Peter Sadlo studied with Siegfried Fink at the University of Music in Würzburg between 1980 and 1984. During this time, Hummel got to know the highly talented percussionist. At the ARD competition in 1985, Hummel's Concerto for Percussion op. 70 was a compulsory piece on the programme. Peter Sadlo won first prize and helped this percussion concerto to great success in 75 highly acclaimed performances over a period of 20 years (1986 and 2006). In mutual appreciation of their art, Bertold Hummel composed several works for the exceptional percussionist and Peter Sadlo repeatedly championed Hummel's most important percussion compositions with great commitment and documented them in various radio and CD productions. In memory of Hummel, Sadlo composed the piece: C'era Una Volta... dedicated to Bertold Hummel for Marimba solo.

Peter Sadlo and Bertold Hummel after a performance of op. 70 in Osnabrück on 17 April 1988

Peter Sadlo premières the following works:

Asiago for percussion and violoncello, op. 107b (2001)

Quattro Pezzi for percussion solo, op. 92 (1990)

Dedication for percussion solo, op. 87g (1988)

Concerto for percussion and orchestra, op. 70 (1978-1982)

 

Biography

Peter Sadlo grew up in Zirndorf, where his talent was recognised at an early age: in 1967 he began classical percussion training and at the age of twelve he received lessons as a guest student at what was then the Meistersinger Conservatory in Nuremberg.

He studied with Siegfried Fink at the Würzburg University of Music. In 1982, he became principal timpanist with the Munich Philharmonic under Sergiu Celibidache, who had a lasting influence on him.

In 1983 he took up a professorship for timpani and percussion at the Munich University of Music and Theatre, and in 1990 he was appointed professor at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. After leaving the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra in 1997, he performed primarily as a solo percussionist, often in chamber music formations, for example with Gidon Kremer or the pianist Anna Gourari, but also with the percussion ensemble Nexus.

In addition to his concert activities, he has also focussed on the possibilities of expanding the sound possibilities of the instrument, which was also the subject of his dissertation in musicology at the University of Bucharest in 1997. Numerous contemporary composers - literature specifically composed for percussion has existed since the 20th century - have composed works for Peter Sadlo. He was also active in the development of new instruments (e.g. timpani) and created his own percussion series.

From 2007 to 2010, he succeeded Gidon Kremer as artistic director of the Basel festival "Les muséiques", which features a high-calibre chamber music line-up. Since 2007, he has also been the artistic advisor of the International Music Meeting Centre Haus Marteau of the District of Upper Franconia in Lichtenberg. He himself gave masterclasses for percussion there from 1989 and was the founder of the Haus Marteau concert series on tour.

Peter Sadlo died in July 2016 at the age of 54 following a kidney operation in a Munich hospital. (Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sadlo 2 August 2016)