Siglind Bruhn (born October 11, 1951, in
Hamburg) is a German musicologist, writer and concert pianist.
Biography and career
Siglind Bruhn was born in
Hamburg. Her father was the engineer Ernst Bruhn, her mother the interpreter Leonore Bruhn née Kieberger. She made her first solo concerts and performances with orchestras as a soloist at the age of 14. During the last two years before her high school graduation (Abitur 1970), she was a student in the piano class of Professor Eckart Besch at the
Musikhochschule Hamburg. She completed her studies in the master class of
Vladimir Horbowski at the
Musikhochschule Stuttgart; 1975 State Examen (equivalent to a Master of
Music) in
piano performance and piano pedagogy. Concurrently she read
Romance studies,
Comparative Literature, and
Philosophy at
Munich University; 1976 Magister Artium (M.A.) with a thesis on the drama of Ramón del Valle-Inclán. During this time she met her future husband, the philosopher
Gerhold K. Becker. In 1976–78, Siglind Bruhn wrote her first book, which links the pedagogical heritage of her teacher Horbowski with first attempts at her own research. After another four years of teaching she enrolled in the
University of Vienna and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna for doctoral studies; 1985 Dr. phil. summa cum laude with an interdisciplinary dissertation in
musical analysis and
psychoanalysis. Two years later she followed her husband, who had accepted a position in
Hong Kong, and taught for six years at The
University of Hong Kong. During her first sabbatical (1993–1994), which she spent at the
University of Michigan, USA, she was invited to join the university's Institute for the Humanities, where she is currently a Life Research Associate for Music and Modern Literatures / Music in Interdisciplinary Dialogue. In 1993 her book concerning Bach's
Well-Tempered Clavier was published.[1] Since 2007 she has been the musical director of an annual series of chamber music concerts in the Southwest German town of
Waldkirch.[2]
Messiaen's Contemplations of Covenant and Incarnation: Musical Symbols of Faith in the two great piano cycles of the 1940s, Pendragon, 2007.
ISBN978-1-57647-129-6
Messiaen's Explorations of Love and Death: Musical Signification in the Tristan Trilogy and Three related song cycles, Pendragon, 2008.
ISBN978-1-57647-136-4
Messiaen's Interpretations of Holiness and Trinity: Echoes of Medieval Theology in the Oratorio, Organ Meditations, and Opera, Pendragon, 2008.
ISBN978-1-57647-139-5
J. S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier: In-depth analysis and interpretation. (Second, completely revised edition in one volume.) Gorz 2014.
ISBN978-3-938095-19-5
Signs in Musical Hermeneutics [special issue of The American Journal of Semiotics 13/1-4], 1998. ISSN 0277-7126
Voicing the Ineffable: Musical Representations of Religious Experience. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press 2002.
ISBN978-1-57647-089-3
Sonic Transformations of Literary Texts: From Program Music to Musical
Ekphrasis. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press 2008.
ISBN978-1-57647-140-1
Since 2000, series editor of the book series "Interplay: Music in Interdisciplinary Dialogue" published by Pendragon Press
Discography
Maurice Ravel: Histoires Naturelles, Modest Mussorgsky: Songs and Dances of Death.
Cornelia Kallisch, mezzo-soprano; Siglind Bruhn, piano. LM-M E 2011 1984
Paul Hindemith: five sonatas for strings and piano. [a] Andrew Jennings, violin, [b] Yizhak Schotten, viola; [c] Bruce Smith, viola d'amore, [d] Anthony Elliott, violoncello; [e] Derek Weller, double bass; piano: Siglind Bruhn, [a ], [c], [e], Katherine Collier [b], Anton Nel [d]. Equilibrium 1995
Paul Hindemith: five sonatas for woodwinds and piano. [a] Leone Buyse, flute, [b] Harry Sargous, oboe; [c] Fred Ormand, clarinet; [d] Harry Sargous, English horn; [e] Richard Beene, bassoon; piano: Siglind Bruhn, [a], [ b], [e],
Anton Nel [c] [d]. Equilibrium 1995
Paul Hindemith: five sonatas for piano and brass instruments. [a] Charles Darval, trumpet, [b] Bryan Kennedy, French horn, [c] Charles Darval, alto horn, [d] H. Dennis Smith, trombone, [e] Fritz Kaenzig, tuba; piano: Siglind Bruhn, [a ], [b], [e], Robert Conway [c], Anton Nel [d]. Equilibrium 1996