Volker David Kirchner

Kirchner studied at the Peter Cornelius Conservatory in Mainz from 1956 to 1969 under Günter Kehr and Günter Raphael. Following this he studied with Bernd Alois Zimmermann at the Hochschule für Musik Köln from 1959 to 1963, and then under Tibor Varga at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold from 1964 to 1965, Kirchner played in jazz ensembles in Cologne, and played in several high-level ensembles as a violist, including the hr-Sinfonieorchester in Frankfurt from 1966 to 1988. He moved to Mainz and became a freelance composer in 1989. Invited by Walter Fink, he was the third composer featured in the annual Komponistenporträt of the Rheingau Musik Festival in 1992.

He has written works for musical theater, the Bavarian State Opera, Staatsoper Hannover, Katholikentag, etc. Among awards he has won the 1994 Rheingau Musikpreis of the Rheingau Musik Festival and the 2007 Peter Cornelius Medal.

Opera

• Die Trauung (The Wedding) (1974) after Witold Gombrowicz, premiered 27 April 1975, Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden
• Die fünf Minuten des Isaak Babel, Szenisches Requiem in zwölf Bildern (1977–79), premiered 19 April 1980, Opernhaus Wuppertal
• Das kalte Herz after Wilhelm Hauff (1980), premiered 1981, Wiesbaden
• Belshazar (1986); commissioned by the Bayerische Staatsoper
• Gilgamesh (2002); commissioned by the Niedersächsische Staatsoper Hannover on the occasion of the EXPO 2000
• Ahasver (2001); commissioned by the Bielefeld Theatre

Sacred music

• Requiem – Messa di Pace for soloist, choir and orchestra (1988)
• Missa Moguntina for soloist, choir, two echo-choirs, orchestra and organ (1993)
• Aus den 53 Tagen, Passion music for soloists, mixed chorus, male chorus, boys chorus, speaker (Evangelist) and orchestra (1998); commissioned by the "93. Deutscher Katholikentag" in Mainz

Orchestra

• Choral Variations for 15 solo strings (1967–1968)
• Bildnisse I for orchestra (1981–1982)
• Bildnisse II for orchestra (1983–1984)
• Bildnisse III: Hommage à W. A. Mozart for small orchestra (1989–1991)
• Symphony No. 2 "Mythen" (1992), premiered in Wiesbaden as part of the Rheingau Musik Festival

Concertante

• Nachtstück: Varianten über eine Wagnersche Akkordverbindung (Nocturne: Variations on a Wagnerian Chord Progression) for viola and chamber orchestra (1980–1981, revised 1983)
• Schibboleth, Poème Concertante for viola and orchestra (1989)
• Concerto for violin and orchestra (Hommage à Krzysztof Penderecki) (1981–1982)
• Concerto for oboe and orchestra (1997–1998)

Chamber music

• Dybuk for marimba solo (1995)
• Aus dem Buch der Könige, 3 Meditations for cello solo (2000)
• Piano Trio (1979)
• String Quartet [No.1] (1982–1983)
• Mysterion for altoflute, horn, viola d'amore, cello and piano (1985)
• Lamento d'Orfeo for horn and piano (1986)
• Drei Lieder (2 Songs) for medium voice, horn, violin, cello and piano (1985–1986)
• Und Salomo sprach ... (And Salomo Spoke) for cello solo (1987)
• Tre poemi (3 Poems) for horn and piano (1986–1987)
• Der blaue Harlekin (Hommage à Picasso) for flute, clarinet, 2 bassoons (also contrabassoon), 2 trumpets and 2 trombones (1981)
• Saitenspiel for violin and cello (1993)
• Gethsemani, Notturno for string sextet (1994)
• Quartet for clarinet, violin, cello and piano (1984)
• Il canto della notte, Poema for clarinet, horn, piano, violin, viola and cello (1997–1998)
• Orphischer Gesang II for string sextet (1998)
• String Trio (2000)
• String Quartet No. 2 (1999)
• String Quartet No. 3 (2000)
• String Quartet No. 4 with obligato clarinet (2000)
• String Quartet No. 5 (2000, revised 2002)
• String Quartet No. 6 (2000)
• "Meine Augen möchte ich erfreuen, Shulamith..." for flute, horn, viola, cello and piano (2001)
• Pierrots Galgenlieder for clarinet solo (2001)
• Kreuzweg for 2 oboes and English horn (2001)
• Pietà, Partita for violin solo (2001)
• Threnos for solo cello (2006); written for the Feuermann Competition
• Strophen for 2 clarinets (also bass clarinet) and piano (2007)

Keyboard

• Sonata for piano (1985–1986)
• Luces and Sombras, 5 Tangos for piano (1999)
• Con mortuis in lingua mortua, 3 Pieces for organ (2000)
• Nachlese for piano (2010); commissioned by Walter Fink for his 80th birthday