Markus Zahnhousen
Composer, Recorder Player, Teacher & Editor
Contents
Brief Biography
What the Critics say
Published Music & Critical Comments
The Modern Recorder Library: Editions by Markus Zahnhausen
Publishers
Discography & Recordings
Brief Biography
Markus Zahnhausen (b. Saarbrücken, 1965) is one of Europe's best-known performers
of and composers for the recorder. He received his musical training at the Richard
Strauss Conservatory in Munich and additionally studied musicology and Slavic
languages and literature at the universities in Trier and Munich. Since 1988 he has
taught recorder and chamber music at the Munich Volkshochschule. In 1994/5 he was
a visiting lecturer at the Carl Nielsen Academy of Music in Odense, Denmark, and at
the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen. As a music journalist he has worked for
the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts and regularly writes for the Bavarian Broadcasting
System and trade journals in Germany and abroad. His performances of early and
contemporary recorder music have led him throughout Europe in a great many concert
appearances, CD recordings, and radio and television broadcasts, including the
Moscow Autumn Festival, the St Petersburg Spring Festival, and performances in
Tatarstan and the Urals. His musical oeuvre includes orchestral works, choral pieces,
chamber music, and above all pieces with a special emphasis on the recorder.
Zahnhausen is chief editor of the Modern Recorder Library Series from Möseler in
Wolfenbüttel and has inspired many new works for the recorder from composers of
the stature of Rodion Shchedrin, Harald Genzmer, Günter Kochan, Hans Stadlmair,
Walter Mays, Boris Tishchenko and Ruth Zechlin.
What the Critics Say
Markus the Performer
"Lively artistry, humour and scintillating virtuosity."
- GEISENFELDER ZEITUNG, Germany
Markus the Composer
"Markus Zahnhausen is a most interesting young composer. I have
been studying his music long enough to realize that the seemingly
simple scores focus on truly musical expressions rather than on the
agility of the player's fingers. His style is very much his own. I
have discussed his musical language with other players - including
my students - and we all find it very attractive. In concerts the
response of the audience is a pleasant mixture of appreciation and
astonishment: it is contemporary and yet very beautiful !"
-- DAN LAURIN
"Markus Zahnhausen is one of the especially gifted and promising
German composers of the new generation. Each of his pieces is
brilliantly conceived, well-balanced, precise in its detail and
highly professional in its execution. I have full confidence in his
future."
-- Maestro RODION SHCHEDRIN, Moscow
Published Music
JAHRESZEICHEN (Signs of the Seasons), a demanding cycle for
recorder solo (A/S) in four parts
| Title |
English |
Publisher |
Catalogue number |
Price |
| FRÜHLINGSMUSIK |
Spring Music |
Möseler |
22.441 |
DEM 14,- |
| SOMMERKLÄNGE |
Summer Sounds |
Möseler |
22.442 |
DEM 14,- |
| HERBSTMUSIK |
Autumn Music |
Möseler |
22.439 |
DEM 12,- |
| WINTERBILDER |
Winter Images |
Möseler |
22.440 |
DEM 14,- |
"Besides a complete command of the composer's craft and a
stupendous understanding of the potential inherent in his
instrument, Zahnhausen has a fetching manner of dealing almost
playfully with his musical material."
-- WILFRIED HILLER, Munich
"I consider Jahreszeichen to be highly successful in many
different respect: this is music that appeals to us directly, not
because it is simplistic but because everything within it falls
into place."
-- HANS-MARTIN LINDE, Basle
"With this work Zahnhausen has set new standards and guideposts:
it is music composed with intelligence and wit that captivates the
listener, inspires the musician to practise and is in every respect
fun to play."
-- TIBIA, Germany
"With this ambitious and opulent cycle Zahnhausen has given us
plenty to get on with, and one hopes that we shall soon have more
from him."
-- THE RECORDER MAGAZINE, U.K.
"The most rivetting moment in the concert was doubtless Markus
Zahnhausen's Herbstmusik (Autumn music). It takes daring and
bravado to transform titles like Morning Mist, Leaves in
the Wind, Golden Beams and Premonition of Winter
with a few notes into music that is both deeply earnest and
appropriate. Rarely does one hear music that goes so directly to
the heart of the matter."
-- ALLGAUER ZEITUNG, Germany
LUX AETERNA, for recorder solo (Alto/Tenor or Voice
flute)
| Publisher |
Catalogue number |
Price |
| Möseler |
22.448 |
DEM 10,- |
"Markus Zahnhausen's Lux Aeterna belongs to a very
special category in my repertoire. The tender and dangerous beauty
of his music has fascinated me for years. In a contemporary musical
language Zahnhausen has managed to bring the instrument back to
what it once was: flauto - THE flute !
