Georg Katzer
Georg Katzer (10 January 1935 – 7 May 2019) was a German composer and teacher. The last master student of Hanns Eisler, he composed music in many genres, including works for the stage. Katzer was one of the pioneers of electronic new music in the German Democratic Republic and the founder of the first electronic-music studio in the GDR. He held leading positions in music organisations, first in the East (Akademie der Künste der DDR), then in the united Germany (Academy of Arts, Berlin, and Deutscher Musikrat), and received many awards, including the Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic, the National Prize of the German Democratic Republic, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the German Music Authors' Prize.
Georg Katzer
- Name
- Georg Katzer
- Born
- 10 January 1935
- Birthplace
- Habelschwerdt, Lower Silesia
- Died
- 7 May 2019
- Place of death
- Zeuthen, Germany
- Occupation
- Composer
- Awards
- * Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic
- Nationality
- Germany · German Democratic Republic
- Education
- Hanns Eisler Music School Berlin
- Teachers
- Hanns Eisler
- Honours
- Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany · National Prize of East Germany · Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic · Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik · German Music Authors' Prize · Johann Wenzel Stamitz Award
- Languages
- German
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Georg Katzer (10 January 1935 – 7 May 2019) was a German composer and teacher. The last master student of Hanns Eisler, he composed music in many genres, including works for the stage. Katzer was one of the pioneers of electronic new music in the German Democratic Republic and the founder of the first electronic-music studio in the GDR. He held leading positions in music organisations, first in the East (Akademie der Künste der DDR), then in the united Germany (Academy of Arts, Berlin, and Deutscher Musikrat), and received many awards, including the Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic, the National Prize of the German Democratic Republic, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the German Music Authors' Prize.
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Georg Katzer (1935–2019) was a composer, musician and university teacher, a national of German Democratic Republic and Germany. The composer was born in Bystrzyca Kłodzka and died in Berlin.
Georg Katzer was educated at Hanns Eisler Music School Berlin. The composer worked for Academy of Arts, Berlin and was a member of Academy of Arts of the GDR.
Languages used include German. Honours include Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic, German Music Authors' Prize and Johann Wenzel Stamitz Award, among others.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 29 September 2026
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wikidata · Q1504962 · wikipedia · Georg Katzer
In this article
Biography
Biography
Georg Katzer studied at Hanns Eisler Music School Berlin. Training under Hanns Eisler is recorded. The recorded working language is German. Employment is recorded with Academy of Arts, Berlin. Distinctions recorded are Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, National Prize of East Germany, Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic and Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Georg Katzer • Born — 10 January 1935 • Birthplace — Habelschwerdt, Lower Silesia • Died — 7 May 2019 • Place of death — Zeuthen, Germany • Occupation — Composer • Awards — * Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic • Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Biography
Biography
Katzer was born in Habelschwerdt, Lower Silesia (now Bystrzyca Kłodzka, Poland), on 10 January 1935. From 1954 to 1960 he studied piano, music theory, and composition with (amongst others) Rudolf Wagner-Régeny and Ruth Zechlin at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik in East Berlin, then from 1957 to 1958 he studied in Prague with Karel Janáček. From 1961 to 1963 he was a postgraduate student of Hanns Eisler and Leo Spies at the German Academy of the Arts in Berlin, the last master student of Eisler. In 1963, he became a freelance composer and musician. From 1976 to 1977 he worked in electronic-music studios in Bratislava and Paris. In 1978 Katzer was elected to membership in the Academy of the Arts in East Berlin. In 1980 he was appointed a professor and subsequently taught a masterclass in composition at the Academy of the Arts until 1991. In 1986 he founded the Studio for Experimental Music, affiliated with the Music Department of the Academy of the Arts, and was its artistic director. Katzer was a member of the Academy of Arts in East Berlin until 1993, and then a member of the Berlin section of music until his death. He served as vice president of the music section from 1994 to 2003. From 1989 to 1991, he was president of the German Section of the C.I.M.E. (International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music). From 1990 to 2001, he was a presiding member of the Deutscher Musikrat (German Music Council, a member of the International Music Council). Katzer lived in Zeuthen near Berlin until his death on 7 May 2019; he was 84 years old.
Places
Named by the record
Places
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Bystrzyca Kłodzka.
Birth place
Berlin.
Death place
Compositions
Katzer's earlier works owe a great deal to the music of Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, and his teacher, Hanns Eisler. In the late 1960s he came under the influence of Witold Lutosławski and Bernd Alois Zimmermann, departing from conventional tonality and forms. From this point on, his vocabulary included serial, aleatory, and collage techniques, as well as electronic sounds. His compositions included works for chamber ensembles, orchestral works, solo concertos, operas, ballets, puppet plays, and oratorios. His work also encompassed electroacoustical pieces, music for radio dramas, multimedia projects, and projects involving improvised music. His compositions are held by the Saxon State and University Library Dresden, including: • String Quartet No. 1 (1965) • Baukasten für Orchester (1972) • Die Igeltreppe for narrator and 13 instruments, text by Sarah Kirsch (1973) • Das Land Bum-Bum, opera (1973) • D-Dur Musikmaschine (Music machine in D major), for orchestra (1973) • Schwarze Vögel, ballet (1975) • Szene für Kammerensemble, instrumental theatre (1975) • Bevor Ariadne kommt, for electronic sounds (1976) • Concerto for Harpsichord and Wind Quintet (1978) • Ein neuer Sommernachtstraum, ballet (1979) • Aide-memoire, for electronic sounds (1983) • Gastmahl oder über die Liebe, opera, libretto by Gerhard Müller (1987) • Antigone oder die Stadt, opera, libretto by Gerhard Müller (1989) • Mein 1989, radio composition (1990) • Ich bin ein anderer, Hörspiel after Arthur Rimbaud (1990) • L'homme machine, multimedia scenic action (2000) • Medea in Korinth, oratorical scenes, libretto by Christa Wolf (after Medea: Stimmen). Premiered on 6 September 2002 at the Konzerthaus Berlin • Fukujamas Kiste, for electronic sounds (2002)
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1504962: Georg Katzer
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Georg Katzer”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Awards
• 1976: Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic • 1981: National Prize of the German Democratic Republic for complete compositions • 1987: Kunstpreis des FDGB for music from the Free German Trade Union Federation • 1992: Kulturpreis Schlesien des Landes Niedersachsen • 1992: Honorary guest of the Villa Massimo • 1998: Johann-Wenzel-Stamitz-Preis • 2003: Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany • 2011: Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik • 2012: German Music Authors' Prize in the category Composition Experimental music
Cited sources
Cited sources
* * * * * * * * * *
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 26
- Akademie der Künste. 2019. "Musik-Mitglieder: Georg Katzer: Komponist". Berlin: Akademie der Künste (accessed 8 May 2019).
- Anon. 2009 "Georg Katzer". Munzinger-Archiv (accessed 8 May 2019). Subscription required. May 2019.
- Anon. 2011. "Bestenliste 1-2011". PdSK (15 February), retrieved 30 September 2011.
- Anon. 2019. "Georg Katzer". Saxon State and University Library Dresden (accessed 8 May 2019) .
- Groetz, Thomas. Zum Tod des Komponisten Georg Katzer / Geschlagene Zeit. Deutschlandfunk. 8 May 2019.
- Hanssen, Frederick. Zum Tod des Komponisten Georg Katzer / Immer gesprächsbereit. Der Tagesspiegel. 7 May 2019.
- Klingberg, Lars. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Macmillan Publishers. 2001.
- Niklew, Christiane. Wer war wer in der DDR?. Ch. Links Verlag. 2010. 978-3-86153-561-4.
- Tschernig, Erika. Unsere Kultur: DDR-Zeittafel, 1945–1987. Dietz. 1987. 3-320-01132-4.
- Amzoll, Stefan. 1978. "Die Stimmen der toten Dichter. Eine Radio-Komposition von Georg Katzer". Musik und Gesellschaft 28, no. 12 (December): 720–721.
- Amzoll, Stefan. 1993. "Georg Katzers 'Multimedia'-Projekte: Eine Dokumentation". , no. 14: 26–29.
- Becker, Peter. 2005. "'...aus heiterem Geiste geschöpfet': Der Komponist Georg Katzer". Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 166, no. 4 (July–August): 56–57.
- Belkius, Gerd. 1982a. "Bemühungen um neuen Wirkungsraum für Musik. Der Komponist Georg Katzer". 28 (April): 42–55.
- Belkius, Gerd. 1982b. "Interview mit Georg Katzer". Weimarer Beiträge 28 (April): 30–41.
- Dümling, Albrecht. 2005. "In der Musik müssen wir ganz ehrlich sein: Georg Katzer im Gespräch über seinen Lehrer Hanns Eisler". Eisler-Mitteilungen: Internationale Hanns-Eisler-Gesellschaft 12, no. 37:21–24.
- Förstel, François. 1998. "'Sprechen als Musik genommen': Experimentelle Schülerarbeiten mit Schwitters, Aperghis und Katzer". Musik & Bildung: Praxis Musikunterricht 30, no. 3 (May–June): 22–27.
- Herz, Joachim. 1994. "Der lustige Musikant oder Das Land Bum Bum: Kinderoper von Rainer Kirsch und Georg Katzer". In Die lustige Person auf der Bühne, 2 vols., edited by Peter Csobádi, 2: 721–731. Anif-Salzburg: Mueller-Speiser.
- Kämpfer, Frank. 1999. "Frühmorgens, beim Sturz der Regierung: Georg Katzer im Gespäch". Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 160, no. 6 (November–December): 22–25.
- Noeske, Nina. 2005. "'Auch eine Musik ist Maschine': NIna Noeske über Georg Katzers D-Dur-Musikmaschine (1973)". Musikforum: Referate und Information des Deutschen Musikrates 3, no. 1:27–29.
- Noeske, Nina. 2008a. "Die D-Dur-Musikmaschine". In Musikalische Dekonstruktion: neue Instrumentalmusik in der DDR, third edition, 286–296. Cologne: Böhlau. .
- Noeske, Nina. 2008b. "IV.2.2.3.3 Katzer: Baukasten für Orchester". In Musikalische Dekonstruktion: neue Instrumentalmusik in der DDR, third edition, 302–305. Cologne: Böhlau. .
- Raab Hansen, Jutta. 1992. "Georg Katzer". Komponisten der Gegenwart, Loseblatt-Lexikon, edited by Hanns-Werner Heister and Walter-Wolfgang Sparrer. Munich: .
- Rebling, Eberhard. 1981. "Ein neuer Sommernachtstraum: Ballett von Georg Katzer". Musik und Gesellschaft 31, no. 7:423–424.
- Schneider, Frank. 1984. "Und das Schöne blüht nur im Gesang: Zwei Versuche uber Georg Katzers Komposition". , no. 7:25–29.
- Vieth, Heike. 1997. "Georg Katzers Szene: Für Kammerensemble". In Jeder nach seiner Fasson: Musikalische Neuansätze heute, edited by Claudia Schurz and Ulrike Liedtke, 219–224. Saarbrücken: Pfau-Verlag.
- Ziegenrücker, Kai-Erik. 1987. "Studios für elektronische Musik in Berlin und Dresden". Bulletin des Musikrates der DDR 24, no. 2:31–35.
References
Citations
References
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Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q1504962: Georg KatzerWikimedia Foundation
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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