Erik Lotichius

European composer Erik Lotichius (1929 – 2015) began his compositional studies and high school, in addition to studying both the piano and violin. Influenced early on by Bach and Bartok, he studied under virtuoso Ernest W. Mulder before launching into a highly active career as a composer, writing symphonies, ballets, and myriad chamber works. Lotichius eventually found himself unhappy with the direction classical music was taking and even less able to appreciate the sounds being made by the avant-garde, so he turned to jazz and popular music, which gave him a new lease on his musical life. A musical, a song-based trio (in which Lotichius was pianist), and a series of songs based on texts by Brecht made their way into his repertoire. Later in his career, Lotichius was influenced by the arrival of minimal music (Adams, Young, and particularly Glass), which he in recent years has begun to work into his compositions. This influence is evident several recent works, including a symphony, a piece for two flutes and piano, and a string quartet. His oeuvre encompasses choral music, 2 oratorios, (chamber) operas, symphonies, piano concertos, a violin concerto, chamber music (including a number of string quartets and 24 preludes and fugues for string quartet), piano music, lieder, chansons, songs, and an operetta.