Albert Breier

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Albert Breier (born April 29, 1961 in Paderborn ) is a German composer , pianist and writer .

Life

Albert Breier grew up in the East Westphalian town of Sennelager near Paderborn . In 1979, after graduating from high school, he went to Cologne University of Music , where Jürg Baur was a composition teacher for two semesters . He then continued to work as a self-taught composer, studying philosophy and musicology at the University of Hamburg until 1987, and piano with Roland Keller at the music academies in Lübeck and Vienna .

Breier et al. Had first appearances as a pianist. a. with the Concord Sonata by Charles Ives , a piano version of the first movement of the 9th Symphony by Gustav Mahler and with his own works. The meeting with Morton Feldman at the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music was decisive for Breier's further compositional development . Attempts to learn from Feldman followed without becoming slavish. A key work for later development is his 2nd String Quartet (1988), dedicated to Feldman's memory .

At the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s, Breier lived in Cologne again . He began extensive self-study in many areas. The discovery of classical Chinese landscape painting as an essential source of inspiration, the study of the Franco-Flemish vocal polyphony of the 15th century, the study of the musical traditions of Russia and Georgia as well as the Russian religious philosophy became important . In 1994 Breier moved to Berlin , which resulted in numerous chamber music works, often written for friends. His performances as a pianist increased and his music was recorded on CD. In 2002 an extensive comparative study on Chinese art and European music was published: The time of seeing and the space of hearing. An experiment on Chinese painting and European music.

Breier taught at the Berlin University of the Arts . In 2013 he received a scholarship from the Deutsche Akademie Villa Massimo at Casa Baldi. Apart from Germany, Breier had performances mainly in Eastern Europe, especially in the Czech Republic. As a writer, he published essays, reviews and, in 2014, two books: Numbers and Morals. A draft and Walter Zimmermann. Nomade in der Zeiten , both in 2014. In the same year Breier moved to Dresden , where he started giving lecturesand start of the edition of the works of Norbert von Hannenheim .Albert Breier has been living in Berlin again since 2019. He is married and has a daughter.

Influences, procedures and styles

Breier's first independent compositions were created in the early 1980s. They show the influences of Bernd Alois Zimmermann and György Ligetis . However, Breier soon gave up Zimmermann's collage technique in favor of a more unified musical language that gradually dispensed with style quotations entirely. The examination of Morton Feldman's work is first reflected in the one-hour second string quartet that Breier dedicated to Feldman's memory. Breier largely dispenses with Feldman's pattern technique, and his music is more linear than harmonic. From 1998 onwards, Breier used a new notation method for a few years, which better suited his own compositional intentions and which is characterized, among other things, by the lack of bar lines. The result are some very extensive pieces that require concentrated listening, in which every detail remains in the memory and grasping the large form is linked to the ability to remember. The influences of Chinese landscape painting can be seen in Breier's thinking in large lines, in the almost calligraphic design of the details and in a combination of the constructive and the improvisational. However, there is no freedom of execution, everything is precisely noted.

Since the orchestral piece Licht im Vorübergangs in 2009, sound aspects have come more and more to the fore. The linear notation is combined with precisely heard sound moments. Breier's orchestral treatment dispenses with common effects. It is based on a tonal continuum between unaccompanied solos and highly differentiated sound mixes, some of which are very complex. A kind of musical landscape art emerges, with works of epic-lyrical character in which the beauty of abstract lines is in the foreground.

Compositions

Breier wrote music for all common genres with the exception of oratorio and opera. Instrumental music predominates. The piano pieces I-VI (1983–96) form a large cycle in which each piece can also be played on its own. A counterpart to this are six string quartets (1983-), the last of which, however, has not yet been completed. In chamber music, Breier favors the trio in various combinations, including two string trios as unusual as viola, horn and harp or oboe, cello and piano. Another focus is ensemble music for 6–20 players, including pieces in rare formations such as Living in Far Lands for four clarinets, string quartet and piano.

