Harald Genzmer (9 February 1909 – 16 December 2007) was a German composer of classical music and an academic.
Biography
The son of the legal historian , Genzmer was born in Blumenthal, near Kiel, Germany, he studied composition with Paul Hindemith at the Hochschule für Musik Berlin beginning in 1928.
From 1938 he taught at the Volksmusikschule Berlin-Neukölln. During the early part of the Second World War he served as a military band clarinetist. When his pianistic abilities were noticed by the Musikmeister, he was put on detached duties as a pianist/accompanist for "Lazarettenkonzerte", concerts for recuperating wounded officers. He was based for some time near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where he made the acquaintance of Richard Strauss. When the war ended, he was offered a post at the Musikhochschule München. This was blocked by the American authorities, and so, from 1946 to 1957 he taught at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg im Breisgau.
From 1957 to 1974 he taught at the Musikhochschule München. He hung a framed review from the Süddeutsche Zeitung above his piano, which stated after the premiere of his 1955 Sinfonietta for Strings that it was a work destined only for oblivion. Sharing the frame was a cutting from a few years later, reporting that in the previous year it had been the most performed work for string orchestra in Europe.
Among his notable students are Bertold Hummel, Egyptian composer Gamal Abdel-Rahim, British composer John McCabe, and Japanese composer Toyoko Takami.
He died on 16 December 2007 in Munich.
Awards
1960 Music Prize of the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste
1961 1st Prize of the Deutscher Sängerbund
1962 Preis zur Förderung der Musik der Stadt München
1991 Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art
1996 Kulturpreis der Bayerischen Landesstiftung
1998 Bayerische Verfassungsmedaille in Gold
Compositions
Source:
Orchestral works
1940 Konzert Nr. 1 für Trautonium und Orchester
1942 Musik für Streichorchester
1946 Erstes Concertino, for piano and strings with flute
1948 Konzert für Klavier und Orchester
1950 Konzert für Violoncello und großes Orchester
1952 Konzert Nr. 2 für Mixtur-Trautonium und Orchester
1954 Konzert für Flöte und Orchester
1955 Sinfonietta, for strings
1957 rev.1970 1. Sinfonie, for full orchestra
1957 Kammerkonzert, for oboe and string orchestra. 1958 2. Sinfonie, for strings 1959 Prolog, for orchestra 1959 Konzert für Violine und Orchester. 1960 Divertimento giocoso for two woodwind instruments and string orchestra 1963 Concertino Nr. 2, for piano and strings 1963 2. Orchesterkonzert 1964 Introduktion und Adagio, for strings 1965 Der Zauberspiegel, ballet-suite for orchestra 1965 Concerto for harp and strings 1967 Concerto for viola and orchestra 1967 Sonatina prima, for strings 1970 Sinfonia da Camera 1970 Konzert, for organ and orchestra 1971 Sonatina seconda, for strings 1974 3. Konzert, for piano and orchestra 1976 Miniaturen, for strings 1977–1978 Musik für Orchester, after a fragment by Friedrich Hölderlin 1978 Konzert, for percussion instruments and orchestra 1979 Sinfonia per giovani, for large school orchestra 1980 2. Konzert, for organ and strings 1983 Konzert, for two clarinets and strings 1984 Konzert, for four horns and orchestra 1984 Konzert, for cello, contrabass and strings 1985 Sechs Bagatellen for cello and contrabass Pub. Litolff/Peters Nr.8613 1985 Konzert, for trumpet and strings 1985 2. Konzert, for trumpet and strings 1986 3. Sinfonie 1987 Cassation, for strings 1990 Vierte Sinfonie, for large orchestra 1996 Concerto for contrabass and string orchestra 1998 Concertino für Flöte, Oboe (Flöte) und Streichorchester 1998 Concerto for three trumpets and string orchestra 1998 5. Sinfonie, for large orchestra 2002 3. Sinfonietta, for string orchestra 2. Sinfonietta, for string orchestra Concertino, for clarinet and chamber orchestra Erstes Concertino, for piano and string orchestra, with obbligato flute Festliches Vorspiel, for orchestra Kokua, dance suite for large orchestra Tarantella Burleske Kokoa Dytiramba Konzert, for two pianos and orchestra Konzert, for two guitars and orchestra Konzert, for flute, harp and strings Pachelbel-Suite, for orchestra Prolog II, for orchestra