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»Raging Order« – Music by Thomas Blomenkamp »The maxim applies: no ideology of any kind, no dogmas, no fixed aesthetics. Music should be created that endures for its own sake and is able to move, attract and/or unsettle the attentive listener, at least not leave him indifferent.« This is how Thomas Blomenkamp describes his compositional activity. The great success that always accompanies the performances of Blomenkamp's works is based on the one hand on the freedom from ideology he practices, on the other hand in the direct, often almost physical effect his music has on the recipient. But at the same time, Blomenkamp's tonal language has a high recognition value, an unmistakable tonal physiognomy; it is often the smallest motif cells from which his compositions are built. And finally, with Blomenkamp, who attaches great importance to not being "a gut composer", emotion and intellect are in a precisely balanced balance. It is not for nothing that a quote from the French playwright Antonin Artaud hangs on the wall of his study: »Everything must be brought into a raging order with pinpoint accuracy«. Blomenkamp's most extensive orchestral work to date, die Five Pieces for Large Orchestra, owe their creation to a commission from the Tonhalle Düsseldorf and were premiered in January 2008 by the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker conducted by John Fiore. Fiore had no special wishes regarding the cast: "Do what you want," he said to the delighted composer. Blomenkamp decided on a work in which he wanted to "put the orchestra through its paces" with its own resources. The five movements are laid out in the order fast-slow-fast-slow-fast, i.e. in an arch form. On the one hand, the introductory »Preludio« describes a fully composed accelerando, on the other hand, as is often the case in Blomenkamp's music, there is a conflict between dynamic and static elements. In the »Canto« the rarely used heckelphone, a baritone oboe, sings a far-reaching melody. The music of the tin-armored "Scherzo" occasionally sounds like a giant's attempt to waltz. However, the aggressiveness that is definitely present appears to be softened by the dancing character. The dominant sound carrier of the »Notturno« is the solo cello group. However, the night's sleep is disturbed by frequent, insistent interjections from the bass and snare drums - an endangered idyll. In the finale there are back references to the preceding movements; at the same time, the music moves towards its energetic conclusion in unstoppable motion. Occasionally, Blomenkamp writes, between large-scale works he is overcome by "the appetite for the small form". The Sept Desserts Rhythmiques (2006) for wind quintet. The title is, in the composer's words, »a tribute to Erik Satie«. The element of "faire plaisir", which characterizes a large part of French music, also plays an important role in these short, pointed and rhythmically concise pieces. A gentle sense of humor can be found here that is extremely rare in contemporary music, especially German music. The performance marking of the last movement, "Con delicatezza," could serve as a motto for the entire cycle. The first bars seem like a nod to the great chamber music tradition Toccata, Tombeau and Torso for piano quartet, written in 2009 for the Rivinius Piano Quartet and premiered by them in January 2011. "Everything I compose is also a reflection of what I have internalized from the musical tradition," says Blomenkamp. The musical material of the »Tombeau« is the first name of a deceased childhood friend of the composer. The dynamic element of the opening 'Toccata' and the introversion of the middle movement are brought together in the final 'Torso', the title of which is not intended to indicate fragmentation but suggests the thematic slivers compressed into great density in this finale. Blomenkamp describes his two piano pieces as »two sides of the same coin« barcarole and nocturne: "Both pieces are monolithic, stay 'within', each follow a sound track, don't stray into other regions". And yet the two works could hardly be more different in character. Little remembered in the 1988 barcarole of a gently rocking boat, as the title might actually suggest. On the contrary, Blomenkamp's ship moves on dangerous waters from the start. The consistently two-part piece creates centrifugal forces and releases energies that threaten to devour listeners and performers alike. "I actually had to practice a lot on it again," the pianist Stefan Irmer wrote to Blomenkamp a few days before recording this CD, "and sometimes I don't know whether you should be reserved a place in heaven or rather in hell for it... «. Composed in 1998 nocturne on the other hand, it is quiet, static, introverted. The ostinato repeated slow chords keep the music grounded while dynamic bursts aim up into the sunlight. In the words of Blomenkamp, it is about »music of unspoken thoughts, whispered words, mute gestures, tedious steps, fragile states«. Like the Five Orchestral Pieces, so does the Music for violin, cello, piano and orchestra, composed in 2003, an arch form, albeit in one movement. The music comes out of silence and sinks back into it at the end. Already at the beginning, which in its melismatics is a little reminiscent of Far Eastern music, you can feel a concretely defined "sound pool" from which the work develops. Blomenkamp speaks of the "attempt to bring small motif germs to the greatest possible development". Here there is no competition between soloists and orchestra, but the two tonal levels complement each other and emerge from each other. The colorful orchestration with instruments such as