Ulrich Leyendecker is a German

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...

 composer of classical music. His output consists mainly of symphonies

Symphony

A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...

, concerto

Concerto

A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...

s, chamber

Chamber music

Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...

 and instrumental music.

Life

Leyendecker studied composition with Ingo Schmitt (1962–1965) and Rudolf Petzold (1965–1970), and piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 with Günter Ludwig. In 1971 he became a lecturer at the Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

 Academy for Music and Performing Arts, and in 1976 he was appointed Professor of Composition and Theory at the Hamburg Music and Theatre Hochschule. Since 1994 he has been Professor of Composition at the State Hochschule for Music and the Performing Arts of Heidelberg

Heidelberg

-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...

-Mannheim

Mannheim

Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....

.

Music

Leyendecker's music, although not serial, is largely atonal, but often with subtle hints of tonality. He employs regular time signatures in his pieces, yet does not sound so for he utilizes carefully calculated and complex rhythms. His music often contains novel sonic architectures, while still managing to express powerful emotions directly to the listener. He often employs classical abstract forms such as the symphony and concerto form while avoiding operas and ballets.

Orchestral

• Symphonies
  • Symphony No. 1 (1974)
  • Symphony No. 2 (1985)
  • Symphony No. 3 (1990-1)
  • Symphony No. 4 (1997)
  • Symphony No. 5 (Concerto for Orchestra) (2000)
• Con espressione (1979)
• Verwandlung, five pieces for chamber orchestra (1980)
• Impromptu (1981)
• Erinnerung, symphonic movement (1995)
• Penseés sur un Prélude, variations on a prelude by Debussy (2001)
• Evocation (2006)
• Mannheim Concerto (2006), for 2 chamber orchestras

Concertante

• Piano Concerto (1980)
• Cello Concerto (1983)
• Violin Concerto (1995)
• Guitar Concerto (2004/05)
• Viola Concerto (2007/08)

Vocal

• Two Chinese Songs, for soprano and piano (1964)
• Nocturne, for bass and orchestra (1968)
• Versunken in die Nacht, for soprano and chamber orchestra (1981)
• Canción última, for alto and chamber ensemble (1983)
• Nocturne, for soprano and four cellos (1987)
• Chamber Concerto (1989)
• Hebrew Ballads
  • version for mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet, harp, viola, and double-bass (1993)
  • version for mezzo-soprano and piano (1993)
• Serenade
  • version for soprano, violin/viola, saxophone, and percussion (1997)
  • version for soprano, viola, bass clarinet, and piano (2001)

Chamber

• String Trio No. 1 (1966)
• Trio for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano (1964/7)
• Maqam, for violin, cello, and piano (1967)
• String Trio No. 2 (1972)
• String Quartet No. 1 (1978)
• String Quartet No. 2 (1987)
• Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp (1988)
• String Quartet No. 3 (1989)
• Quintet for Bass Clarinet and String Quartet (2000)
• Midnight Music, for guitar and harp (2008)

Instrumental

• Clarinet Sonata (1966)
• Canto, for solo violin (1979)
• Verso Parsifal, for guitar (1982)
• Etude for Viola (1989)
• Two Etudes for Bass Clarinet (1990)

Piano

• Sonata for Two Pianos (1985)
• 13 Bagatelles (1989)
• Ricercar, for two pianos (1993)
• Impromptu, for two pianos (1994)

External links

• Leyendecker, Ulrich Biography on Sikorsky.de site (in English)
• Ulrich Leyendecker Longer biography from Sikorsky.de in PDF format (in English)