enjott

ENJOTT SCHNEIDER (*1950), studied in Freiburg im Breisgau (PhD 1977), professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich from 1979 to 2012. Works performed worldwide, documented on over a hundred CDs and online: 10 full-length operas, 18 organ symphonies, 8 orchestral symphonies, many solo concertos, symphonic and chamber music, sacred music with 12 oratorios, choral and organ music. Hundreds of film scores such as „Schlafes Bruder“, „Stalingrad“, „Stauffenberg“. His "cross-culture composing" is typical of his creative communication with contexts of past times (historical dimension) or other cultural circles (geographical dimension). The search for essence and archetype dominates, often in the original language, such as the three-hour opera 'Marco Polo' composed in Chinese, the oratorios "Abubu" ('The Flood') in ancient Babylonian or 'Kabbala' in Hebrew.
From 2003 to 2021, he was a member of the supervisory board of GEMA (also as chairman), from 2013 to 2020 president of the German Composers' Association, member of the presidium of the German Music Council, and also juror and chairman of many music competitions.

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Extended Version

Enjott is a German composer... for concert halls, stages, films and sacred music. Enjott dreams of a universal understanding of the world, in which the search for the origins and archetypes of being is central. That is why "CCC" as "cross culture composing" is essential to him: searching for the archetypes of musical expression in past times (historical dimension) or in cultural circles that have remained natural (geographical dimension). For him, music is the language of the universe and of freedom. Music reaches people with archaic immediacy, through intuition, the heart and the subconscious – beyond reason or discursive words. Enjott championed this freedom and cultural diversity beyond the dominance of the mainstream as a composer, writer and member of cultural policy committees.
He was born on 25 May 1950 in Weil am Rhein; studied music, musicology, German language and literature, and linguistics in Freiburg im Breisgau (doctorate in 1977). After teaching at the Freiburg University of Music and the University of Freiburg, he became a professor at the Munich University of Music and Performing Arts from 1979 to 2012 (professor of music theory, and since 1996 of composition). From 1982 to 1992, he was also a permanent guest lecturer at the HFF – University of Film and Television in Munich. GEMA Supervisory Board from 2003 to 2021 (from 2012 to 2017 as Chairman of the Supervisory Board). From 2013 to 2021, President of the German Composers' Association, member of the Presidium of the German Music Council. Since 2018, also a member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts. Publications on music theory, contemporary music, music in audiovisual media. Main works, in addition to numerous writings and essays: 'Die Kunst des Teilens. Zeit-Rhythmus-Zahl', Munich (Piper-Verlag) 1991, as well as 'Handbuch Filmmusik' I and 'Handbuch Filmmusik' II 1986 and 1990. Allitera-Verlag published the monograph 'Enjott Schneider' in 2020 and 'Komponieren als Erkenntnis des Seins' in 2025.

He composed organ works (including 18 organ symphonies and organ concertos), choral works, song cycles, chamber music, orchestral works and stage works (ten full-length operas). He wrote the music for over 500 films, including feature films such as ‚Herbstmilch‘, ‚Stalingrad‘, ‚Schlafes Bruder‘, ‚Wildfeuer‘, ‚Leise Schatten‘, ‚Das Mädchen Rosemarie‘ and ‚23 - Nichts ist so wie es scheint‘, but also TV movies such as ‚Stauffenberg‘, ‚Die Flucht‘, ‚Laconia‘, ‚Jahrestage‘ and TV series such as ‚City Express‘, ‚Marienhof‘, "Tatort" and ‚Weißblaue Geschichten‘. He also focused on numerous documentary films (‚Wunder von Leipzig‘, ‚Drama von Dresden‘, ‚Vatikan - Die Verborgene Welt‘). 1990 Bavarian Film Award for film music; 1991 Federal Film Award in Gold for film music. In 2001, he received the ‚Fipa d'or‘ (best European film music) in Biarritz for the soundtrack to the ARD four-part series ‚Jahrestage‘ (directed by Margarethe von Trotta), 2009 German Television Award for ‚Die Flucht‘ and ‚Nicht alle waren Mörder‘. Lifetime achievement awards: at the Soundtrack Cologne Film Festival 2015 and at the German Film Music Award Halle 2019.

His work is documented on over 100 CDs released by the WERGO/Schott Music label, the Ambiente Audio label (sacred music and chamber music) and, since 2022, the Solo Musica label, as well as on all standard streaming portals.

His work is characterised by extreme versatility, ranging from avant-garde to film, and by his ability to draw creative potential from contrasts. His creative work always goes hand in hand with literary reflection and critical assessment of its cultural-psychological and sociological significance. A clear focus is on Asian-inspired music, as evidenced by many works for traditional Asian instruments as well as those composed for Chinese orchestras. Performances with Chinese orchestras in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan, Kaohsiung, Guangzhou, Singapore and elsewhere.

Enjott's compositions – greatly fascinated by the creative value of silence and quietness – range from works for the smallest ensemble of a solo instrument to the opposite extreme of large-scale works of monumental proportions. These impressive compositions are naturally better known to the public, such as film scores like ‚Schlafes Bruder‘ and ‚Stalingrad‘, or the opera ‚Marco Polo‘ (2018) (composed in Chinese) and ‚Kriemhild‘ (2023). His ‚Symphony No. 1 Song to Life‘ (1999) was performed in a 90-minute opulent G. Mahler arrangement, and alongside major oratorios on Augustine, Hildegard von Bingen, St. Gallus and Bernard of Clairvaux, there are also three secular cycles of choral symphonies such as the ‚Rilke Oratorio‘ (1997), ‚Orbe Rotundo‘ (2010) as a sister work to Orff's ‚Carmina Burana‘, and ‚Abubu – Die Sintflut‘ (2023), composed and sung in ancient Babylonian cuneiform script. Three major oratorios in recent years have presented a spiritual ‚summa‘: in 2024 in the ‚Beatitudines – Seligpreisungen‘ for the 1300th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Munich, in 2025 in the 80-minute creation story ‚Creatio‘, and in the choral symphonic work ‚Kaballa – Wege des Lichts‘, composed in Hebrew. His cycle of 18 organ symphonies to date also reveals itself on a large scale in the expansive dimensions of French organ symphonies.

Several compositions surprise not only with their unusual instrumentation but also with their wildness and audacity: for example, ‚hip, trash & hop - recycling symphony‘ (2023), where music is played on plastic and rubbish bins, or ‚Berlin Punk‘ for four saxophones (2017), where punk aesthetics are transferred to the classical orchestra; in ‚Machine Worlds‘ (2018), music is played on scrap metal, in ‚Minuten-Tristan‘ 12 pianists are employed and in ‚Cornissimo‘ 225 horn players.

The venues for these works – mostly featuring first-class international performers – span all continents. This is combined with jury and teaching activities and roles as composer in residence in places such as Krasnoyarsk (Siberia), Beijing, Harbin and Guangzhou (China), and Manaus at Amazonas University (Brazil).