glockenspiel, vibraphone and glass harp in the percussion group fits the predominantly calm, oscillating character of the music. A look at the sentence titles of the Suite for solo cello – Prelude, Double, Courante, Air, Gigue – reveals the inspiration for this work: the instrumental music of the Baroque, primarily of course the cello suites of Johann Sebastian Bach. The compact, but nonetheless extremely demanding work was written for Nikolaus Trieb, solo cellist of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, who was a friend of Blomenkamp's and who also premiered it in June 2010. The youngest composition of this CD portrait, Animato, Adagio and Agitato for piano quintet, is closely related to its sister work for piano quartet, toccata, tombeau and torso, simply because of the instrumentation and the title. Here, too, the middle movement is a musical commemoration for a deceased friend. The tonal world of this adagio moves between lamentation and “Marcia funebre”, in which one believes one recognizes ciphers that often characterize music with a memento character – the halting rhythm, low individual notes in the piano – without, however, actually using the tonal language of the other composers resembled. At most, maybe over a hundred years away: a master of the past who is particularly close to Blomenkamp's heart is Franz Schubert. And isn't it as if Schubert's melancholy appeared from afar precisely in this Adagio, transcended by Blomenkamp's tonal language into the present? Thomas Schultz |
program:
CD 1
Five Pieces for Large Orchestra (2007) 30: 25
Work commissioned by the Düsseldorf Tonhalle
Live recording of the world premiere
[01] Prelude 04:35
[02] Canto 05:57
[03] Joke 05:42
[04] Notturno 08:14
[05] Final 06:04
Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra · John fiore, conductor
Sept Desserts Rhythmiques for wind quintet (2006) 14:51
[06] Semper piano e leggiero 01:29
[07] Calmo-Vivo 01:45
[08] Simple e piano 03:18
[09] Con fuoco 02:15
[10] Con slancio 01:38
[11] Calmo, ma con moto 02:48
[12] Con delicatezza 01:44
Wind quintet of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra
Ruth Legelli, flute Gisela Hellrung, oboe Adolf Münten, clarinet
Egon Hellrung, horn, Martin Kevenhoerster, bassoon
Toccata, Tombeau and Torso for piano quartet (2009) 18:51
Work commissioned by the Duisburg Philharmonic
for the Rivinius Piano Quartet
Live recording of the world premiere
[13] toccata 04:26
[14] Tomb 08:56
[15] Torso 05:39
Rivinius Piano Quartet
Siegfried Rivinius, violin Benjamin Rivinius, viola
Gustav Rivinius, cello Paul Rivinius, piano
[16] barcarole for piano (1988) 08:08
Stefan Irmer, piano (Fazioli F 228)
total time 72:46
CD 2
[01] nocturne for piano (1998) 14:37
Stefan Irmer, piano (Fazioli F 228)
[02] Music for violin, cello, piano and orchestra (2003) 21: 04
Work commissioned by the Northwest German Philharmonic
and the Kunststiftung NRW for “Meeting Beethoven 2004”
Live recording of the world premiere
Trio Opus 8
Eckard Fischer, violin Mario De Secondi, cello Michael Hauber, piano
Northwest German Philharmonic · Frank Beerman, conductor
Suite for solo cello (2010) 12: 29
Work commissioned by the Meerbuscher Kulturkreis
[03] Prelude 02:19
[04] Double 02:00
[05] Leather 02:08
[06] Air 02:59
[07] Gigue 03:01
Nicholas Trieb, cello
Animato, Adagio and Agitato for piano quintet (2010) 15:26
Work commissioned by the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker
and the Prime Minister of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
for the Lambertus Piano Quintet and “Schumann 2010”
[08] Animated 04:22
[09] Adagio 04:53
[10] agitato 06:10
Lambertus Piano Quintet
Franziska Früh, violin Cristian-Paul Suvaiala, violin Ralf Buchkremer, viola
Nikolaus Trieb, cello Thomas Blomenkamp, piano
total time 64:10
Press:
05/2013
Thomas Blomenkamp, born in Düsseldorf in 1955: a freelance composer, committed solely to musical tradition, insofar as it can be addressed and understood with their help. […] Blomenkamp is not only a composer, but as a concert pianist and chamber music partner he is also a direct master of musical matter. […] An introverted musician, no doubt, but not one who moves in reduced, low-sounding or merely micrological spatial formations.
[…] Musically, the two CDs convey highly competent implementations of Blomenkamp's aesthetics.
Bernhard Uske
05.10.2012
Well-tempered modernity
The composer Thomas Blomenkamp, born in Düsseldorf in 1955, is one of the great German hopes of his guild.
His debut double album, released on the NEOS label, presents gripping orchestral, chamber and piano music, composed between 1988 and 2010. The intense, sometimes very vulnerable, but always catchy (and under the skin) tone creations, such as the one resembling a lament "Animato, Adagio und Agitato" for piano quintet or the meditative-fragile "Music for Violin, Violoncello, Piano and Orchestra" have audibly passed through the "switching centers" of modernity, but in their broken gesture they remain ultimately committed to the classical-romantic ideal of beauty.
This also applies to the "small" works such as the "Suite for Violoncello Solo" and the large-scale "Five Pieces for Large Orchestra".
The performers, such as the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra or the Lambertus and Rivinius Piano Quintet, make a compelling plea for the touching music of our time.
Three questions for the composer Thomas Blomenkamp
Are you a late romantic or where do you locate yourself?
I see myself in the European tradition line. In addition to Bach, my great love is actually Romanticism and here the composers Schubert, Schumann and Brahms. Bartók and Stravinsky are also among the composers I hold in high esteem.
