Carl Mansker, born in Los Angeles, California in 1935, started to learn piano at the
age of nine. From the beginning he preferred to improvise rather than practice.When
he was twelve his teacher at the time, Samuel Ball, a student of Leopold Godowsky,
encouraged him to write down these improvisations.
Years later, following a short stint in the U.S.Navy and a year in New York City he
went to the University of California and took his bachelors degree in music. After
a further year of study in New York City he went to Munich where he received a scholarship from the Bavarian State to study piano with Prof. Rosl Schmid at the Musikhochschule
München. After graduating (1967) he spent several years concertizing throughout Europe.
In 1965, during a concert tour of Spain, he fell in love with the mountain village
of Deià on the island of Mallorca. He has actively participated in the Deià International
Music Festival, founded by Patrick Meadows in 1978, as composer and performer. In
1987 he was commissioned to write an opera for the festival's tenth aniversary. He
composed El bon senyor Karnak
to a libretto in Catalan by Josep Maria Llompart, based on the radio play Hunger
by Jakov Lind. It was premiered in June 1988, opening the Deia music festival in the Teatro
Principal in Palma de Mallorca. Since 1969 Carl and his wife, the Swiss painter
Antoinette Mansker, divide their time between Munich and Deià.
Though he still concertizes and teaches, he devotes himself mainly to composition. His works have been performed in
many countries from Australia to Turkey and many have been recorded by the Bavarian
State Radio. In addition to opera, he has written many songs (including 23 settings
of Japanese Haiku), chamber music, a concerto grosso, a piano concerto, two symphonies and 9 "Danzas y Fugas". Opus
1 Sonatine - 1 pianos
2-5 Lieder - Soprano, piano
6 Main Haus (Meckel) - Baritone, Orchestra
8 Studies in Black (Robert Graves) - Tenor, flute, percussion
9 3 Stücke - Harp, piano
10 Les Couplets de l'oiseleur (Cutat) - Soprano, piano
12 Dansa y Fuga I - 2 flutes, violin, guitar, harpsichord, percussion
13 Der Fächer im Herbst - Soprano, flute, piano
(5 Chinese songs - 5 Chinesische Gedichte)
17 Sonata - Piano
18 Dansa y Fuga II - Flute, violoncello, piano, xylophone, bongos
19 La Nuit (Victor Hugo) - Soprano, organ
21 Concerto - Piano, orchestra
22 Omon no kage de - Soprano, percussion, string quartet
23 Drei Stücke - Piano
24 Partita - Violin, piano
26 El bon senyor Karnak (Lind, Llompart) - opera
27 Trio (Danza y Fuga IV) - violin, violoncello, piano
29 Danza y Fuga V - piano 4 hands
30 Concerto Grosso - English horn, French horn, cello, piano, glockenspiel, string orchestra
32 Goldfisch (Meckel) - Tenor, flute, trombone, cello, piano, percussion
33 Danza y Fuga VI - Flute, piano
34 Danza y Fuga VII - E-flat Clñarinet, contrabass, piano
35 Danza y Fuga VII - Piano
36 Sinfonie Algabal (George) - Baritone, 3 solo flutes, orchestra
38 Variacions i Improvisacions - Piano
sobre un Tema de Mompou
39 Danza y Fuga IX - String quartet
41 Ballade (Das Schloss am Meere) - Piano