(b. 12 February 1959, Cologne).
German composer of mostly chamber, choral and vocal works that have been performed in Europe; he is also active as a conductor.
Prof. Kalitzke studied church music in Cologne from 1974–76 and studied composition with York Höller, conducting with Wolfgang von der Nahmer and piano with Aloys Kontarsky at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne from 1978–81. He also studied at IRCAM in Paris in 1982–83, on a scholarship from the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, studied composition privately with Vinko Globokar in Paris in 1982–83 and studied electronic music with Hans Ulrich Humpert at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne in 1982–83.
Among his honours are the Bernd-Alois-Zimmermann-Preis from the city of Cologne (1996) and a scholarship to stay at the Villa Massimo in Rome (2003). He has been a member of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin since 2009 and of the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste in Munich since 2015. He has received commissions from the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Hamburger Symphoniker, the London Sinfonietta, the Münchener Biennale, the state of Schleswig-Holstein, the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, and the Theater an der Wien.
As a conductor, he has been active since 1984 and his specialty is contemporary music. He has collaborated with the ensemble Collegium Novum Zürich, ensemble recherche, and the ensemble Klangforum Wien, as well as with orchestras in Austria, Germany and the UK. He served as director of the Forum für Neue Musik in Gelsenkirchen from 1986–91 and as conductor of the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen from 1988–90. He co-founded the ensemble musikFabrik in Cologne in 1991 and served as its artistic director and conductor from 1991–97. He has served as principal guest-conductor of the Österreichisches Ensemble für Neue Musik since 2001.
He led the forums for ensemble conducting of the Deutscher Musikrat in 2001 and at the Internationale Sommerakademie Salzburg in 2003. He has taught as a professor of conducting at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg since 2015.
His publishers are Edition Gravis, for music written from 1982–99, and Boosey & Hawkes, for music written after 1999.
COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS
STAGE:
Bericht über den Tod des Musikers Jack Tiergarten (music-theatre work, text by Thomas Brasch), soprano, baritone, 3 actors, flute (+ piccolo, alto flute, tenor recorder), clarinet (+ E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet), bassoon (+ contrabassoon), trumpet, trombone, tuba (+ contrabass tuba), electric guitar (+ banjo), viola, cello, double bass, piano, accordion, 2 or more percussion, 1990–91
Molière oder die Henker des Komödianten (opera in 4 acts, libretto by Gerold Theobald), 1995–2000 (a concert suite was arranged as Chasse Royale)
Inferno (opera, libretto by the composer, after Peter Weiss), soprano leggero, soprano, 2 altos, countertenor, 3 tenors, Heldentenor, character baritone, baritone, bass-baritone, mixed chorus, off-stage ensemble (4 trombones, percussion), large orchestra (12 winds, 10 brass, electric guitar, theorbo, piano [+ synthesizer], celesta [+ synthesizer], timpani, 3 percussion, 33 strings), fixed media, live electronics, 2004
Die Besessenen (opera in 4 acts, libretto by Christoph Klimke, after Witold Gombrowicz), soprano, mezzo-soprano, countertenor, tenor, 2 baritones, bass, orchestra (2 flutes, oboe [+ English horn], clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, bassoon [+ contrabassoon], French horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, harp, electric guitar, piano, celesta, sampler, accordion, 2 percussion, strings), 2008–09
