Werner Heinrich Schmitt, born in Mannheim in 1961, began to study the piano in boyhood, and soon started to compose as well. Since then, he has earned his living as a pianist, writing music as time permitted. This pioneering album of his works reveals a composer of considerable substance, particularly in the two moving and stately song-cycles that book-end this album. The sensitivity and resourcefulness of Schmitt’s aural imagination are confirmed in the chamber and piano pieces heard here. Some are infused with joy and others with sorrow, but they all speak a musical language that aims to speak to the listener directly.
Works:
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Schmitt, W H: ...im Juli 1983... for Piano
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Schmitt, W H: 14 Variations on "Es geht ein dunkle Wolk herein" for Clarinet Trio
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Schmitt, W H: 3 Pictures for Piano: No. 1,
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Schmitt, W H: 3 Pictures for Piano: No. 2,
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Schmitt, W H: 3 Pictures for Piano: No. 3,
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Schmitt, W H: 4 Lieder zu Gedichten von Hermann Hesse
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Schmitt, W H: Aria for Cello & Piano
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Schmitt, W H: Etüde for Piano
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Schmitt, W H: Für Hannah for Piano
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Schmitt, W H: Memoriae
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Schmitt, W H: Primavera! For Piano
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Schmitt, W H: Volo for Clarinet & Piano