Thomas Fortmann is a Swiss composer with strong roots and many years of experience in the rock music arena. Since switching his attention the contemporary classical field he has found a distinctive voice which has earned him fame and notoriety around Europe – an eclectic mix of serialism, jazz, blues, theater, circus and cabaret music […]

Thomas Fortmann is a composer with a rich and varied set of styles and inspirations, ranging from jazz, rock (he was a rock musician for many years working with Frank Zappa among others), German cabaret and theatre-music, to serialism and modernist techniques. This creates a unique soundworld of likeable, fascinating music, often with a distinct […]

Thomas Fortmann is a Swiss composer who in the 1970s had a very successful career as a writer of rock music – and also as an international golfing star! Over one hundred songs were recorded and released in 27 countries. At age 26 he abandoned this career to study formal composition and has since built […]

Three major works from the renowned Swiss composer Thomas Fortmann – including the first CD recording of his chamber works Ladyboy and Tango Catolico, which have been very popular in broadcast performances. In Requiem for an Unborn Child we hear a work which has received enormous acclaim in Europe – challenging, uncomfortable words, eclectic and […]

Thomas Fortmann has achieved what repeatedly eludes others, here and in America. Within his first few opening bars one is aware that the music possesses an integral sense of direction, sure compositional integrity, and a degree of emotional content that immediately engages the attention. Thomas Fortmann has crossed the divide separating pop from modern classical music. Best of all, he hasn’t plummeted into the chasm separating both, and littered with the fallen.

Among the orchestras run by academic institutions, that of the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, Texas, is among the most accomplished and is of a very high professional standard. Here they present for new works, all of which are very approachable, enjoyable and varied – from the dynamic Etruria Symphony of […]

It is good to hear a composer who works in the traditions of the Second Viennese School and its successors and is not afraid to admit it. Thomas Fortmann is not tied to any one aesthetic. Jazz, ragtime and even hints of pop music feature in these scores. [Grafeneck 1940] is a superbly written piece, but downright scary and troubling as befits the subject. The seriously impressive Gimme Twelve is a superb piece of organ music. The playing of this music is excellent by the multifarious performers. And the sound quality is superb.

Enjoyable stylistic ground…[the Sonata] announces Fortmann as an unstuffy admirer of the colloquial American muse.. Fortmann is no stuffed shirt, no long-hair merchant, and no purveyor of tone-rows. His music is locked into jazz, and rock back-beat and the sinuous song of of saxophonic yearning. His musicians serve him finely, and they’ve been well recorded.

“I find something refreshingly Neo-Classical about it all, essentially often unabashedly tonal, very vivid, extraordinarily well constructed and inventive, well scored and well played. The sound of the music stands out as special. It is most of all “good music,” which of course should be what we seek in the end. That and musical talent. Gimme Twelve satisfies by providing and abundance of both. Something new and very good. Bravo.

This is a CD that you can play many times and appreciate in different ways each time. The artwork is eye-catching and distinctive; well done.

Thomas Fortmann is revealed here as a skilful and intuitive chamber music composer. His language is often old-fashioned, but his sense for timbral blending and his playfully neo-Baroque construction have a timeless appeal. Clever, elegant and compelling, which is a good general description of Thomas Fortmann’s work in general.

Four world premieres on this worthy recording—two by Americans, one by a Swiss, and one American orchestration of a Percy Grainger fantasy. The Moores Symphony sounds terrific – lively and youthful, but also solid and round­ed. The recording is full-bodied, as illustrated by the big bass drum in the finale.

Fortmann has achieved a distinctly personal style. Twelve tone music rubs shoulders with cranky ragtime rhythms.. [The Violin Sonata] is a succinct and curious but fun composition. The Four Pieces for Two Violins … again combine jazziness with the twelvetone process. The performance is impeccable and captures the entire flavour. [Piano Trio Prolitheus] is a very eclectic work and quite a forceful and emotional one. I greatly admire the energy, both musical and intellectual, that [Fortmann] has put into [his music]; even more so the commitment and panache of the performers involved.

This interesting CD from US label Métier shows how varied the levels in the field of neotonal music are today. [Peter Lieuwen] writes wonderfully inspired, really good music that is modern in the best sense… One can hardly resist this Grainger composition. It is simply enchanting, if it does perhaps not constitute “great music” in the strict sense. But it counts on the other hand also as the best “light” music that I can imagine. In short, this album is a half-magnificent affair, but the half that can be called “magnificent” is so great that I actually can only recommend buying the CD. And from Moores Symphony Orchestra I’d like to hear more soon. This is a really great ensemble!

The results [conductor Krager] obtains from his young people are remarkable, and serve all of these pieces very well. Highly recommended to anyone interested in new repertory.

[Fortmann’s] compositional style is rather complex; he draws on techniques established by the likes of Schoenberg and Hindemith, but does not imitate them directly, thus making a language that is truly all his own. The Tango Catolico (for string quartet) is fascinating work that amazingly morphs an almost liturgical sound into a vibrant tango. The centerpiece of the album is Fortmann’s Requiem for an Unborn Child, a rather ominous-sounding subject matter to be sure. Scored for clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and soprano, the sparse texture and effective text-painting allow listeners to focus on the meaning Fortmann is trying to get across. Performance ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sound ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is fascinating. Fortmann, unlike some of his peers, seems to have entered into the arena of contemporary classical music successfully. All credit to the performers, who exude concentration throughout,. Padovani is a fine violinist. Fortmann’s style: poppy and full of surprises: pepper and sugar.

An attractive and enterprising collection of orchestral works. [Fortmann’s piece] is an attractive symphony, beautifully orchestrated. [Nelson’s Capriccio]. is another most attractive work that is also finely orchestrated. There are some finely written instrumental passages in [Lieuwen’s] lovely work. The Moores Symphony Orchestra under Franz Anton Krager bring some fine results in these often quite challenging works. They are very well recorded. There is a nicely produced booklet with excellent notes, composer details and photographs making this an excellent way to get to know works by these composers.

Tango Catolico only hints at the tango. The rhythms are all shot to pieces, which makes the work all the more interesting. Ladyboy is a sharply atonal work of cogent phrasing and distinct sonic colors, none of them predictable, all of them interesting.

This album gathers together for the first time all of Fortmann’s works composed for the saxophone… [they] show Fortmann’s development as a key composer for the instrument. The outstanding performers include Marco Falaschi and the Berlioz Saxophone Quartet.