Karl-Heinz Schlüter

Born in Torgau, Schlüter studied from 1931-1937 in Hannover with Rudolf Krasselt and Clara Spitta, then at the Musikhochschule Berlin with Carl Adolf Martienssen until 1940. He passed his concert examination with distinction. In the Berlin press he had introduced himself "in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 at the age of 20 as a thoroughly accomplished pianist of the greatest style".

This was followed by seven years as a soldier and prisoner of war until 1947, when he perfected his skills in Walter Gieseking's master class and became a lecturer at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold. In 1949 he received the Chopin Prize Berlin/Warsaw, in 1950 the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano. This was followed by concerts with renowned orchestras and conductors, including Robert Heger (NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra), Hermann Abendroth (MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra), Fritz Lehmann (Bamberg Symphony), Ernest Bour (SWF Orchestra), Wilhelm Schüchter Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Werner Andreas Albert (Munich Philharmonic) at home and abroad.

His pedagogical activities as a lecturer took him from the Braunschweig Music School, via the Osnabrück Conservatory and the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg to the University of Würzburg (from 1985 to 1988). He was also a sought-after jury member at national (e.g. the "Jugend musiziert") and international piano competitions (e.g. International Chopin Piano Competition 1955).

With his son Michael (pianist) he performed as a piano duo. The foundation for the career of Karl-Heinz and Michael Schlüter was laid by chance in 1967: At the Westdeutscher Rundfunk a broadcasting date for a live broadcast on two pianos "Artists in North Rhine-Westphalia" was available at short notice. Karl-Heinz and Michael Schlüter played works by Johannes Brahms (Variations on a Theme by Haydn), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (D Major Sonata), Frédéric Chopin (Rondo in C major) and Claude Debussy (En blanc et noir) In the following years until 1995 the Schlüter-Duo performed on all important chamber music podiums in Germany and abroad (including Europe, Middle East) and cultivated the classical-romantic repertoire as well as modern literature. The duo has made several recordings, including the complete works of Franz Schubert, Max Reger and Paul Hindemith.[1]

The duo was a regular guest at European radio stations in Switzerland, Austria and Germany and devoted itself above all to contemporary music, e.g. by Jean Françaix, Ernst-Lothar von Knorr, Rudolf Kelterborn, Martin Christoph Redel and many others. From 1982 to 1992 Karl-Heinz and Michael Schlüter conducted the annual master class for piano duo in Würzburg.

With Josef Trumm (violoncello) and Cyrill Kopatschka (violin) he performed as a Chopin Trio. With Marcel Charpentier (violin) and Eckard Stahl (violoncello) he founded the Osnabrück Piano Trio. Together with Ludwig Müller-Gronau (violin), Wilhelm Isselmann (viola) and Werner Thomas-Mifune (violoncello) he formed the West German Piano Quartet.

The pianists Magdalena Galka and Ann-Helena Schlüter and the violinist Johanna Schlüter are his daughters.

Schlüter died in Würzburg aged 75.[2]

• Literature by and about Karl-Heinz Schlüter in the German National Library catalogue
• Karl-Heinz Schlüter discography at Discogs
• Short biography of magdalena-galka. de (PDF-Datei; 31 kB)