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Heinz Holliger

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Heinz Holliger
Born21 May 1939 (1939-05-21) (age 85)
Langenthal, Switzerland
EducationConservatory of Bern
Occupation(s)Composer, oboist, and conductor

Heinz Robert Holliger (born 21 May 1939) is a Swiss composer, virtuoso oboist,[1] and conductor. Celebrated for his versatility and technique, Holliger is among the most prominent oboists of his generation.[1] His repertoire includes Baroque and Classical pieces, but he has regularly engaged in lesser known pieces of Romantic music, as well as his own compositions.[1] He often performed contemporary works with his wife, the harpist Ursula Holliger. Many composers have written works for him, including Messiaen, Berio, Carter, Henze, Krenek, Lutosławski, Martin, Penderecki, Stockhausen and Yun. A noted composer himself, Hollinger has written works such as the opera Schneewittchen (1998).

Biography

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Holliger was born in Langenthal, Switzerland.[2] An oboist since age eleven,[3] he studied at the conservatory of Bern before taking first prize in oboe at the Geneva International Music Competition in 1959.[4] In 1966, he began teaching at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg.

He has become one of the world's most celebrated oboists. Many composers have written works for him, including Luciano Berio, Elliott Carter, Hans Werner Henze, Ernst Krenek, Witold Lutosławski, Frank Martin, Krzysztof Penderecki, Henri Pousseur, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Sándor Veress and Isang Yun.[5]

In 1972, Maurice Bourgue (oboe), Klaus Thunemann (bassoon), Christiane Jaccottet (continuo), Holliger, and others recorded Jan Dismas Zelenka's Six Trio Sonatas for oboe and bassoon. This recording is credited for the "Zelenka Renaissance".

He was married to the harpist Ursula Holliger, née Hänggi (1937–2014).[6]

Music

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Having studied composition with Sándor Veress and Pierre Boulez,[5] he has composed many works in a variety of genres, and many of his works have been recorded for the ECM label. Holliger was invited by Walter Fink to be the 17th composer featured in the 2007 Komponistenporträt of the Rheingau Musik Festival, where he conducted Claude Debussy's and Robert Schumann's music as well as his own Lieder (which set Georg Trakl poems) and Gesänge der Frühe (which set Friedrich Hölderlin and Schumann texts).

For New Music patron Paul Sacher's 70th birthday, Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich asked twelve composers, Sacher's friends, to write music for solo cello using the Sacher hexachord. (This musical cryptogram is eS, A, C, H, E, and Re, or "Sacher" spelled with German words for the pitch classes.) Holliger contributed a chaconne.[a] Some of the compositions were premiered in Zurich on 2 May 1976. Czech cellist František Brikcius gave the entire "eSACHERe" project its premiere in Prague during May 2011.[7]

Awards

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Selected works

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Source:[17]

  • Sequenzen über Johannes I,32 (1962) for harp
  • Siebengesang (1966–1967) for solo oboe, orchestra, voices and loudspeaker
  • String Quartet (1973)
  • Scardanelli-Zyklus (1975–1991) for solo flute, small orchestra, tape and mixed choir
  • Come and Go / Va et vient / Kommen und Gehen (1976/1977), opera to a text by Samuel Beckett
  • Not I (1978–1980) monodrama for soprano and tape
  • Studie über Mehrklänge (1979) for oboe solo
  • Lieder ohne Worte (1982–1994), two sets of works for violin and piano
  • Präludium, Arioso and Passacaglia, for two guitars (1985)
  • Gesänge der Frühe for choir, orchestra and tape, after Schumann and Hölderlin (1987)
  • What Where (1988), chamber opera
  • Alb-Chehr (1991) for speaker, singers and chamber ensemble
  • (S)irató for orchestra (1992–03)
  • Fünf Lieder für Altstimme und großes Orchester nach Gedichten von Georg Trakl (1992–2006)
  • Violin Concerto "Hommage à Louis Soutter" (1993–1995)
  • Schneewittchen (1998), opera based on a text by Robert Walser
  • Partita (1999), piano cycle
  • Puneigä, ten songs with twelve players after Anna Maria Bacher's poems (2000/02)
  • Ma'mounia for percussion solo and instrumental quintet (2002)
  • Romancendres for cello and piano (2003)
  • Induuchlen, four songs for counter-tenor and horn, for Klaus Huber (2004)
  • Toronto-Exercises for flute (also alto flute), clarinet, violin, harp and marimbaphone (2005)
  • Lunea (2018), opera based on texts by Nikolaus Lenau

