Pepping, Ernst
Pepping, Ernst
Pepping, Ernst, distinguished German composer and pedagogue; b. Duisburg, Sept. 12, 1901; d. Berlin, Feb. 1, 1981. He studied with Gmeindl at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. He taught at the Berlin-Spandau Church Music School (from 1934); was also a prof. at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik (1953–68). He publ. Stilwende der Musik (Mainz, 1934) and Der polyphone Satz: vol. I, Der cantus-firmus-Satz (Berlin, 1943; 2nd ed., 1950), and vol. II, Übungen im doppelten Kontrapunkt und im Kanon (Berlin, 1957). In 1989 the Ernst-Pepping- Gesellschaft was organized. By virtue of his lifelong association with Lutheran Church culture, Pepping acquired a profound understanding of German polyphonic music, both sacred and secular. He was a significant composer of German chorales; also produced 3 notable syms. A neo-Baroque penchant is discernible in all of his works.
Works
orch.:Prelude (1929); Invention (1930); Partita (1934); Lust hab ich g’habt zur Musika: Variationen zu einem Liedsatz von Senfi (1937); 3 syms.: No. I (1939), No. 2 (1942), and No. 3, Die Tageszeiten (1944); Serenade (1944–45); Variations (1949); Piano Concerto (1950); 2 Orchesterstücke über eine Chanson des Binchois (1958). chamber: String Quartet (1943); Flute Sonata (1958). keyboard:Piano: Various pieces, including 4 sonatas (1937–45). Organ: Grosses Orgelbuch (3 vols., 1939); 2 concertos (both 1941); 3 Fugues on BACH (1943); 3 partitas: No. 1, Ach wie flüchtig (1953), No. 2, Wer weiss, wie nahe mir mein Ende (1953), and No. 3, Mit Fried und Freud (1953); 12 Chorale Preludes (1958); Sonata (1958). vocal(all for a cappella chorus unless otherwise given): sacred:Deutsche Choralmesse (1928); Choralbuch (30 works; 1931); Spandauer Chorbuch (20 vols., 1935–38; rev. by G. Grote, 4 vols., 1962); Missa “Dona nobis pacem” (1948); Te Deum for Solo Voices, Chorus, and Orch. (1956); Die Weihnachtsgeschichte des Lukas (1959); Aus hartem Weh die Menschheit klagt (1964); Psalm CXXXIX for Alto, Chorus, and Orch. (1964); Deines Lichtes Glanz (1967). secular:Sprüche und Lieder (1930); Lob der Träne (1940); 33 Volkslieder for Women’s or Children’s Chorus (1943); Die wandelnde Glocke (1952); also song cycles.
Bibliography
H. Poos, ed., Festschrift E. P. (Berlin, 1972); K. Huschen, Studien zum Motettenschaffen E. P.s (Regensburg, 1987); M. Heinemann and H. Poos, eds., Analysen zum Schaffen der Jahre 1926–1949: Im Auftrag der E.-P.-Gesellschaft (Kassel, 1996).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kaun/Dennis McIntire