Works
3 Galgenlieder Version for high voice and piano, 2024, ca. 6`
Crazy Sunday Morning with Henry VIII for orchestra, 2024, ca. 8`
Wondrous Story for alto flute, 2024, ca. 9`
Tributes to Rock for violin and guitar, 2024, ca. 15`
1. A Tribute to Yes
2. A Tribute to Gentle Giant
3. A Tribute to Jethro Tull
Morgensternlieder for high voice and guitar, ca. 6`
Confronting Silence (Hommage à Toru Takemitsu) for 9 solo instruments, ca. 9`
Ensemble: Alto Flute, Cor Anglais, Percussion, Guitar, Violin I & II, Viola, Violoncello, Contrabass
Adagio for harpsichord and string quintet, ca. 5`
This piece is a reminiscence of baroque chamber music, although very alienated. Energetic and meditative sections remind of the affects in ancient music.
O Captain! my captain! for mixed choir (SATB), 5` 30``
Based on the poem of the same name by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
Impressions of a Summer Night in an Old Town for guitar and orchestra, ca. 17`
1. Walking through the town
2. Cathedral, Castle & Bridge
3. Rocking the town in the Night
This composition is based on an orchestral work entitled Summer Night in an Old Town, which I wrote in 2020. Even if the titles of the movements have remained the same, it is an independent work with completely new ideas and elements. It has not yet been performed.
Drei Galgenlieder for vocal sextet, 2023, ca. 5`
Three poems from the cycle Galgenlieder by Christian Morgenstern: 1. Der Lattenzaun, 2. Der Tanz, 3. Das ästhetische Wiesel
Es ist Nacht for vocal quintet, 2023, ca. 2`
Based on the poem of the same name by Christian Morgenstern. The line-up is: 3 sopranos, tenor and bass.
Im Winter for mixed choir (SATB) a cappela, 2023, ca. 3`
The poem of the same name by Georg Trakl (1887-1914) was put in music. The expressiveness of the words finds its equivalent in the music.
Après la guerre for orchestra, 2023, 11`15``
This piece was created under the impression of the Ukraine war: the shocking images shown daily of the extent of the destruction, the desperate people who have lost their loved ones and their belongings, but also the anger towards those who caused all this. Physically and mentally injured limp through the alleys, and then silence again ...
A recording of the piece with virtual instruments appeared on YouTube, visualized by an image collage. There is also an interview about the creation of the work. Both videos s. Video
On April 4, 2024, Après la guerre will be premiered at Carnegie Hall, New York, by the New York Chamber Players under the baton of Giacomo Franci, s. News and Concerts
Concerto for guitar and orchestra, 2023, ca. 19 `
1. Turbulence
2. Dreaming
3. Quintessence
Almost A Tribute for violin and guitar, 2022, ca. 11`
1. Vivace
2. Dark and misterious
3. Allegro - Lento - Allegro
UA: 7. 10. 2022, Regensburg, Don Bosco Zentrum, Beatrix Leinhäupl, Violine, Rainer Stegmann, Gitarre
In this composition I remember my love for progressive rock, which has been going on since my youth. In addition to the well-known rock elements, this music also has echoes of classical music (up to atonality) and jazz. An exciting mixture, to which I pay tribute here. S. Video
Prologue for solo guitar, 2022, ca. 3`15``
UA: 7. 10. 2022, Regensburg, Don Bosco Zentrum, Rainer Stegmann, guitar
Strange Bird Singing In The Night for solo alto flute, ca. 7`, s. Audio & Video
UA: 8. 10. 2022, Regensburg, Don Bosco Zentrum, Carlos Araújo, Alto flute
Talking, Joking, Dreaming for violoncello and guitar, ca. 8`
UA: 7. 10. 2022, Regensburg, Don Bosco Zentrum, Tomasz Skweres, violoncello, Rainer Stegmann, guitar
This work is a dialogue between cello and guitar. You talk, joke and dream. A humorous and playful piece. S. Video
Wolkenstein for recorders and percussion, 2021, ca. 4`, s. Audio
UA: 21. 10. 2021, Neutraubling, Kulturhaus, Duo Enßle/Lamprecht
Fantasy on Mozart`s ´Stück für ein Orgelwerk` KV 594
for flute, clarinet, violin and violoncello, 2021, ca. 3`