Her compositions give a voice to feelings and intimacy. These things were and are often viewed critically...
Can one compose feeling and intimacy? I don't believe. They are awakened in the listener because he associates certain sounds with his feelings. I can't find anything wrong with that, every composer wants to touch his audience. In Germany, the fear of "expression" can of course be explained historically, not least through the abuse of music under National Socialism.
Orchestral, chamber and solo works can be heard on your CD. What role do genres play in your music?
The terms symphony, concerto, sonata do not (yet) appear in my catalog of works – opera and song do, however, although the latter rarely appears as a piano song. I don't see genres as rigid sizes. The form of my works is important to me, the proportions, contrasts, a kind of classical balance.
Burkhard Schaefer
DUSSELDORF CULTURE
10/2012
Desserts, midgets and old wings
by Wolfram Goertz
Three new classical CDs are closely interwoven with Düsseldorf: pianist Tobias Koch discovers the former conductor Ferdinand Hiller, Udo Falkner devotes himself to Georg Kröll's piano "diary" - and composer Thomas Blomenkamp is portrayed extensively.
[...] The new portrait CD for the composer Thomas Blomenkamp (57), who lives in Meerbusch and is part of the extended thinkers' collective of the state capital and was born here, is also a real pleasure.
The double CD includes, among other things, the "Five Pieces for Large Orchestra", which the writer of these lines likes even better than at the premiere in 2007, also includes the exquisite "Sept Desserts Rythmiques" for wind instruments or the almost vibrant "Barcarole" for Piano (which shows that Blomenkamp is a brilliant pianist as a part-time job).
Various musicians from Düsseldorf and the surrounding area give the friend and colleague extremely animated interpretations.
05.07.2012
Freely pulsating: works by Thomas Blomenkamp on a new double CD
(nmz) - The composer Thomas Blomenkamp works successfully for well-known orchestras and soloists, his oeuvre includes almost all genres, from miniatures for piano to grand opera. He is represented in repertoire series of chamber and orchestral music as well as at international festivals, numerous works have been recorded by radio stations. Fashions or market pressures have never affected him. Now the 57-year-old presents his first double CD: a cross-section of his instrumental works - uncompromising and exciting.
The five pieces for large orchestra lead directly into the composer's world of sound, a realm of the finest colors and instrumentation, refined rhythm and (A) tonality. Delicate cantilenas float above dense clusters, dabbed dance-like meters balance with massive blocks of strings, brass and timpani. Harmony and dissonance, scales, surfaces, layers - everything interlocks as a matter of course, flows with great breath and yet is formed clearly and transparently. The Düsseldorfer Symphoniker under John Fiore play thrillingly dynamic. They give the smallest solo motif luster and eruptive tutti space.
Each of the eight works on this double CD has its own precise structure and basic color: a Nocturne for piano (Stefan Irmer) sounds rather closed and groping inwards, like a painful gasping Animato, Adagio and Agitato for piano quintet (Lambertus Piano Quintet), sensually virtuosic the suite for cello solo (Nikolaus Trieb).
All the musicians play in top form and you can feel that Blomenkamp composed for them. The richness of individual expression is important to him. He also gives the smallest detail time to unfold ─ and the audience room for imagination. Nothing monumental or abstract blocks access, musical processes are permeable, lean and tangible. Splinters of Asian or Arabic color flash up there, there brief moments of reminiscence of JS Bach, Schubert, Satie, Stravinsky or Shostakovich. No thought seems long, no feeling gets out of hand. Blomenkamp's music pulsates freely and consistently. It gives shape, size and poetry to the voice of the heart.
Rating: 
Annette von Wangenheim
29.06.2012
Work show by the composer Thomas Blomenkamp
by Regina Muller
Thomas Blomenkamp's previous work includes around 70 compositions. The Düsseldorf-born composer, who lives in Meerbusch, has dedicated himself to almost all classical genres, from solo pieces to chamber music and pieces for children to the full-length opera “The Idiot” based on Dostoyevsky's novel, which premiered at the Theater Krefeld-Mönchengladbach in 2001.
Since 1982, the student of Jürg Baur has been working persistently and away from the hustle and bustle of the avant-garde scene on his work and regularly brings it to much acclaimed world premieres, although – or perhaps precisely because – his tonal language is neither current fashion nor one of the hip schools can be attributed.
Blomenkamp is not a fan of musical material battles and gives electronically generated sounds and technical upgrades a wide berth. He skeptically calls this kind of thing “machinery” and doesn’t believe in progress in music anyway, but rather in diversity.
One focus of Blomenkamp's work is chamber music, as he is a trained pianist.
A double CD with a nice cross-section of his work has just been released on the “NEOS” label. Included are, among other things, extremely atmospherically dense chamber music such as “Toccata, Tombeau and Torso” for piano quartet, some solo pieces, including the “Suite for Violoncello solo” for the solo cellist of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra Nikolaus Trieb and “Five Pieces for Large Orchestra”, a work commissioned by the Tonhalle, which was launched by the Symphoniker in January 2008 with great success.