Gruppe Neue Musik Hanns Eisler

Founded in 1970 in Leipzig by composer and trombone player Friedrich Schenker and oboe player Burkhard Glaetzner, Gruppe Neue Musik Hanns Eisler was the most important ensemble for contemporary music in East Germany. Alongside Ensemble intercontemporain and Ensemble Modern it was also one of the most respected contemporary chamber music ensembles in Europe. Its regular conductors were Max Pommer, Friedrich Goldmann and Christian Münch. More than 250 first performances by more than 70 composers include Edison Denisov's Trio, Nicolaus A. Huber's Demijour, Luca Lombardi's Einklang, Wolfgang Rihm's Kalt, Friedrich Goldmann's Konzert für Posaune und 3 Instrumentalgruppen, Luigi Nono's Kolomb. and Iannis Xenakis's Alax. Gruppe Neue Musik Hanns Eisler was one of the first East German ensembles to tour beyond the Iron Curtain, including several performances throughout Western Europe and Japan. They were often invited to Steirischer Herbst, den Warsaw Autumn Festival, Donaueschingen Festival and Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik among others. The ensemble disbanded after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1993, considering its "mission accomplished."

The core repertoire of Gruppe Neue Musik Hanns Eisler consisted of works by Arnold Schönberg, Anton Webern and Hanns Eisler as well as Stefan Wolpe, Charles Ives and Paul Dessau. In addition, they played several East German first performances of works by international composers such as John Cage's Piano Concerto, Edison Denisov's Choral-Variations, Dieter Schnebel's Glossolalie, 's Zyklus, Iannis Xenakis's Nomos Alpha, Isang Yun's Piri and Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Intercommunicatione.

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