Vita
Eberhard Klemmstein (*1941 in Berlin) was already intensively exposed to classical music as a child. He sang for several years as a chorister in the Berlin State and Cathedral Choir under the direction of Professor Wolfgang Reimann. He received his instrumental training as a violist with Professor Emil Seiler at the Hochschule für Musik, Berlin. He later continued his studies with the Greek violin teacher Professor Takis Ktenaveas.
In 1964, Klemmstein founded the Reger Quartet, a string quartet, with which he performed extensively internationally for eleven years. During this time, he made numerous radio and record recordings (VOX) and television productions (NBC, New York).
From 1973 to 1979, he played as a freelance violist in several renowned Berlin orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic. During this time, he also began giving solo recitals and appeared at various international music festivals in the USA, Canada, and Germany. His musical partners included prominent artists such as Ruggiero Ricci, John Ogdon, Gary Karr, Grant Johannesen and Robert Aitken.
In September 1979, Klemmstein was appointed head of the Erlangen Music Institute. In Erlangen, he founded the Marteau Ensemble, a chamber music group with a larger formation. The ensemble performed in Germany, Russia, Canada, the USA, and Ireland, and made recordings for Bayerischer Rundfunk, Radio Bremen, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Klemmstein also gained recognition as an educator: many of his former students now play in top orchestras.
Since the late 1970s, Eberhard Klemmstein has been closely associated with Franconia and has become one of the defining figures in the region's music culture...
(from the two-hour special broadcast of Bayerischer Rundfunk featuring compositions by Eberhard Klemmstein in honor of his 75th birthday)
In the mid-1980s, Klemmstein increasingly turned to composition. Soon, high-caliber musicians began to perform his works with enthusiasm, recording them for broadcasting stations and at numerous CD labels such as Thorofon, Amitbus and Hey!classics.
The Friedrich Hofmeister Musikverlag in Leipzig published a considerable number of his works. In 2021, compositions were also published by Antes Edition for the first time.
Klemmstein's oeuvre today comprises almost eighty works, including chamber music for various ensembles, songs, symphonic works, choral works and a number of operas. Critics praise his effective, free-tonal style, which is characterized by striking themes, artistic workmanship and colorful instrumentation.
Voices
"... The fantasy on a theme by Joseph Haydn varies Haydn's famous melody from the "Emperor Quartet". Of course, you only recognize them gradually at the beginning, which keeps the tension high until the end. The piece is atmospheric and excellently composed in terms of craftsmanship..."
"Eberhard Klemmstein, a German composer of numerous chamber music works, songs, symphonies, and operas, is stylistically referred to as an Expressionist with a predominantly tonal imprint, but this classification does not necessarily do justice to the music, as Klemmstein cannot be neatly categorized. His 6th Symphony is characterized by good, concise themes. The virtuosic, lively scherzo and the dramatic finale are also very effective."
"...transparent instrumentation, shaped into striking motifs and condensed and executed in changing voices, Klemmstein approaches the well-known ethical questions anew in his opera 'The Eighth Day'…"
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