Tiessen, (Richard Gustav) Heinz, German
Tiessen, (Richard Gustav) Heinz, German
Tiessen, (Richard Gustav) Heinz, German conductor, music critic, teacher, and composer; b. Königsberg, April 10, 1887; d. Berlin, Nov. 29, 1971. He studied music with Rufer and Klatte in Berlin. He was music critic of the Allgemeine Musikzeitung (1911-17); led Der Jungen Chor for children of workers (1922-32). In 1925 he was appointed to the faculty of the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin; from 1946 to 1949, was director of the Berlin Cons., returning in 1949 to the Hochschule. He left the Hochschule in 1955 to become director of the music division at the West Berlin Academy of the Arts. He publ. an autobiography, Wege eines Komponisten (Berlin, 1962). He composed in both traditional and modern idioms; birdcalls played a prominent role in a number of his works. His compositions include 2 syms. (1911, 1912), Totentanz-Suite for Violin and Orch. (1918; rev. as Visionen, 1954), Konzertante Variationen über eine eigene Tanzmelodie for Piano and Orch. (1962); Amsel-Septett for Flute, Clarinet, Horn, and String Quartet (1915; rev. 1957), String Quintet (1919-22), piano pieces, including a Sonata (1910), choruses, musical plays, and songs.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire