Köhler, Siegfried

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Köhler, Siegfried

Köhler, Siegfried, German composer, teacher, and administrator; b. Meissen, March 2, 1927; d. Berlin, July 14, 1984. He studied with MacGregor (piano), Hintze (conducting), and Finke (composition) at the Dresden Hochschule für Musik (1946–50) and with Serauky (musicology) and Jahn (art history) at the Univ. of Leipzig (Ph.D., 1955, with the diss. Die Instrumentation als Mittel musikalischer Ausdrucksgestaltung). In 1957 he became director of the Berlin International Music Library. After serving as artistic director of the Deutsche Schallplaten (1963–68), he was director of the Dresden Hochschule für Musik (1968–80), where he also was prof, of composition (from 1969). In 1982 he became president of the Assn. of Composers and Music Scholars of the German Democratic Republic. In 1983 he became Intendant of the Dresden State Opera.

Works

dramatic:Opera: Der Richter von Hohenburg (1963). orch.:Fröhliche Suite (1956); 5 syms. (1965–84); Concertino for Clarinet and Strings (1968); Piano Concerto (1972). vocal:Reich des Menschen, oratorio (1962); cantatas; choruses; various songs.

Bibliography

G. Schonfelder, S. K. für Sie porträtiert (Leipzig, 1984).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire