A Gran Canaria musicologist, composer and music documentalist who researched, edited and disseminated musical creation from the Canary Islands.
Lothar Siemens Hernández was a musicologist, composer and member of the Real Academia Canaria de Bellas Artes. His career focused on Canarian music, ethnomusicology and musical documentation in the archipelago.
Open biographyHe specialised in Musicology, Ethnology and Prehistory at the University of Hamburg, earned his doctorate from the University of La Laguna and directed the Musicology Department of El Museo Canario from 1972. His activity combined research, music editing, documentation, composition and cultural project leadership.
His main contribution was to build documentary infrastructure for the study of Canarian music: he founded the Musicology Department of El Museo Canario, promoted Proyecto RALS with Rosario Álvarez and donated a specialised musicological library to the ULPGC. He is a reference for musicology and music documentation in the Canary Islands.
As a composer, he wrote operas, choral and instrumental works and pieces for voice and piano. As a researcher, his working method relied on critical editing, recovery of historical repertoires, transcription and documentary contextualisation.
His repertoire distinguishes his creative work, such as El moro de la patera and Exhortación ante la muralla, from his musicological publications and his recovery of Canarian repertoires. This profile does not aim to close a complete catalogue of his original works, studies and editions.
His musical legacy is preserved in the ULPGC Lothar Siemens Musicological Library, Proyecto RALS and a network of publications, scores and recordings that support the study of Canarian composers and authors linked to the archipelago.
He was born and died in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. His research and archive focused on music from the Canary Islands, with particular attention to composers born in the islands or settled there.
Ópera que forma parte de su obra compositiva.
Obra para tuba sola, una de sus composiciones.
Trabajo etnomusicológico dentro de su producción.
Nace en Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Dirige desde ese año el Departamento de Musicología de El Museo Canario.
Se doctora en Historia del Arte y Musicología por la Universidad de La Laguna.
Dona su colección particular, origen de la Biblioteca Musicológica Lothar Siemens.
Preside la Sociedad Española de Musicología.
Fallece en Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
