Ensemble Sortisatio is a quartet

Quartet

In music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...

 (viola, oboe/cor anglais, bassoon and guitar) founded by violist

Violist

-Notable violists:A* Julia Rebekka Adler * Sir Hugh Allen , conductor* Kris Allen * Johann Andreas Amon * Paul Angerer , composer* Steven Ansell * Atar Arad * Cecil Aronowitz...

 Matthias Sannemüller in 1992 in Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Its members are mostly soloists at the MDR Symphony Orchestra

MDR Symphony Orchestra

The MDR Symphony Orchestra is one of the oldest Radio orchestras in the world and the oldest in Germany. It was founded in Leipzig, Germany in 1923 and therefore 9 months earlier than the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra...

. They have specialized in contemporary classical music

Contemporary classical music

Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...

.

Formation

The Ensemble Sortisatio was founded in 1992 by Matthias Sannemüller in the city of Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

. Sannemüller was a pupil from Hallmann and member of the Hanns Eisler New Music Group.

The name comes from the Sortisatio concept and refers to the casual combination of the instruments in the ensemble. The idea came from the composer Reiner Bredemeyer

Reiner Bredemeyer

Reiner Bredemeyer was a German composer. He was born in Vélez, Santander and went to school in Breslau. In 1944 he began his military service. After World War II he met Karl Amadeus Hartmann. From 1949 to 1953 he studied composition with Karl Höller at the Munich Academy for Musical Arts...

.

Members of the quartet are Walter Klingner (Oboe

Oboe

The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...

 and Cor anglais

Cor anglais

The cor anglais , or English horn , is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family....

), Axel Andrae (Bassoon

Bassoon

The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...

), Matthias Sannemüller (Viola

Viola

The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...

) and Thomas Blumenthal (Gitar). They are mostly soloists at the MDR Symphony Orchestra

MDR Symphony Orchestra

The MDR Symphony Orchestra is one of the oldest Radio orchestras in the world and the oldest in Germany. It was founded in Leipzig, Germany in 1923 and therefore 9 months earlier than the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra...

 in Leipzig.

Sortisatio is today one of the most unique ensembles in Germany. It inspired many national and international composers to write for them. They have worked with Karl Ottomar Treibmann, Günter Neubert, Thomas Müller, Christian Münch, Thomas Buchholz, Steffen Schleiermacher

Steffen Schleiermacher

Steffen Schleiermacher is a German composer, pianist, and conductor.After studying at the Leipzig Music School with Siegfried Thiele, he continued working there as a music theory and ear training assistant...

, Thomas Christoph Heyde, Helmut Oehring

Helmut Oehring

Helmut Oehring is a German composer. He studied with Friedrich Goldmann and Georg Katzer at the Akademie der Künste. He was guest of the Villa Massimo....

, Gerd Domhardt

Gerd Domhardt

Gerd Domhardt was a German composer.Domhardt grew up in Schleusingerneundorf. He studied music education, German studies and musicology at the University of Halle-Wittenberg from 1963 to 1968...

 and other German composers.

8 Pieces on Paul Klee

The Swiss/Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n Groupe Lacroix (Marianne Schroeder

Marianne Schroeder

Marianne Schroeder is a Swiss pianist and composer. She studied with Giacinto Scelsi. She played at Carnegie Hall, Lucerne Festival and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. She worked with John Cage and Shigeru Kan-no....

, John Wolf Brennan

John Wolf Brennan

John Wolf Brennan is an Irish pianist, organist, melodica player, and composer based out of Switzerland.Brennan's family moved to Switzerland when he was seven years old. He took piano lessons from age eleven, but played bass guitar in a rock band in 1970 before returning to keyboards in 1974 to...

, Jean-Luc Darbellay

Jean-Luc Darbellay

Jean-Luc Darbellay is a Swiss composer, conductor, clarinetist and physician. He was chairman of the Swiss Society for New Music and board member of the International Society for Contemporary Music. Darbellay is a member of the composers group: Groupe Lacroix. He has published about 150 works...

, Christian Henking, Michael Schneider, Michael Radanovics and Alfons Karl Zwicker) and Thüring Bräm

Thüring Bräm

Thüring Bräm is a Swiss composer and conductor.Bräm graduated from a high school in Basel. He then studied piano, conducting and composition in Basel and musicology at the University of Basel and the University of Heidelberg...

 dedicated 8 Pieces on Paul Klee to the Anniversity of the Central German Broadcasting

Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk

Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk is the public broadcaster for the federal states of Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt...

. This composers group attended a master class with the Russian musician Edison Denisov

Edison Denisov

Edison Vasilievich Denisov was a Russian composer of so called "Underground" — "Anti-Collectivist", "alternative" or "nonconformist" division in the Soviet music.-Biography:...

