# Thomas Hertel

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Thomas_Hertel
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Thomas_Hertel.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hertel
> Source revision: 1351356117
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**Thomas Hertel** (1951 – 9 December 2024) was a German composer. He was head of [incidental music](/source/Incidental_music) at the [Staatsschauspiel Dresden](/source/Staatsschauspiel_Dresden) from 1974 to 1982. In 1985, he left [East Germany](/source/East_Germany). He focused on musical-scenic projects, for example at the [Donaueschinger Musiktage](/source/Donaueschinger_Musiktage) and the [Lucerne Festival](/source/Lucerne_Festival). He taught in [Hamburg](/source/Hamburg), [Bochum](/source/Bochum), [Frankfurt](/source/Frankfurt) and [Munich](/source/Munich). From 2002 to 2008 he was head of incidental music at the Schauspiel Leipzig.

## Life and career

Hertel was born in [Bad Salzungen](/source/Bad_Salzungen), [Thuringia](/source/Thuringia), in 1951.[1] After his *[Abitur](/source/Abitur)* in the special branch for music in [Wernigerode](/source/Wernigerode), Hertel studied [musicology](/source/Musicology) in [Halle](/source/University_of_Halle) from 1969 to 1973.[2] Afterwards he was a master student for composition at the [Academy of Arts, Berlin](/source/Academy_of_Arts,_Berlin), with [Siegfried Matthus](/source/Siegfried_Matthus).[3]

Hertel was head of [incidental music](/source/Incidental_music) at the [Staatsschauspiel Dresden](/source/Staatsschauspiel_Dresden) from 1974 to 1982.[1] He worked as a freelance composer and head of the Young Composers Section in the Dresden Composers' Association. He composed two commissioned operas, *Leonce and Lena* and *Till*. He received composition prizes in Halle and the [Hans Stieber Prize](/source/Hans_Stieber_Prize) of the Radio of East Germany. His compositions were promoted by two Leipzig music publishers [Peters](/source/Edition_Peters) and [Deutscher Verlag für Musik](/source/Deutscher_Verlag_f%C3%BCr_Musik).[1] Travelling to [Pierre Boulez](/source/Pierre_Boulez) and [IRCAM](/source/IRCAM) in Paris was not granted to him.[4] He was banned from working on and realising cross-genre projects.[1]

Hertel left East Germany in 1985 for artistic, cultural and political reasons;[1][4] he devoted himself primarily to the realisation of musical-scenic projects,[1] among them *Cernunnos for 7 reed players, bulls and live electronics* for the 1993 [Donaueschinger Musiktage](/source/Donaueschinger_Musiktage) edition with the [Experimentalstudio des SWR](/source/Experimentalstudio_des_SWR);[5] the opening installation for the 1996 [Lucerne Festival](/source/Lucerne_Festival) *aus der erde durch den wind* – a mobile open-air music for various wind, vocal and bell ensembles and the sound transport of natural sound samples, and in 1999 the cartoon opera *Das Biest des Monsieur Racine* after [Tomi Ungerer](/source/Tomi_Ungerer) commissioned by the [Theater Basel](/source/Theater_Basel).[6] In 1991, he received the Art Prize of the City of Munich for experimental theatre.[3]

He held teaching posts at music academies and drama schools among others in Hamburg, Bochum, Frankfurt and Munich.[1] He realised numerous commissioned works, song recitals and theatre music for over 40 German-speaking theatres. He returned to Leipzig and was from 2002 to 2008 head of incidental music at the [Schauspiel Leipzig](/source/Schauspiel_Leipzig);[1] there he created the experimental musical-scenic series *mund & knie 1–12*, for which he was awarded the Leipzig Theatre Prize in 2009.[1][3][7]

Hertel died in [Leipzig](/source/Leipzig) after a long illness, on 9 December 2024, at the age of 73.[1]

## Awards

- 1982: [Hans Stieber Prize](/source/Hans_Stieber_Prize)[1]
- 1982: [Hanns Eisler Prize](/source/Hanns_Eisler_Prize)[3]
- 1991: Kunstpreis der Landeshauptstadt München[3]
- 2009: Leipziger Theaterpreis[8]

## References

1. ["Leipzig: Komponist Thomas Hertel gestorben"](https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/sachsen/leipzig/leipzig-leipzig-land/komponist-thomas-hertel-tot-kultur-news-100.html) (in German). *MDR.DE*. 10 December 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.

1. ["Thomas Hertel"](http://www.parkinsong-revue.de/thomas-hertel/) (in German). *ParkinSong-Revue*. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2024.

1. ["Landestheater Linz Person Details"](https://www.landestheater-linz.at/public/Person%20Details?pid=2082) (in German). *Landestheater Linz*. Retrieved 10 December 2024.

1. Nauck, Gisela (2 February 2024). ["Neue Musik"](https://mugo.hfm-weimar.de/de/topics/neue-musik) (in German). *HfM Weimar*. Retrieved 13 December 2024.

1. ["Cernunnos, eine musikalische A(u)ktion für 7 Rohrspieler, Stiere, Hirsch-Träger und Live-Elektronik"](https://www.swr.de/swrkultur/musik-klassik/donaueschinger-musiktage/archiv/dmt-archiv-frontmod-detail-100~_dmt-werk@2fthomashertel@5fcernunnoseinemusikalischeaukti_-e160fa6485c234330f75301fb5c2e97a08144448.html) (in German). *SWR Kultur*. 3 May 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.

1. ["Das Biest des Monsieur Racine 1999/00"](https://archiv.theater-basel.ch/1999-00/das-biest-des-monsieur-racine-ua) (in German). *Archiv Theater Basel*. 19 December 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2024.

1. ["Drehscheibe Leipzig Talk mit Komponist Thomas Hertel"](https://www.sachsen-fernsehen.de/mediathek/video/drehscheibe-leipzig-talk-mit-komponist-thomas-hertel/) [Drehscheibe Leipzig Talk with composer Thomas Hertel] (in de-DE). [Sachsen Fernsehen](/source/Sachsen_Fernsehen). 4 May 2018.

1. ["Leipziger Theaterpreis – Freundeskreis Schauspiel Leipzig"](https://www.freundeskreis-schauspiel-leipzig.de/leipziger-theaterpreis/) (in German). *Freundeskreis Schauspiel Leipzig – Weil es unser Theater ist*. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2024.

## Further reading

- ["Der Grenzüberschreiter: Komponist und Theatermacher Thomas Hertel wird 70"](https://www.lvz.de/kultur/regional/der-grenzueberschreiter-komponist-und-theatermacher-thomas-hertel-wird-70-KEG73L7CFR5D7NCJITJLAYKNNQ.html) (in German). *[Leipziger Volkszeitung](/source/Leipziger_Volkszeitung)*. 3 February 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- Kienemund, Gudula (10 December 2024). ["Leipzigs früherer Schauspiel-Musikchef Thomas Hertel gestorben: Nachklang eines mutigen Träumers"](https://www.lvz.de/kultur/regional/komponist-thomas-hertel-gestorben-IBT3YP6VC5AIXBWNQIYTFJTVIM.html) (in German). *Leipziger Volkszeitung*. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- Hertel, Thomas: [Weltoffene Musik in einem weltfernen Land](https://www.zeitschrift-fsed.fu-berlin.de/index.php/zfsed/article/download/449/431&ved=2ahUKEwiHoKiq-6SKAxXjzwIHHVowO78QFnoECDAQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1_GZqBeCn49LqjkfXMLB24) (in German) [Free University of Berlin](/source/Free_University_of_Berlin) 2014

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Thomas Hertel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hertel) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hertel?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.