Degen, Helmut

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Degen, Helmut

Degen, Helmut , German composer and teacher; b. Aglasterhausen, near Heidelberg, Jan. 14, 1911; d. Trossingen, Oct. 2,1995. He studied piano, composition, and conducting at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, then took courses at the Univ. of Bonn with Schiedermair and Schrade. He taught at the Duisburg Cons., and at the Trossingen Hochschulinstitut für Musik. His music was couched in a well-defined, neo-classical idiom, with strong points of reference to Baroque forms. He publ. a Handbuch der Formenlehre (Regensburg, 1957).

Works

ORCH. Piano Concerto (1940); Organ Concerto (1943); Concertino for 2 Clarinets and Orch. (1944); Cello Concerto (1945); 3 syms. (1945,1947, 1948); Symphonisches Spiel I (1956), // for Violin, Cello, Piano, and Orch. (1957), and III (1960); Triptychon (1952). CHAMBER : 2 string quartets (1941, 1950); Piano Trio (1943); Concerto for Harpsichord and 6 Instruments (1945); Trio for Flute, Viola, and Clarinet (1950); Saxophone Sonata (1950); Nonet for Wind Instruments and Strings (1951); 4 piano sonatas; numerous concert studies. VOCAL: Choruses.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire