Gerhard Erber

Gerhard Erber (born 21 November 1934) is a German classical pianist and academic teacher. He played as a member of the Gruppe Neue Musik Hanns Eisler focused on contemporary chamber music. He was professor for piano at University of Music and Theatre Leipzig, and organised a Bach competition in Köthen.

Gerhard Erber
Born(1934-11-21)21 November 1934
Dessau
EducationMusikhochschule Leipzig
Occupation
  • Classical pianist
  • Academic teacher
Organization
Awards

Life

Born in Dessau, Erber was the son of the piano manufacturer Fritz Erber.[1] He studied piano with Amadeus Webersinke at the Musikhochschule Leipzig from 1953 to 1959.[1] Afterwards, he was piano teacher of the Thomanerchor. In 1964, he achieved the third prize at the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition.

He has a broad repertoire,[2] with a focus on contemporary classical music, and on chamber music.[3] In 1970 he was a founding member of the group Neue Musik Hanns Eisler, with Burkhard Glaetzner and Friedrich Schenker. In 1971 he also became a member of the Aulos Trio, playing with Glaetzner and Wolfgang Weber. He has played in piano duos, with Max Rostal, Oleg Kagan and Raffael Hillyer.[2] They have performed in Europe, Asia and Central America.[3] He performed the world premieres of piano works by Heinz Röttger, Georg Katzer, Reiner Bredemeyer, Gerhard Rosenfeld, Max E. Keller, Günter Neubert and Friedrich Schenker.[4] As a member of the Eisler Group he received several awards, including the Kunstpreis der Stadt Leipzig and the Kunstpreis der DDR in 1980, the badge of honour in gold from the Verband der Komponisten und Musikwissenschaftler der DDR in 1988, and the Interpretenpreis of the Musik-Biennale Berlin, and the Schneider-Schott Music Prize in 1991. Erber made numerous recordings, also for radio. He recorded piano works by Erik Satie in 1991.[5]

In 1972 he received an aspirancy for an academic degree, and became a lecturer at the Hochschule für Musik "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" in 1978, appointed professor of piano in 1990.[3] Among his students were among others Steffen Schleiermacher[6] and Josef Christof.[2] He was involved in the Weimar Summer Course.[2] In 1990 he was one of the founding members of Forum Zeitgenössischer Musik Leipzig.[7]

Erber was chairman of the performer's section of the Association of Composers and Musicologists of the GDR.[2] He has also served as a juror at national and international piano competitions.[3] He founded a Bach workshop for music teachers and students In Köthen in 1996, reviving a national Bach competition for young pianists there[3] in 1999, which has been organized by the Köthen Bach Society since 2001.[1] Erber became honorary chairman of the competition in 2013.[1]

Literature

References
  1. Claus Blumstengel: Der Professor geht. In Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, 30 October 2013.
  2. Udo Klement: Mancherlei verblüffende Art, mit Tasteninstrumenten zu musizieren: Der Pianist Gerhard Erber. In Leipziger Blätter, issue 11, 1986, p. 62f.
  3. Gerhard Erber, rueckblick.chopin-gesellschaft.de, retrrieved 12 May 2020.
  4. Burkhard Glaetzner: Uraufführungen Gruppe Neue Musik "Hanns Eisler" (PDF), burkhard-glaetzner.de, retrieved 12 May 2020.
  5. 1.8.2.1 Disques vinyles et CD, 1951-2004 (in French) Eric Satie Foundation, pp. 109–110
  6. Gregor Willmes: Steffen Schleiermacher. In Ingo Harden, Gregor Willmes: Pianistenprofile: 600 Interpreten: ihre Biografie, ihr Stil, ihre Aufnahmen. Bärenreiter, Kassel 2008, ISBN 978-3-7618-1616-5, pp. 645–647, here p. 645.
  7. Burkhard Glaetzner: Ansprache. In Eigener Sache. In MusikTexte, 37, 1990, p. 61.
  8. Gruppe Neue Musik "Hanns Eisler" 1970-1990 : Spiel-Horizonte on WorldCat
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