Martin Christoph Redel

Martin Christoph Redel, born in Detmold on 30 January 1947, is a German composer whose career has developed chiefly within the academic life of his native city. His training combined percussion, which he studied with Scherz, with composition, a discipline he pursued with Kelterborn and Klebe at the Nordwestdeutsche Musikakademie in Detmold, between 1964 and 1969. He subsequently completed his studies with Isang Yun at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hanover.

In 1971 he began teaching at the Hochschule in Detmold, where he was appointed professor of composition in 1979 and rector in 1993. He also taught courses for young composers in Weikersheim and, in 1992, assumed the presidency of Jeunesses Musicales. Among the distinctions he received are a prize from the Gino Marinuzzi Competition and the Arthur Honegger Prize.

His music combines traditional techniques with tonal, dodecaphonic and serial procedures, and is characterised by clear formal structures, lyrical melodic lines and marked contrasts between serenity and tension. His works for percussion form part of the standard repertoire and are frequently performed at competitions.