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Classical music: composer Paul-Heinz Dittrich is dead – culture

Dittrich was regarded as an important representative of advanced music in the GDR and set numerous works to music, including by Paul Celan. Photo: dpa / Daniel Reinhardt



He set literature by Samuel Beckett, Franz Kafka and Paul Celan to music; the Akademie der Künste describes him as one of the most influential artistic personalities of the past decades: Paul-Heinz Dittrich has now died at the age of 90.

Berlin – The composer Paul-Heinz Dittrich is dead. He died on Monday in Zeuthen near Berlin at the age of 90, the Academy of Arts announced on Thursday. With his work he had decisively shaped the modern history of music, it was said. He is considered one of the most formative artistic personalities of the past decades. He set literature by Samuel Beckett, Franz Kafka, James Joyce, Heiner Müller and especially Paul Celan to music.

Visiting professor in Freiburg and Los Angeles

Dittrich studied composition from 1958 to 1960 as a master student with Rudolf Wagner-Régeny. Since 1983 he was a member of the Academy of the Arts of the GDR and trained master class students until 1991. Dittrich was considered an important representative of advanced music in the GDR.

He was visiting professor in Freiburg / Breisgau (1979), Los Angeles (1980) and Tel Aviv (1990) as well as at IRCAM Paris (1984). From 1990 to 2002 he was Professor of Composition at the Hanns Eisler Music Academy in Berlin. In 1991 he founded the Brandenburg Colloquium for New Music, which he directed until 2000. According to the information, his legacy is already in the archive of the Academy of Arts.



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