Diether de la Motte

Diether de la Motte (30 March 1928 - 15 May 2010 Berlin) was a German musician, composer, music theorist and university lecturer.

Life

Born in Bonn, he studied from 1947 composition with Wilhelm Maler (de), choral conducting with Kurt Thomas and piano at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold. After studying in Mainz, and attending courses at Schloss Kranichstein near Darmstadt with Ernst Krenek, he taught composition and music theory at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. In 1964 he was appointed professor and in 1972 he took over the post of vice-president of the Freie Akademie der Künste. In 1982 he went to the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover as a professor. From 1988 to 1996, he worked as a professor of musical theory at University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. After December 2006 he lived in Berlin.

His pupils included Manfred Trojahn, Clemens Kühn (de), Franz Zaunschirm (de), Detlev Glanert and Nikolaus Schapfl (de).

He was married to Helga de la Motte-Haber (de) (born 1938).

Works

• Gedichte sind Musik. Musikalische Analysen von Gedichten aus 800 Jahren, Bärenreiter, Kassel 2002, ISBN 3-7618-1572-7
• Harmonielehre, dtv, München 2004, ISBN 3-423-30166-X
• Kontrapunkt. Ein Lese- und Arbeitsbuch, dtv, München 2002, ISBN 3-423-30146-5
• Melodie. Ein Lese- und Arbeitsbuch, dtv, München 1993, ISBN 3-423-04611-2
• Musik Formen. Phantasie, Einfall, Originalität, Wißner, Augsburg 1999, ISBN 3-89639-160-7
• Wege zum Komponieren. Ermutigung und Hilfestellung, Bärenreiter, Kassel 2001, ISBN 3-7618-1290-6