His expressive music never takes the instrument beyond its
limits, thus avoiding the "trap" of many a "modern" work. There is
a perfect balance between form, content and idiomatic writing that
places both his music and the recorder where they belong: in the
hearts of the listeners ! I have had a tremendous time when
studying Lux Aeterna. I sometimes wondered whether I played
the piece or the piece was playing me ..."
-- DAN LAURIN
"I was absolutely mesmerised by Zahnhausen's Lux Aeterna
(Eternal Light), a piece lasting no more than 4-5 minutes, but in
the right atmosphere, capable of transporting one into other
spheres. I promtly ordered all of his music for both myself and for
the Academy, and I disovered a very special new language for the
modern recorder: uniquely beautiful, technically demanding and
posing many challenges with regards to sound, colour, dynamics and
tempo rubato. I highly recommend Zahnhausen's music for all
professional recorder players and for serious students looking for
challenging new repertoire from this century."
-- VICKI BOECKMAN, Copenhagen
"Here Markus Zahnhausen has created an arc of musical tension
that makes one stand up and listen in the fullest sense of the
term. With spare and subtle means he has written a work for
recorder that stands far apart from the general run of contemporary
recorder music (with its penchant for superficial gimmickry) and
sets out on untrodden paths."
-- TIBIA, Germany
"Beyond peradventure the high point of the evening was Markus
Zahnhausen's ascetic portrayal of the Eternal Light in Lux
Aeterna."
-- FRIDE JANSON, Sweden
FLAUTO DOLCE SOLO, Seven pieces for alto recorder solo
| Publisher |
Catalogue number |
Price |
| Doblinger |
04.457 |
DEM 22,- |
"These pieces cater for concert hall, studio and cabaret in
spectacular fashion."
-- THE RECORDER MAGAZINE, U.K.
"Markus Zahnhausen's most important achievement is that he has
avoided writing soulless music in which one technical gimmick
follows another; instead he has created seven pieces of contrasting
character full of colour, light and shade, and real humour."
-- JEANNE DOLMETSCH, Haslemere U.K.
"An interesting melange of good music for every taste - pieces
that are rewarding to practise and fun to play."
-- TIBIA, Germany
"If the performer will reproduce, with the same wit, what the
composer has so magnificently produced in these pieces, they will
become a rare delight for everyone concerned."
-- SCHWEIZERISCHE MUSIKPADAGOGISCHE BLATTER,
Switzerland
MUSICA INQUIETA, Solo-Sonata for alto recorder
| Publisher |
Catalogue number |
Price |
| Doblinger |
04.461 |
DEM 20,- |
"An excellent piece of uneasy music for the advanced
player."
-- THE RECORDER MAGAZINE, U.K.
KLANGREDEN, Duets for alto recorder and transverse
flute
| Publisher |
Catalogue number |
Price |
| Doblinger |
04.462 |
DEM 25,- |
"These highly emotional pieces can be truly said to enrich the
repertoire in their special way."
-- SCHWEIZERISCHE MUSIKPADAGOGISCHE BLATTER,
Switzerland
"These pieces exploit the tone qualities of both instruments in
an enterprising and varied way."
-- MUSIC BULLETIN, U.K.
"Markus Zahnhausen's "KLANGREDEN" formed the high point of the
evening, offering a fascinating dialogue between the treble
recorder and the transverse flute."
