Brunhilde Sonntag was a German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 composer, musicologist and music teacher.

Biography

Brunhilde Sonntag was born in Kassel

Kassel

Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. She studied organ at the School of Church Music in Schlüchtern

Schlüchtern

Schlüchtern is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hessen, Germany. It is located on the river Kinzig at the southwest of a hill called Landrücken, approx. 30 km southwest of Fulda.-History:...

 and education at the Pedagogical Institute Jugenheim. From 1959-63 she worked as a teacher at the Friedrich Ebert School in Frankfurt

Frankfurt

Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

 and took private composition lessions from Kurt Hessenberg

Kurt Hessenberg

Kurt Hessenberg was a German composer and professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt am Main.- Life :...

. From 1963-69 she studied composition at the Hochschule for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 with Otto Siegl and Gottfried von Einem

Gottfried von Einem

Gottfried von Einem was an Austrian composer. He is known chiefly for his operas influenced by the music of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, as well as by jazz. He also composed pieces for piano, violin and organ.-Biography:...

, and took a teaching position in the Department of Music of the Justus Liebig University, Giessen

University of Giessen

The University of Giessen is officially called the Justus Liebig University Giessen after its most famous faculty member, Justus von Liebig, the founder of modern agricultural chemistry and inventor of artificial fertiliser.-History:The University of Gießen is among the oldest institutions of...

.

From 1973-77 Sonntag studied musicology at the Philipps-University in Marburg, and graduated with a PhD. She took a position as assistant professor at the College of Education Westfalen-Lippe, Münster Department. From 1981-92 she worked as a professor at the University-GH-Duisburg

University of Duisburg

-History:Its origins date back to the 1555 decision to create a university for the unified duchies at the Lower Rhine that were later to be merged into Prussia. After the foundation of an academic college in 1559, a university was founded in 1655 by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, the...

, and in 1992 took a position as professor at the University of Wuppertal

University of Wuppertal

The University of Wuppertal is a German scientific institution, located in Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia.The university, the full German name of which is Bergische Universität Wuppertal , was formed in 1972 and is located in the city of Wuppertal, within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia,...

.

Sonntag published a number of books and professional articles on music. She also served as co-editor of the Journal of Music Education, co-editor of the cultural magazine Sound Tracks, and editor of a series on music, art and consumerism in LIT Verlag, Münster.

Works

Sonntag composed for orchestra, chamber ensemble, voice, choir, and solo instrument. Selected works include:

• Auf einem Baum ein Kuckuck saß cantata (1958)
• Wenn die Tale blühn choral cantata (1958)
• Christ ist erstanden (1958)
• Hausbau-Stück for piano (1959)
• Schädelvariationen for soprano and paino (1967/68)
• Fantasie und Fuge über EGAH for organ (1976)
• Vier Klavierstücke (1978/1981)
• EKG collage (1981)
• Der tragische Tausendfüßler (1981)
• Hallelujah! Variationen über "Oh, when the Saints go marching in" for soprano, clarinet and piano (1981)
• Briefe an Verleger song for tenor and piano (1981)
• Kume, kum, Geselle min for organ (1982)
• Von guten Mächten (D. Bonhoeffer) for choir a cappella (1982)
• Fünf Lieder with text from P. Celan and R. Ausländer for soprano and piano (1983)
• Verwandlungen Studie for orchestra (1983)
• Aber ich sage Euch: Liebet Eure Feinde for choir, speaker and organ (1983)
• Flötenspiel song with test from H. Hesse (1984)
• Drei Miniaturen for oboe, clarinet, trumpet (1984)
• Fünf Miniaturen for organ (1984)
• Streichquartett (1984)
• Stagnationen trio for flute, horn and cello (1986)
• Spiegelungen for piano (with text) (1987)
• Akrostichon for solo guitar (1987)
• Tefilla for piano (19879
• Wiegenlied für Stefan for guitar solo (1988)
• Drei Lieder with text from Ulla Hahn for soprano and piano (1988)
• ANIMUS 2 for string quartet (1988)
• FARBENKUGEL for organ (1988)
• Et vitam venturi saeculi for organ (1988)
• DIALOG for guitar duo (1989)
• O Tod, wie bitter bist du for orchestra (1991)
• Fünf Lieder with Japanese text for soprano and guitar (1991)
• Rote Bänder for guitar duo (1991)
• Danse fatale for violin and accordion (1991)
• Fünf Lieder with text from Busta for soprano and guitar (1991)
• SOLO für Esther for solo chello (1991)
• Dein Schweigen ist groß" text from R. Ausländer and M. Jaroschka choir a cappella (1991)
• Wie grau es auch regnet three songs with text from G. Eich for soprano, oboe, flute and guitar (1992)
• Als wär's ein Engel for piano (1992)
• LAUDATE for tenor, violin and organ (1992)
• Musik for String Quartet (1992)
• Studie for flute, oboe, clarinet, violin, viola, and cello (1993)
• Es ist ein Schnitter, heißt der Tod for string quartet (1993)
• IRRITATIONEN song with text from J.v.Eichendorff, R.M. Rilke, H. Hesse, E. Burkart for mezzosoprano and piano (1994)
• DIE MÖVE JONATHAN for string quartet, flute, oboe, clarinet, trumpet and piano (1994)
• IRRITATIONEN with text from J.v.Eichendorff, R.M.Rilke, H.Hesse. E.Burkart for soprano, string quartet, flute, oboe, piano and guitar (1994)
• JAKOB LITTNERS AUFZEICHNUNGEN AUS EINEM ERDLOCH (W.Koeppen) music for speaker, string quartet, flute, oboe,trumpet and piano (1994)
• Bist ein Weinen in der Welt Songs with text from Else Lasker-Schüler for soprano and piano (1994)
• Zwei Klavierstücke (1994)
• Münchner Flötenduo for Elisabeth and Edmund Weinzierl-Wächter (1995)
• Ein trauriger Tag songs with text from Marta Krutul (1995)
• SHALOM (1995)

External links

• List of publications and compositions