Fantasia (Praeludium auf F) (1982)

Eberhard Kraus (1931–2003) — Fantasia (Praeludium auf F) (1982) for organ

German composer Eberhard Kraus (1931–2003) was a native of Regensburg, and after education in Munich, he succeeded his father Karl as organist at Regensburg Cathedral from 1964 until 1996. He also served on the music theory faculty at the University of Regensburg and the Academy for Catholic Church music and was director of the Regensburg Collegium Musicum. As a harpsichordist, Kraus toured frequently throughout Europe. As an organist and harpsichord soloist and chamber musician, he recorded more than 30 albums of baroque and romantic music (including the complete harpsichord works of Handel), and served also as editor for more than 24 volumes of scores of early keyboard music in the “Cantibus organis” series. He was the recipient of a number of awards from German musical organizations and the Vatican; he was also involved in several sacred music projects in the Holy Land. As a composer, Kraus wrote more than 300 compositions in all genres (except staged works). Under the influence of Schoenberg pupil Hanns Jelinek, Kraus developed a personal compositional language that employed a distinct blend of 12-tone serial technique with non-functional triadic harmony. He would often employ the same 12-tone row over a period of years for a series of linked compositions.

Published by Anton Böhm & Sohn in “Zwölf Präludien auf die zwölf Töne“