. The work after Paul Klee

Paul Klee

Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...

 was first performed by the Ensemble in Germany and Switzerland. Hong Kong composer Chan Wing-wah

Chan Wing-wah

Chan Wing-wah, JP is a Chinese conductor and composer. He is professor of music at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and president of the Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong. He was also chairman of the Hong Kong Composers’ Guild, vice president of the Asian Composers’ League and board...

 dedicated a trio Oriental Garden on Paul Klee in Bern & Winterthur to the Ensemble Sortisatio. Chan invited them to Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 in 2009.

Ensemble Sortisatio

Sortisatios second record consists of compositions written by Michael Stöckigt

Michael Stöckigt

Michael Stöckigt is a German composer and pianist. His father is the famous East German pianist Siegfried Stöckigt. In 1973 Michael Stöckigt became a master student in composition of Günter Kochan at the Berlin College of Music "Hanns Eisler". He was awarded in Australia, Austria and Italy...

, Reiner Bredemeyer

Reiner Bredemeyer

Reiner Bredemeyer was a German composer. He was born in Vélez, Santander and went to school in Breslau. In 1944 he began his military service. After World War II he met Karl Amadeus Hartmann. From 1949 to 1953 he studied composition with Karl Höller at the Munich Academy for Musical Arts...

, Gerd Sannemüller

Gerd Sannemüller

Gerd Sannemüller was a German composer, pianist and musicologist. After his Abitur in Stralsund he studied musicology with Arnold Schering and Georg Schünemann as well as history, philosophy and psychology at the University of Berlin and school music at the Berlin College for Church and School Music...

, Pēteris Vasks

Peteris Vasks

Pēteris Vasks is a Latvian composer.Vasks was born in Aizpute, Latvia, into the family of a Baptist pastor. He trained as a violinist at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music, as a double-bass player with Vitautas Sereikaan at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, and played in several...

 from Latvia, Thomas Böttger

Thomas Böttger

Thomas Böttger is a German composer and pianist. From 1975 to 1980 he studied composition and piano at the Berlin College of Music "Hanns Eisler". From 1980 to 1981 he studied with Tadeusz Baird at the Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw. From 1981 to 1983 he was a master's student of Ruth...

, Jean-Luc Darbellay from Switzerland, Helmut Bieler

Helmut Bieler

Helmut Bieler is a German composer and pianist.He studied composition with Franz Xaver Lehner and Fritz Schieri, piano with Friedrich Wührer and Aldo Schoen and learned music at the University for Music and Performing Arts, Munich. From 1967 to 1979 he taught at the...

 and Jean-Louis Petit

Jean-Louis Petit

Jean-Louis Petit is a French composer, conductor and organist. He studied composition with Georges Moineau and organ with Arsène Muzerelle at the Conservatoire de Reims before he studied under Simone Plé-Caussade and Olivier Messiaen at the Conservatoire de Paris...

 from France.

Repertoire (Extract)

The following works were specially composed for the Ensemble Sortisatio:

