece for the choir, "Till This Night," uses the famous monologue from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" in which Romeo says of his mistress: "Swear it, my eye; before this happy night not you know what beauty is."[34]
In 2014, Traiger wrote the music for the award-winning[35] documentary movie "Fukushima Nichts Ist Wie Es War."[36]
On the 2018 occasion of Nelson Mandela's 100th birthday, Traiger created RheinMain Ode to Mandela, a work for speakers, two choirs, instrumental ensemble, percussion and organ commissioned by the Vocal Art Frankfurt Festival.[37]
Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk is the public broadcaster for the federal states of Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. Established in January 1991, its headquarters are in Leipzig, with regional studios in Dresden, Erfurt and Magdeburg. MDR is a member of the ARD consortium of public broadcasters in Germany.
Wilhelm Killmayer was a German composer of classical music, a conductor and an academic teacher of composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München from 1973 to 1992. He composed symphonies and song cycles on poems by Friedrich Hölderlin, Joseph von Eichendorff, Georg Trakl and Peter Härtling, among others.
Münchener Bach-Chor is a mixed choir for concert and oratorio in Munich. Performances, international tours and recordings with Karl Richter and the Münchener Bach-Orchester made the choir internationally known.
Max Reger's 1915 Requiem, Op. 144b, is a late Romantic setting of Friedrich Hebbel's poem "Requiem" for alto or baritone solo, chorus and orchestra. It is Reger's last completed work for chorus and orchestra, dedicated in the autograph as Dem Andenken der im Kriege 1914/15 gefallenen deutschen Helden.
Max Beckschäfer is a German organist, composer and academic.
Howard Arman is an English choral conductor and opera director. He won the Handel Prize of the Handel Festival, Halle, in 1996, shaped the festival's orchestra and conducted operas of George Frideric Handel. He is a conductor of the Theater and Philharmonie Thüringen, also the Luzerner Theater. Since 2017 he is the Director of the Bayerische Rundfunk Chor.
Virga Jesse, WAB 52, is a motet by the Austrian composer Anton Bruckner. It sets the gradual Virga Jesse floruit for unaccompanied mixed choir.
Ave Maria, WAB 6, is a sacred motet by Anton Bruckner, a setting of the Latin prayer Ave Maria. He composed it in Linz in 1861 and scored the short work in F major for seven unaccompanied voices. The piece, sometimes named an Offertorium, was published in Vienna in 1867. Before, Bruckner composed the same prayer in 1856 for soprano, alto, a four-part mixed choir, organ and cello, WAB 5. Later, he set the text in 1882 for a solo voice (alto) and keyboard, WAB 7.
Pange lingua, WAB 33, is a sacred motet composed by Anton Bruckner in 1868. It is a setting of the Latin hymn Pange lingua for the celebration of Corpus Christi.
The NDR Chor is the choir of the German broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), based in Hamburg. It was founded in 1946, with Max Thurn as the first director of then 55 singers. The group has participated in premieres of contemporary music, such as the posthumous concert premiere of Schoenberg's opera Moses und Aron. It is also known for a capella music, introduced by Helmut Franz such as a recording of all such works by Johannes Brahms. The current artistic director is Philipp Ahmann, who has held the position from 2008. NDR Chor, now a group of 28 singers, is one of the leading professional chamber choirs in Germany.
Ursula Zollenkopf is a German classical contralto singer. A member of the NDR Chor based in Hamburg, she appeared as a soloist in opera and concert, including premieres of contemporary music such as Stravinsky's Threni and Schoenberg's Moses und Aron.
Max Thurn was a German conductor who was known particularly for his work as a choral conductor. He was the director of the choir of the Hamburg State Opera and of the NDR Chor, and was a co-founder of the boys' choir of the broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR).
The Verband Deutscher KonzertChöre is a national association with seven state organisations. It represents more than 550 member choirs with more than 30,400 singers. It is a non-profit organisation, which based in Neuss.
Dietrich Knothe was a German conductor and choral conductor, winner of the 1985 Handel Prize presented by the city of Halle.
MDR Rundfunkchor is the radio choir of the German broadcaster Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), based in Leipzig, Saxony. Dating back to 1924, the choir became the radio choir of a predecessor of the MDR in 1946, then called Kammerchor des Senders Leipzig, or Rundfunkchor Leipzig. The present name was established in 1992. The choir has appeared internationally, and has made award-winning recordings.
Wilhelm Weismann was a German composer and musicologist.
Hans-Christian Bartel was a German violist and composer.
Günter Neubert is a German composer and tonmeister.
Michael Gläser is a German singer, choral conductor and academic teacher. He was artistic director of broadcasters' choirs including the Rundfunkchor Berlin and the choir of the Bayerischer Rundfunk. He has been professor of choral conducting and Protestant church music at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München from 1994. Two recordings for which he conducted a choir were nominated for the Grammy Awards.
Stephan König is a German composer, pianist and conductor. He is the musical director of the "LeipJAZZig-Orkester" and the chamber orchestra "artentfaltung" and is considered one of the most authoritative Jazz musicians in Leipzig.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