Discography

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  • Jan Dismas Zelenka: Trio Sonatas (ECM, 1997)[18]
  • Sándor Veress: Passacaglia / Songs / Musica Concertante (ECM, 2000)[19]
  • Beiseit / Alb-Chehr (ECM, 2000)[20]
  • Lauds and Lamentations (ECM, 2003)[21]

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ The other contributions were Conrad Beck's Drei Epigramme, Luciano Berio's Les mots sont allés ..., Pierre Boulez's Messagesquisse, Benjamin Britten's Tema 'Sacher', Henri Dutilleux's 3 Strophes sur le nom de Sacher, Wolfgang Fortner's Thema und Variationen, Alberto Ginastera's Puneña No. 2, Cristobal Halffter's Variation über das Thema eSACHERe, Hans Werner Henze's Cappriccio, Klaus Huber's Transpositio ad infinitum, and Witold Lutosławski's Sacher-Variation.

Citations

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  1. ^ a b c Burgess 2001, "(ii) Repertory and performers.".
  2. ^ "Heinz Holliger". BBC. Archived from the original on 4 June 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  3. ^ Davis, Peter G. (1981). "Heinz Holliger Refutes Thesis That the Oboe Is an Ill Wind". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  4. ^ Blyth, Alan (November 1972). "An interview with Heinz Holliger". Gramophone. Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  5. ^ a b Kunkel & Stenzl 2003.
  6. ^ Apone, Carl (16 March 1989). "Holliger to debut Soviet oboe work". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. p. 27. Archived from the original on 1 August 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "eSACHERe". Archived from the original on 10 June 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  8. ^ "Main prize recipients". Léonie Sonnings Musikpris. 21 March 2021. Archived from the original on 9 January 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  9. ^ "HauptpreisträgerInnen Archiv". Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung (in German). Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  10. ^ Pierre, Fondation Prince. "Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco". Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco. Archived from the original on 12 August 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  11. ^ "Zurich Festival Prize for Heinz Holliger", Schott Music
  12. ^ "Rheingau Musik Preis". Rheingau Musik Festival (in German). Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Heinz Robert Holliger". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 1 July 2024. Archived from the original on 29 April 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  14. ^ "Preisträger". Willkommen in der Robert-Schumann-Stadt Zwickau! (in German). Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  15. ^ "Holliger". ORDEN POUR LE MÉRITE (in German). Archived from the original on 12 August 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  16. ^ "Komponist Heinz Holliger erhält Schumann-Preis". Deutschlandfunk Kultur (in German). 26 April 2021. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  17. ^ "Heinz Holliger". Schott Music. 21 May 1939. Archived from the original on 12 August 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  18. ^ "Jan Dismas Zelenka: Trio Sonatas". ECM Records. 17 April 2024. Archived from the original on 12 August 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  19. ^ "Sándor Veress: Passacaglia Concertante / Songs Of The Seasons / Musica Concertante". ECM Records. 12 March 2024. Archived from the original on 12 August 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Heinz Holliger: Beiseit / Alb-Chehr". ECM Records. 29 May 2024. Archived from the original on 12 August 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  21. ^ "Music of Elliott Carter and Isang Yun". ECM Records. 3 June 2024. Archived from the original on 12 August 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.

Bibliography

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Further reading

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