UA: 2. 10. 2021, Regensburg, Don Bosco Zentrum, Mathilde Leleu, flute, Michael Wolf, clarinet, Yui Iwata-Skweres, violin, Tomasz Skweres, violoncello
Hommage à Chick Corea for vibraphone and guitar, 2021, ca. 6`
UA: 1. 10. 2021, Regensburg, Don Bosco Zentrum, Antonino Secchia, vibraphone, Rainer Stegmann, guitar
Conversation for orchestra, 2021, ca. 10` 20"
This work for large orchestra is primarily about entertainment between different orchestra groups. As is usually the case among people, it is not always just harmonious. In a figurative sense, Conversation describes the discussion among people in general, e.g. in discussions, political debates and talk shows. At some point, everything gets more or less out of hand until everyone calms down again and then thewhole thing starts all over again. A humorous piece in which it humanizes. Recording of the new version, s. Audio
Say Yes To Life for solo violin, 2021, ca. 2`, s. Video
This composition was created for the video project "From the Lockdown" (see News) and is dedicated to violinist Katharina Strobel, who recorded the work for the project.
Summer Night In An Old Town
2 versions: 1. Guitar and String Quartet, 2. Orchestra, 2020/23, ca. 16`
1. Walking through the town
2. Cathedral, Castle & Bridge
3. Rocking the town in the night
First performance of the version for guitar and string quartet: 16. 7. 2021 Regensburg, Don Bosco Zentrum, Andrei Ciobanu und Beatrix Leinhäupl, violins, Katharina Hippert, viola, Tomasz Skweres, violoncello, Rainer Stegmann, guitar, s. Video
I got the inspiration for this composition when I went through my hometown Regensburg on a summer evening. You can always discover new things there, traditional and modern, different cultures and nationalities, a wonderful diversity. Sometimes you pass an old building and remember the important history of the city, but then you continue listening to loud rock or jazz music from a pub, finally silence again and then organ sounds or Baroque music from a church. All this is reflected in these three movements.
There is a recording of the orchestral version on YouTube, created for virtual instruments. You can read the score when listening to the music. S. Video
After Darkness for violin and guitar (2019), ca. 14`
1. Dark and mysterious
2. Lento - Allegro - Lento
3. Vivace - Calmo - vivace
UA: 9. 6. 2019 Regensburg, Theater, Beatrix Leinhäupl, violin, Rainer Stegmann, guitar
I started the composition on a dark, cold, uncomfortable winter day. Accordingly, the first movement begins. My idea was to get out of this darkness musically by changing the themes presented in the first movement in the following two movements and putting them in an increasingly lighter, positive context. The musical themes wander from the darkness into the light, so to speak.
As in most of my compositions, there is a mixture of different styles in After Darkness. Tonal-free sections alternate with tonal and strictly contrapuntal with quasi-improvisational and rocky.
Audio examples s. Audio
Notturno für die gefühllos Lebenden for solo guitar (2017/18), ca. 5`
UA: 1. 10. 2021 Regensburg, Don Bosco Zentrum, Rainer Stegmann, guitar
This composition is reminiscent of Notturno for the griefless dying of the Frankfurt composer Rolf Riehm from 1977, whose impressive premiere at the Frankfurt University of Music by guitarist Helmut Oesterreich I witnessed as a young student. Riehm's play refers to the fierce public debate at the time on how to deal with the RAF terrorists who died in Stuttgart prison. The Stuttgart OB wanted to have them buried, but received massive resistance and threat letters. The sound became rougher and rougher, and sentences from the population came such as " Throw them into the sewage treatment plant!" Riehm did not sympathize with the terrorists at all, but he wanted to point out that even the worst criminals are entitled to a decent burial.