Pym (opera, libretto by Christoph Klimke, after Edgar Allan Poe, Walter Benjamin, Fernando Pessoa [German translation]), countertenor, 4 tenors, 2 baritones, 2 basses, 4 mixed voices, orchestra (2 flutes [1st + recorder, piccolo, 2nd + recorder, alto flute, bass flute], oboe, English horn, clarinet [+ E-flat clarinet, C-clarinet], bass clarinet [+ contrabass clarinet], bassoon, contrabassoon, 2 French horns, trumpet, trombone, tuba, 2 harps, piano [+ celesta, harmonium], sampler, 3 percussion, strings), 2014
Jeanne d'Arc (Kirchen-Film-Oper, libretto by Kristine Tornquist), 2 treble voices, mezzo-soprano, alto, baritone, mixed chorus, orchestra (12 winds, 10 brass, harp, organ, sampler [+ celesta], 3 percussion, strings), fixed media, film (by Carl Theodor Dreyer), 2018–19
Kapitän Nemos Bibliothek (opera, libretto by Julia Hochstenbach, after Per Olov Enquist), 2 sopranos, alto, countertenor, bass, clarinet (+ E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet), trombone, electric guitar, sampler (+ celesta), accordion (+ toy piano), 2 percussion, viola (+ Stroh violin), cello, double bass, 2021
ORCHESTRAL:
Berceuse intégrale pour Hiëronymus Bosch, large orchestra, fixed media (2 tracks), 1982–83
Chasse Royale, large orchestra (82 players), 1995 (concert suite from Molière oder die Henker des Komödianten)
Monumente im Halbdunkel, large orchestra (14 winds, 11 brass, 2 harps, electric guitar, piano, celesta [+ sampler], 4 percussion, strings), 2010
Story Teller, cello, large orchestra (14 winds, 13 brass, harp, electric guitar, sampler [+ celesta], accordion, 3 percussion, 42 strings), 2015–16
Panic Room, orchestra/large orchestra (8 winds, 9 brass, timpani, harp, 3 percussion, strings), 2017
Werckmeister Harmonies, small orchestra (flute [+ piccolo, alto flute, bass flute], oboe [+ English horn, heckelphone], clarinet [+ bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet], bassoon [+ contrabassoon], French horn, trumpet, trombone, electric guitar, piano, sampler, 2 percussion, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass), fixed media, 2020
Zeitkapsel, 6 bassoons, large orchestra (11 winds, 11 brass, harp, piano, sampler [+ celesta], 3/4 percussion, strings), 2023
CHAMBER MUSIC:
Trio Infernal, viola, cello, double bass, 1985
De profundis, 3 trombones, electric cello, 2 cellos, double bass, piano, 3 percussion, 1980–86
...scenderemo nel gorgo muti..., 3 percussion, fixed media (4 tracks), 1985–86
Tübingen, Jänner (text by Paul Celan), speaker ad libitum, bass flute, cello, 1988
Labyrinth (Kafka-Komplex I), viola, live electronics, 1989 (section of Bis zum äußersten Tor [Kafka-Komplex]; may be performed separately)
Salto – Trapez – Ikarus (concerto), flute (+ piccolo, alto flute, bass flute), E-flat clarinet (+ bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet), bassoon (+ contrabassoon), trumpet, trombone, tuba, viola, cello, double bass, piano, accordion, 2 or more percussion, 1990
Six Covered Settings, string quartet, 1999–2000
memoria, spatial ensemble (2 trumpets, 2 trombones, electric guitar, amplified theorbo, amplified accordion, glass harmonica/electronic keyboard, percussion), live electronics, 2003
Figuren am Horizont, violin, ensemble (flute, clarinet, viola, cello, piano, percussion), 2011–12
Angels Burnout Graffiti, flute (+ piccolo, alto flute), clarinet (+ bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet), bassoon (+ contrabassoon, percussion), French horn, trumpet (+ piccolo trumpet), trombone, piano, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, fixed media, 2012
Epiphanimate. Überschreibungen, percussion, ensemble (oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, sampler, percussion, violin, double bass), 2023
CHORAL:
Das Labyrinth der Lieder (texts by Gustave Flaubert, Rainer Maria Rilke, Gottfried Benn, Pablo Neruda, Italo Calvino), 5 mixed voices, large orchestra (minimum 77 players), fixed media (4 tracks), 1987
Nachtschleife (texts by Jesse Thoor, Dylan Thomas, Pablo Neruda, Karl Krolow, Jorge Luis Borges), 6 mixed voices, 1989
Schuberts Traum (text by Franz Schubert), 8 mixed voices (+ percussion), flute (+ piccolo, bass flute), clarinet (+ C-clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet), French horn, viola, double bass, piano (+ bass drum), accordion, percussion, 1999