Componist	Work
Michael Stöckigt Michael Stöckigt Michael Stöckigt is a German composer and pianist. His father is the famous East German pianist Siegfried Stöckigt. In 1973 Michael Stöckigt became a master student in composition of Günter Kochan at the Berlin College of Music "Hanns Eisler". He was awarded in Australia, Austria and Italy...	Aspekte zu Mozart
Reiner Bredemeyer Reiner Bredemeyer Reiner Bredemeyer was a German composer. He was born in Vélez, Santander and went to school in Breslau. In 1944 he began his military service. After World War II he met Karl Amadeus Hartmann. From 1949 to 1953 he studied composition with Karl Höller at the Munich Academy for Musical Arts...	Quartett-Stücke 7 & Leipzig ein und Leipzig
Gerd Sannemüller Gerd Sannemüller Gerd Sannemüller was a German composer, pianist and musicologist. After his Abitur in Stralsund he studied musicology with Arnold Schering and Georg Schünemann as well as history, philosophy and psychology at the University of Berlin and school music at the Berlin College for Church and School Music...	Drei Essays
Peteris Vasks Peteris Vasks Pēteris Vasks is a Latvian composer.Vasks was born in Aizpute, Latvia, into the family of a Baptist pastor. He trained as a violinist at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music, as a double-bass player with Vitautas Sereikaan at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, and played in several...	Drei Blicke
Thomas Böttger Thomas Böttger Thomas Böttger is a German composer and pianist. From 1975 to 1980 he studied composition and piano at the Berlin College of Music "Hanns Eisler". From 1980 to 1981 he studied with Tadeusz Baird at the Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw. From 1981 to 1983 he was a master's student of Ruth...	Danse oubliee
Jean-Luc Darbellay Jean-Luc Darbellay Jean-Luc Darbellay is a Swiss composer, conductor, clarinetist and physician. He was chairman of the Swiss Society for New Music and board member of the International Society for Contemporary Music. Darbellay is a member of the composers group: Groupe Lacroix. He has published about 150 works...	Quartetto & Sozusagen
Helmut Bieler	Szenen für Ensemble
Jean-Louis Petit Jean-Louis Petit Jean-Louis Petit is a French composer, conductor and organist. He studied composition with Georges Moineau and organ with Arsène Muzerelle at the Conservatoire de Reims before he studied under Simone Plé-Caussade and Olivier Messiaen at the Conservatoire de Paris...	Sortisatio l
Thüring Bräm Thüring Bräm Thüring Bräm is a Swiss composer and conductor.Bräm graduated from a high school in Basel. He then studied piano, conducting and composition in Basel and musicology at the University of Basel and the University of Heidelberg...	Besessenes Mädchen
Michael Schneider	Shark Turtle Ray
Marianne Schroeder Marianne Schroeder Marianne Schroeder is a Swiss pianist and composer. She studied with Giacinto Scelsi. She played at Carnegie Hall, Lucerne Festival and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. She worked with John Cage and Shigeru Kan-no....	Wie der Klee vierblättrig wurde: Quartett
John Wolf Brennan John Wolf Brennan John Wolf Brennan is an Irish pianist, organist, melodica player, and composer based out of Switzerland.Brennan's family moved to Switzerland when he was seven years old. He took piano lessons from age eleven, but played bass guitar in a rock band in 1970 before returning to keyboards in 1974 to...	N-gl
Alfons Karl Zwicker	Trauernd
Michael Radanovics	Entweihte Sphinx, Die Sphinx geht
Christian Wolff	In between Piece for 3 players
John Cage John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...	For 3 voices
Steffen Schleiermacher Steffen Schleiermacher Steffen Schleiermacher is a German composer, pianist, and conductor.After studying at the Leipzig Music School with Siegfried Thiele, he continued working there as a music theory and ear training assistant...	Quartett & Stockend Fließend
Antoine Beuger	die Stille, die Zeichen
Karl Ottomar Treibmann	Consort-Sonate & Kommen und Gehen
Christian Münch	quartetto da capo
Gerd Domhardt Gerd Domhardt Gerd Domhardt was a German composer.Domhardt grew up in Schleusingerneundorf. He studied music education, German studies and musicology at the University of Halle-Wittenberg from 1963 to 1968...	Orpheus: Fragmente III
Helmut Oehring Helmut Oehring Helmut Oehring is a German composer. He studied with Friedrich Goldmann and Georg Katzer at the Akademie der Künste. He was guest of the Villa Massimo....	Lethal Injektion & dersu
Günter Neubert	Triptychon
Werner Thielemann	Hommage für Marc Chagall
Thomas Buchholz	Fluxion 111
Helmut Bieler	Szenen für Ensemble
Alfred Thomas Müller	Proteus
Willi Vogl	Grüne lnseln
Thomas Christoph Heyde	Ansichtennetz
Péter Kőszeghy	Crossover
Caspar René Hirschfeld	quattro balli sorteggiati

Discography

Year	Album	Composer	Interpreter	Label
2003	8 Pieces on Paul Klee	Groupe Lacroix	Ensemble Sortisatio	Creative Works Records
2004	Ensemble Sortisatio	Reiner Bredemeyer Reiner Bredemeyer Reiner Bredemeyer was a German composer. He was born in Vélez, Santander and went to school in Breslau. In 1944 he began his military service. After World War II he met Karl Amadeus Hartmann. From 1949 to 1953 he studied composition with Karl Höller at the Munich Academy for Musical Arts... , Pēteris Vasks Peteris Vasks Pēteris Vasks is a Latvian composer.Vasks was born in Aizpute, Latvia, into the family of a Baptist pastor. He trained as a violinist at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music, as a double-bass player with Vitautas Sereikaan at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, and played in several... , Jean-Louis Petit Jean-Louis Petit Jean-Louis Petit is a French composer, conductor and organist. He studied composition with Georges Moineau and organ with Arsène Muzerelle at the Conservatoire de Reims before he studied under Simone Plé-Caussade and Olivier Messiaen at the Conservatoire de Paris...  a.o.	Ensemble Sortisatio	Querstand
2009	A Portrait	Jean-Luc Darbellay Jean-Luc Darbellay Jean-Luc Darbellay is a Swiss composer, conductor, clarinetist and physician. He was chairman of the Swiss Society for New Music and board member of the International Society for Contemporary Music. Darbellay is a member of the composers group: Groupe Lacroix. He has published about 150 works...	MDR Symphony Orchestra MDR Symphony Orchestra The MDR Symphony Orchestra is one of the oldest Radio orchestras in the world and the oldest in Germany. It was founded in Leipzig, Germany in 1923 and therefore 9 months earlier than the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra... , Ensemble Sortisatio, Leipziger Schlagzeugensemble, Leipziger Hornquartett, Fabio Luisi Fabio Luisi Fabio Luisi is an Italian conductor. On September 6, 2011, he was named Principal Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera....  (dr)	Claves Records