-- REMSCHEIDER ZEITUNG, Germany
LYRISCHE SZENEN (Lyric Scenes) for recorder solo (S/A/T/Voice-Flute), 1992
| Publisher |
Catalogue number |
Price |
| Möseler |
22.601 |
|
LUX AETERNA for Recorder solo (A/T/Voice-Flute), 1992/94
| Publisher |
Catalogue number |
Price |
| Möseler |
22.448 |
|
RUSSISCHE SKIZZEN (Russian Sketches) for Recorder solo (A), 1997
| Publisher |
Catalogue number |
Price |
| Manuscript |
|
|
RÖMISCHE SKIZZEN (Roman Sketches) -- Cantata profana for Voices (SSAA),Recorder (S) and Percussion, 1997
| Publisher |
Catalogue number |
Price |
| Möseler, in preparation |
|
|
HORNS OF ELFLAND -- (Fragments in Memory of Benjamin Britten) for Tenor
Recorder solo, 1999
| Publisher |
Catalogue number |
Price |
| Schott |
in press |
|
NUNC EST BIBENDUM! -- Spectaculum for Speaking Choir, Recorder (Sino/S/A/T)
and Percussion, 1999
| Publisher |
Catalogue number |
Price |
| Manuscript |
|
|
The Modern Recorder Library: Editions by Markus Zahnhausen
- Markus Zahnhausen (b.1965): Lyrische Szenen (Lyric Scenes) -- Three Fantasias for
Recorder solo (S/A/T/Voice-Flute), 1992 (Möseler 22.601)
- G.Ph.Telemann: Zwei Konzerte (Two Concertos) arranged for 4 Alto Recorders by
Markus Zahnhausen (after the Concertos for four violins) (Möseler 22.602)
- Victor Alcántara (b.1975): Invisible Poem for Recorder (S) and Piano, 1996 (Möseler
22.603)
- Talks -- Disputes -- Gossips (Contemporary Recorder Duets) Compositions by
Vladislav Kazenin, Minas Borboudakis, Franz Tröger, Werner Rottler and Rüdiger
Meyer) (Möseler 22.604)
- Werner Rottler (b.1939): Ein tierisches Vergnügen (A Beastly Pleasure) for Recorder
(S) and Piano (Möseler 22.605)
- Hans Stadlmair (b.1929): Concerto sereno for Recorder (Sino/S/A/B) and Strings,
1997 (Piano Reduction) (Möseler 22.606)
- Ruth Zechlin (b.1926): Hommage à Henry Purcell for Recorder (S/T) and Harpsichord,
1997 (Möseler 22.607)
- Holger Hoffmann (b.1958): Hinter den Sieben Bergen (Behind the Seven Mountains) for
three Recorders (Möseler 22.608)
- Günter Kochan (b.1930): Music for Alto Recorder and Harpsichord, 1996 (Möseler 22.609)
- G.Ph.Telemann: Gulliver-Suite (1728) arranged for two Alto Recorders by Markus
Zahnhausen (Möseler 22.611)
- Walter Mays (b.1941): Moon Dances (Three Native American Sketches) for Recorder
solo (A/T/Voice-Flute), 1999 (Möseler 22.612)
Publishers
Möseler-Verlag
Postfach 1661
D-38286 Wolfenbüttel
Germany
tel. +49 5331 9597-0
fax +49 5331 9597-20
email music@doblinger.co.at
Doblinger-Verlag
Postfach 882
A-1011 Wien
Austria
tel. +43 1 51503-0
fax +43 1 51503-51
Discography & Recordings
- CARL ORFF: ORFF SCHULWERK. Volume 1 / Musica poetica); (Volume 2 / Musik fur Kinder). CELESTIAL HARMONIES 13104-2, 13105-2. Markus Zahnhausen (recorder).
The first digital recording in commemoration of the 100th birthday of the composer produced in cooperation with his estate, and featuring performers who had worked with Orff during his lifetime. Details.
- JAHRESZEICHEN (Tape at the Bavarian Radio, Munich). Markus Zahnhausen (recorders).
- JENS ROHWER: SONATA FOR ALTO RECORDER AND HARPSICHORD (Tape at the Bavarian Radio, Munich). Markus Zahnhausen (recorder), Franz Troger (Harpsichord).
- JUBILATE. > Zahnhausen: Römische Skizzen (Roman Sketches) for Voices (SSAA), Recorder (S)
and percussion . Choir "Ulrich von Hutten", Jürgen Heine. METRIX CD 865/2 (available via Markus Zahnhausen / e-mail: flautodiritto@aol.com.
- KLANGREDEN (Tape at the Bavarian Radio, Munich). Markus Zahnhausen (recorders), Ferenc-Szelim Bene (transverse flute).
- KLANGREDEN -- Contemporary Music for Recorder Klangreden (Duets for Recorder and Transverse Flute), Flauto Dolce Solo (complete), as well as works by Hans Stadlmair, Sabine Federspieler, Markus Zahnhausen. Markus Bartholomé (recorder), Sandra Stini (flute), Thomas Schmögner (Fortepiano). CADENZA 800 918.
- LYRISCHE SZENEN (Lyric Scenes). Signs of the Seasons (complete), Lux aeterna, Musica inquieta, Lyric Scenes. Susanna Laurin (recorder). BIS CD-1013.
- MUSICA INQUIETA (Tape at the Bavarian Radio, Munich). Markus Bartholomé (recorder)
- STEINGARTENSTILLE. Klingende Zeit (complete) as well as works by W.Hiller, M.Borboudakis and A. Uhle. Markus Zahnhausen (recorder), Simon Pauly (Baritone), Ryuichi Rainer Suzuki (Violoncello), Andreas Skouras (Piano). TRAURIGE TROPEN 007 (distributed by NRW).
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