Wind Stille Zeit (texts by Francesco Petrarca, the Book of Ecclesiastes, Paul Celan), mixed chorus (2 tenors + megaphone, 2 basses + megaphone), French horn, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion, fixed media (2 tracks), 2001
Bis zum äußersten Tor (Kafka-Komplex) (text by Franz Kafka), soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, amplified viola, piano, fixed media, 1989–2006 (each of its four sections may be performed separately: Labyrinth [Kafka-Komplex I], 1989; Jagdbild mit Ausklang [Kafka-Komplex II], soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, piano, 1999; Nachricht von Charon [Kafka-Komplex III], 2000; Intermezzo und Schlussmarsch [Kafka-Komplex IV], soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, amplified viola, piano, fixed media, 2006)
-inn Stufender sonderung (text from the collection of Hans Prinzhorn), 2 tenors, 2 basses, accordion, 2008
VOCAL:
Jardins paradoxaux (texts from the Song of Solomon, Paul Éluard, Charles Baudelaire, Else Lasker-Schüler, E. E. Cummings, Cesare Pavese, Friedrich Hölderlin, T. S. Eliot), alto, tenor, orchestra in 5 groups (23 total players), fixed media (2 tracks), 1986
Hände im Spiegel (piano concerto, texts by Jorge Luis Borges, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Pablo Neruda, Paul Éluard, Der von Kürenberg), countertenor, bass clarinet (+ contrabass clarinet), piano, large orchestra (76 players), live electronics, 1992–93
Die Rückseite der Tage (text by Miguel de Unamuno), soprano, large orchestra (82 players), fixed media (2 tracks), 1994
Circus Frenzy (texts by Georg Trakl, Georg Heym, Jakob van Hoddis, Hugo von Hofmannsthal), soprano, bass-baritone, large orchestra (74 players), 1995
Nachricht von Charon (Kafka-Komplex III), baritone, piano, fixed media, 2000 (section of Bis zum äußersten Tor [Kafka-Komplex]; may be performed separately)
Vier Toteninseln (texts from the Book of Ecclesiastes, George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, Cesare Pavese), baritone, piano, large orchestra (13 winds, 11 brass, harp, electric guitar, celesta, timpani, 4 percussion, 50 strings), fixed media, 2000–02
Wanderers Fall (10 songs, text by Walter Raffeiner), baritone, small orchestra (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, electric guitar, piano, synthesizer, accordion, 2 percussion, violin, viola, cello, double bass), live electronics, 2005
Ortswechsel (text by Menna Baines [translated by Petra Kiener]), soprano, small orchestra (flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, harp, electric guitar, piano, 2 percussion, violin, viola, 2 cellos, 2 double basses), fixed media, live electronics, film ad libitum (by Edgar Reitz), 2007
Fremdes Bild mit Türstehern, soprano, small orchestra (flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, harp, electric guitar, piano, 2 percussion, violin, viola, 2 cellos, 2 double basses), fixed media, 2008
Türme des Vergessens, boy soprano, alto, large orchestra, 2017–18
PIANO:
Macchina d'autunno, piano, fixed media (2 tracks), 1982
ORGAN:
...mit gänzlich fremder ähnlichkeit, 2002
SCORES FOR SILENT FILMS:
Die Weber, orchestra (2 flutes, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet [+ contrabass clarinet], alto saxophone, bassoon, contrabassoon, 2 French horns, trumpet, trombone, tuba, 2 harps, piano, sampler, accordion, 2 percussion, strings), 2011–12 (for Die Weber by Friedrich Zelnik)
Schatten, clarinet (+ bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet), trumpet (+ piccolo trumpet), trombone, electric guitar, piano (+ celesta, toy piano), prepared piano (+ sampler, celesta, toy piano), 2 percussion, violin, cello, 2015–16 (for Schatten – Eine nächtliche Halluzination by Arthur Robison)
Orlacs Hände, small orchestra (piano, sampler [+ celesta], prepared piano [+ celesta], 18 strings), 2017 (for Orlac's Hände by Robert Wiene)
Hoffmanns Erzählungen (Beethoven-Variations), large orchestra (12 winds, 11 brass, harp, piano [+ celesta, toy piano, prepared piano], sampler, 3 percussion, strings), 2021 (for Hoffmanns Erzählungen by Max Neufeld)