Robert Hill (musician)
Encyclopedia
Robert Stephen Hill is an American harpsichord
ist and fortepianist
. Since 1990 he is "Professor of Historical Keyboard Instruments, Performance Practice and Chamber Music" at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg
, Germany.
Robert Hill studied harpsichord with Gustav Leonhardt
at the Amsterdam Conservatory (Soloist Diploma 1974). He completed his Ph.D. thesis about Bach
at Harvard University in 1987.
Amongst the awards he has received are: Erwin Bodky Award (1982), a NEA Solo Recitalist Award (1983), and the Noah Greenberg Award (1988), Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik
(2001), Cannes Classical Award (1999), Diapason d'Or
(2008).
The works of Bach
are central to his recorded repertoire. He has performed with numerous musicians including Reinhard Goebel
, Gottfried von der Goltz
, Dmitry Sitkovetsky
, Christian Tetzlaff
, Kim Kashkashian
, Helmut Müller-Brühl
, Nicholas McGegan
, Thomas Zehetmair
; and orchestras such as the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Cologne Chamber Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia
, etc.
His brother is the instrument-builder Keith Hill.
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
ist and fortepianist
Fortepiano
Fortepiano designates the early version of the piano, from its invention by the Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700 up to the early 19th century. It was the instrument for which Haydn, Mozart, and the early Beethoven wrote their piano music...
. Since 1990 he is "Professor of Historical Keyboard Instruments, Performance Practice and Chamber Music" at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg
Hochschule für Musik Freiburg
The Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Freiburg is a public music academy subsidized by the State of Baden-Württemberg for academic research and artistic and pedagogical training in music.-History:The Hochschule was initially founded as a municipal institution in 1946 under the direction of Gustav...
, Germany.
Robert Hill studied harpsichord with Gustav Leonhardt
Gustav Leonhardt
Gustav Leonhardt is a highly renowned Dutch keyboard player, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. Leonhardt has been a leading figure in the movement to perform music on period instruments...
at the Amsterdam Conservatory (Soloist Diploma 1974). He completed his Ph.D. thesis about Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
at Harvard University in 1987.
Amongst the awards he has received are: Erwin Bodky Award (1982), a NEA Solo Recitalist Award (1983), and the Noah Greenberg Award (1988), Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik
Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik
The Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik is an annual prize presented for achievement in recorded music.It was inaugurated in Germany in 1963 by publisher Richard Kaselowsky with the aim of recognizing the "most rigorous standards for supreme achievement" in the field of recording.The awards...
(2001), Cannes Classical Award (1999), Diapason d'Or
Diapason d'Or
The Diapason d'Or is a recommendation of outstanding classical music recordings given by reviewers of Diapason magazine in France, broadly equivalent to "Editor's Choice", "Disc of the Month" in the British Gramophone magazine....
(2008).
The works of Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
are central to his recorded repertoire. He has performed with numerous musicians including Reinhard Goebel
Reinhard Goebel
Reinhard Goebel is a German conductor and violinist specialising in early music on authentic instruments. Goebel received his first violin lessons at the age of twelve...
, Gottfried von der Goltz
Gottfried von der Goltz
Gottfried von der Goltz is a German-Norwegian violinist and conductor, specialising in the baroque repertoire. His first teachers were his parents, Georg Conrad von der Goltz and Kirsti Hjort. After further education in Hannover, New York and Freiburg he joined the radio orchestra of the...
, Dmitry Sitkovetsky
Dmitry Sitkovetsky
Dmitry Sitkovetsky is a Russian violinist and conductor.- Early life :Dmitry Sitkovetsky was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, to violinist Julian Sitkovetsky and pianist Bella Davidovich. His father died in 1958, when Sitkovetsky was just three years old and the family moved to Moscow where Dmitry...
, Christian Tetzlaff
Christian Tetzlaff
-Biography:Tetzlaff was born in Hamburg. He began playing the violin and piano at the age of 6, and made his concert debut at 14 years old. He studied with Uwe-Martin Haiberg at the Musikhochschule Lübeck and with Walter Levine at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.He is...
, Kim Kashkashian
Kim Kashkashian
Kim Kashkashian is an Armenian-American violist.-Professional career:Kim Kashkashian studied the viola with Karen Tuttle. She also studied at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. She won the 2nd prize at the 1980 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and the 1980 ARD International Music...
, Helmut Müller-Brühl
Helmut Müller-Brühl
Helmut Müller-Brühl is a German conductor.Müller-Brühl is a former pupil of Hermann Abendroth, the founder of Cologne Chamber Orchestra. In 1958, Müller-Brühl invited this orchestra to be the principal orchestra for concerts given at his family home, Schloss Brühl...
, Nicholas McGegan
Nicholas McGegan
Nicholas McGegan OBE is a British harpsichordist, flautist, conductor and early music expert....
, Thomas Zehetmair
Thomas Zehetmair
Thomas Zehetmair is an Austrian violinist and conductor. He studied at the Salzburg Mozarteum, where both of his parents taught. His festival debut was at age 16. He was in master classes with Nathan Milstein and Max Rostal....
; and orchestras such as the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Cologne Chamber Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia
Northern Sinfonia
The Northern Sinfonia is a British chamber orchestra, based initially in Newcastle upon Tyne, and currently in Gateshead. For the first 46 years of its history, the orchestra gave the bulk of its concerts at the City Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne. Since 2004, the orchestra has been resident at The...
, etc.
His brother is the instrument-builder Keith Hill.
Writings
- Music and Performance During the Weimar Republic - Chapter 3: "Overcoming Romanticism": On the modernization of twentieth century performance practice
- About Bach - Carl Reinecke’s Performance of Mozart’s Larghetto and the Nineteenth-Century Practice of Quantitative Accentuation
Recordings
- Naxos
- Hänssler Classic
- MDG (Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm)
- cpo
- DG-Archiv
- Olympia
- Ars Musici
- Music&Arts
External links
- Robert Hill Live - Blog
- Youtube channel "earlymus"
- Biography (www.bach-cantatas.com)