Paul-Heinz Dittrich

Paul-Heinz Dittrich (4 December 1930 – 28 December 2020) was a German composer and academic teacher. Based in East Berlin, he focused on chamber music, with many works inspired by poetry. His works were performed earlier in the West than in the East. He was an influential composer of contemporary classical music in Germany who taught internationally, including in the United States, Israel, and Korea.

Life and career Born in Gornsdorf, Saxony, on 4 December 1930, In Streichtrio nach dem Gedicht "Tübingen, Jänner" von Paul Celan, Dittrich instructs in the score that the Celan poem should neither be read nor printed in the programme. Dittrich also wrote staged works that set texts by Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, Franz Kafka and Heiner Müller.

Dittrich died in Berlin at the age of 90.