Musically, Riehm's Notturno has nothing in common with mine, but I also refer to inhumanity. Especially in the current corona situation, I perceive an increasingly strong selfishness. Many believe they are worst affected and do not see that others are doing much worse. This lack of empathy is dangerous and foolish at the same time, because we will only get out of this crisis together. Feelless people are the main cause of unrest in the world. My piece is therefore gloomy and sometimes harsh and spares neither listeners nor performers.
Studio recording s. Audio
Study for solo guitar (2017), ca. 5`
This piece is intended for advanced guitarists. The difficulty lies above all in the tuning of the three bass strings in front of the middle part and the tuning back before the final part. The scordature is composed into the piece.
Studio Recording s. Audio
Call?Recall! for solo guitar (2017), ca. 9`
UA: 12. 9. 2017 Regensburg, Minoritenkirche, Rainer Stegmann, guitar
The piece was created for the international festival REVERB on the 12th. 9. 2017 in the Minorite Church in Regensburg. This church is known for its long echo. The idea was to sound different music every hour for a whole day (from early morning to late evening), which comes into its own particularly well in these special acoustic contrasts. The title Call? Recall! Reveals what it's all about: a question and answer game, not only by gradations in dynamics and by different pitches but also by echoes, caused by the long reverberation. The piece can also be performed in rooms without a special reverb effect, but it only unfolds its special charm in churches, castles and specially designed rooms.
The Blue Light (Hommage à Jon Lord) for violin and guitar (2017), ca. 14`
1. Moderato
2. Lento e mesto
3. Vivace - contemplativo - vivace
UA: 7.4. 2017 Regensburg, Neupfarrkirche, Beatrix Leinhäupl, violin, Rainer Stegmann, guitar
Jon Lord (1941 - 2012) was a cross-border cross between classical and rock. Classically trained on the piano and in composition, he first devoted himself to rock music and became world famous with the band Deep Purple, founded by him in 1968. At the same time, however, he didn't let go of his love for classical music, so he tried to connect both genres again and again, for example in the Deep Purple songs "April," "Highway Star" or "Burn." However, his "Concerto for Group and Orchestra" (1969) is a particularly successful combination of classical and rock. This was the most important source of inspiration for my composition. The title The Blue Light refers to the many rocking and bluesy elements that appear between the "classic," often polyphonic sections. The second movement is a dark Passacaglia. In the middle, after a short rocking outbreak, I quote a small melody from the second movement of Lords Concerto. The beginning of the third movement is a little reminiscent of the Deep Purple song ´The Unwritten Law`. Before returning to the beginning I briefly quote one of the band's biggest hits, Black Night.
Hommage à Cervantes for solo guitar (2016), ca. 19`
1. Don Q.
2. Passacaglia
3. The Fight With The Windmills s. Video
4. Sancho s. Video
UA: 7.4. 2017 Regensburg, Neupfarrkirche, Rainer Stegmann, guitar
The four-movement suite Hommage à Cervantes is reminiscent of the great Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547 - 1616) and his world-famous novel Don Quixote. The composition was about the different time levels in this novel, among others. That's why it contains echos of various musical epochs and styles. For example, the main theme of the first movement 'Don Q.' is typical of the early Baroque period. It describes Don Quixote as an educated person. However, this drifts into a fantasy world of the past, which is represented by simple quint and quartar sounds. We, today's readers, are portrayed with a contemporary sound language that usually moves freely and also slides into the atonal.
The second movement is an old-style Passacaglia with rather subtle innovations in harmony. It serves to describe the cultural environment of Cervantes at the origin of the novel.
The grotesque efforts of Quixote, the windmills, which he considers to be giants, to master, and the constantly rotating wind turbines are represented in the third movement by a musical perpetuum mobile, only interrupted by a middle part in which the brave knight recovers and then plunge into battle again.
The fourth movement is dedicated to Sancho, the faithful companion Don Quixotes. He is a simple farmer, uneducated, but equipped with common sense. 'Sancho' has to do without the Fugati in Baroque style, but it contains harmoniously and playfully bold passages that illuminate his bravery, but also anxious, "trembling" moments and finally rocky sections that characterize his down-to-earthness.