Erhard Karkoschka

Erhard Karkoschka was born on 6 March 1923 in Mährisch Ostrau (then Czechoslovakia, today called Moravska Ostrava in the Czech Republic). During his youth he received his first musical training and developed an interest in violin playing. After the end of the Second World War, he briefly worked as a violinist with the Bayreuth Symphony Orchestra.
From 1946 to 1953 he studied composition and conducting at the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart. His composition teacher was Karl Marx, and he studied conducting with Gustav Koslik. Between 1956 and 1959 he also studied musicology and philosophy at the University of Tübingen. In 1959 he completed a doctoral dissertation on the development of compositional techniques in the early works of Anton Webern.
From 1948 to 1968 Karkoschka directed the choir and orchestra of the University of Hohenheim and was responsible for the Hohenheim Palace Concerts. Beginning in 1948 he also taught at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart, becoming a lecturer in 1958 and professor of composition in 1964. In 1962 he founded the Ensemble Neue Musik, which was renamed the Contac-Ensemble in 1976. From 1973 until his retirement in 1987 he served as director of the Studio for Electronic Music at the Stuttgart conservatory. After his retirement he continued to give courses and lectures, including engagements in South Africa, China, and Korea. He also served on several musical organizations and was president of the German section of the International Society for Contemporary Music from 1974 to 1980.
In 1971 he received the Johann-Wenzel-Stamitz Prize of the Künstlergilde Esslingen. 
Karkoschka composed orchestral works, chamber music, organ works, vocal music, cantatas, motets, psalm settings, electronic music, multimedia projects, and a chamber opera. He also authored several books, including "Das Schriftbild der neuen Musik" and "Analyse neuer Musik".
Erhard Karkoschka died on 26 June 2009 in Stuttgart (Germany).

In my possession is a copy of the autograph manuscript of "Praeludium und Aria für Solovioline" by Erhard Karkoschka. Although the source is not the original manuscript but a contemporary copy, it is of particular interest because the composition is not listed in Karkoschka’s official catalogue of works. Furthermore, no other copies could be located in public archives, suggesting that this source may represent the only known surviving score of the work.

The manuscript itself is undated, but it originates from a musical estate that also contained copies of Karkoschka’s "Musik für 6 Bläser" (1954) and "Symphonia choralis" (1957). All three manuscripts are privately bound in an identical manner and appear to be written in the same hand. On the basis of these circumstances, it seems reasonable to assume that "Praeludium und Aria für Solovioline" was composed around 1955.