Komponisten der Gegenwart

Komponisten der Gegenwart, commonly abbreviated KDG, is a German-language music encyclopedia devoted to composers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It was established in 1992 by the music scholars Hanns-Werner Heister and Walter-Wolfgang Sparrar and has been published by the Munich-based specialist house edition text + kritik. Rather than appearing solely as a conventional bound encyclopedia, the project was designed as a continuously expandable loose-leaf reference service. Supplements can therefore be added to the basic work, allowing its coverage to be revised and extended as new information, composers, works, and scholarship become available. The encyclopedia is organized alphabetically by composer. Its entries generally combine biographical information with an overview of the subject's musical output. Biographical sections, or biograms, summarize a composer's life, career, distinctions, and other relevant contextual information. The work-related sections examine the historical and musical dimensions of the compositions, including aesthetic questions and compositional techniques. This combination gives the KDG a broader function than a simple directory: it serves both as a factual biographical reference and as an analytical guide to modern and contemporary composition. The project also provides expanded treatment for a substantial group of composers. More than 200 composers receive especially detailed coverage, including work lists, selected discographies, bibliographies, and musical charts. This layered structure enables the encyclopedia to address a large overall population of composers while offering deeper research material for selected figures. The reference is consequently useful to musicologists, performers, students, librarians, critics, and readers interested in Neue Musik and contemporary concert music. According to the cited 2018 edition information, the work had reached approximately 12,250 pages in ten folders and its 63rd supplementary delivery. At that stage, it covered about 900 composers and was being updated two or three times annually. The encyclopedia was also available online through a fee-based service, extending the work beyond its physical loose-leaf format. The editorial network included more than 200 international contributors, presented as specialists in the composers they covered. Reception emphasized the breadth and usefulness of the project. Reviews noted that even specialists in contemporary music could encounter unfamiliar names in its pages, while also praising the contributors' expertise and concise prose. The KDG occupies a specialist position within music publishing: it is neither a general-audience music encyclopedia nor a catalog centered on recordings, but a curated scholarly reference focused on composers and their creative work. Its principal value lies in combining wide coverage, periodic updating, editorial specialization, and analytical treatment of modern and contemporary composition.

Komponisten der Gegenwart was founded in 1992 by Hanns-Werner Heister and Walter-Wolfgang Sparrer as a German-language reference project on composers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. From its beginning, the work was associated with edition text + kritik, a specialist publisher based in Munich. Its format was conceived as a loose-leaf encyclopedia rather than a fixed, single-volume publication. This arrangement made it possible to issue regular supplements and incorporate additional or revised material over time. The editorial concept divided entries alphabetically and gave each composer two principal dimensions of treatment. Biographical profiles, known as biograms, present information about the composers' lives, careers, and awards. Separate work overviews address the historical setting, aesthetic concerns, and compositional procedures represented in the music. The encyclopedia therefore combines reference data with interpretive and musicological commentary. The KDG developed a broad contributor base, with more than 200 international authors participating in the project. Contributors were described as specialists in the composers assigned to them, supporting a model based on subject expertise rather than brief standardized notices. Alongside general coverage, more than 200 composers were treated in greater depth through work lists, selected discographies, bibliographies, and musical charts. By the 63rd supplementary delivery in January 2018, the basic work and supplements comprised approximately 12,250 pages arranged in ten folders and covered about 900 composers. The publication was being expanded and updated two or three times per year at that point. A fee-based online version was also available, giving users digital access to the encyclopedia's specialist content. Reviews in the German press characterized the work as unusually valuable even for experts in Neue Musik, particularly because its breadth could introduce readers to less familiar composers. Other commentary highlighted the contributors' specialist knowledge and concise style, while a cultural review described the encyclopedia as an important resource for people seriously interested in music. The 2018 bibliographic edition, edited by Heister and Sparrer and published by edition text + kritik, documented the basic work together with its 63rd subsequent delivery.

• 2018

  63rd supplementary delivery documented

  [1]Komponisten der Gegenwarten.wikipedia.org

  The cited edition recorded the work at approximately 12,250 pages in ten folders, covering about 900 composers and incorporating its 63rd supplement, issued in January 2018.

• 2018

  Basic work and supplement published in book form

  [1]Komponisten der Gegenwarten.wikipedia.org

  edition text + kritik published an edition of the basic work with the 63rd subsequent delivery, edited by Hanns-Werner Heister and Walter-Wolfgang Sparrer.

• 1992

  Encyclopedia founded

  [1]Komponisten der Gegenwarten.wikipedia.org

  Hanns-Werner Heister and Walter-Wolfgang Sparrer established Komponisten der Gegenwart as a German-language reference work on modern and contemporary composers.

A specialist German-language scholarly reference service for research on twentieth- and twenty-first-century composers, combining biographical profiles with historical, aesthetic, and analytical discussion of musical works.

• Music reference encyclopedia · 1992

  Komponisten der Gegenwart loose-leaf encyclopedia

  The core KDG publication is an alphabetically organized German-language encyclopedia covering composers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Entries combine biographical profiles with discussions of works, historical context, aesthetics, and compositional technique. The loose-leaf structure permits new deliveries and revisions to be integrated into the existing folders. More extensive entries include work lists, selected discographies, bibliographies, and musical charts.

• Digital reference service

  Komponisten der Gegenwart online

  The encyclopedia is also offered online through a fee-based service. The digital format extends access to the reference material beyond the physical loose-leaf edition, although the cited source does not specify the platform's current technical features, pricing, or update status.

1. 1Komponisten der Gegenwarten.wikipedia.org