Breier's orchestral music culminates in two (previously unfinished) cycles of three pieces each: the landscapes and the great landscapes (2003-). From the landscapes are completed: Light in Passing by and Breath of Fog , from the Great Landscapes : Loneliness and Encouragement as well as another work that has not yet been titled. Breier has written two great works for choir a cappella, a twelve-part requiem (2000) and a 24-part mass (2007). The Requiem shows the influence of the Franco-Flemish vocal polyphony; the mass is based on Gregorian chants, which are used in such a strict way that there is not a single “free” note. The intimate Stabat mater for soprano and violoncello (2016) provides a counter-image .

As an arranger, Breier devoted himself primarily to the music of Gustav Mahler. In addition to a piano version of his Ninth Symphony, there is a version of the Kindertotenlieder for oboe, cello and piano.

Breier as a pianist

Breier has often played his own works in concerts and all of the piano pieces I-VI were premiered by him. Music by William Byrd , Orlando Gibbons and Johann Jakob Froberger plays Breier on the modern piano. Two recordings are dedicated to the music of Morton Feldman, who he admires: Trio for violin, violoncello and piano and piano for solo piano.

Breier as an author

Breier's literary activity focuses on two large-scale books. The time of seeing and the space of hearing - an experiment on Chinese painting and European music (2002) brings two apparently completely different art forms into a relationship. The starting point is the often observed “musicality” of Chinese painting, which is expressed, for example, in the fact that looking at a Chinese scroll painting is an irreversible process in time. If the temporality of Chinese painting is emphasized in this way, then, conversely, European music shows traits of spatial art. According to Breier, this can be seen in the way in which their forms are conceived in an abstract and spatial manner, in analogy to the constructive principles of architecture. The terminology of the musical analysis is primarily a spatial one; conversely, Chinese painting can be described with terms of time. The argumentative framework of the book leaves space for all kinds of cultural theoretical digressions and remarks.

Numbers and Morals - A Draft (2014) also establishes a relationship between mostly separate areas of thought. Breier explores the question of whether mathematical thinking in its symbolic language also expresses certain types of human action, whether mathematical and moral norms conform in a certain way. He describes the interweaving of number and morality, as they show up in various cultural phenomena of the past and the present. A historical and problem-historical representation opens up into a large panorama of modernity, which Breier describes as the age of the union of mathematical and moral formalism. The man of the present, completely dominated in his existence by number, finally shows himself to be the bearer of a certain, precisely nameable morality, which guides his actions down to the most inconspicuous tasks. Breier comes to the conclusion that the alleged worldlessness of mathematics turns out to be a deception, which in turn challenges an ethical judgment.

In 2014 Breier published a book about the composer Walter Zimmermann : Nomade in der Zeiten . He has also developed extensive work as an essayist and reviewer.

Catalog of works (selection)

Orchestral works

  • Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (1982)
  • Berceuse for large orchestra (1983)
  • Paths of the Wanderer for large chamber orchestra (1989)
  • Serenade for orchestra (1990)
  • Connected Mountains for large orchestra (1992)
  • Field and lights for chamber orchestra (1997)
  • G reat Landscape III for orchestra (2002-03)
  • Great Landscape I for Orchestra: Loneliness and Encouragement (2008-10)
  • Light in Transit for Orchestra (2009)
  • Nebelatem for orchestra (2013)
  • Quatre marches de 1913 for wind orchestra (2014)
  • View of the floating city for orchestra (2015)

Ensemble music

  • Funeral music for eight wind instruments and harp (1980)
  • Harmony music for wind octet (1990)
  • Living in distant landscapes for four clarinets, string quartet and piano (1997)
  • Forest of Sounds of Remembrance for 18 strings, bells and glockenspiel (1999)
  • Composition for three flutes, three clarinets and three horns (2000)
  • The Path and Time for piano, percussion, violoncello, violin, flute and clarinet (2005-06)
  • Heaven's Steps for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello and percussion (2018–19)

Chamber music

  • 1st string quartet (1982)
  • Bagatelles and canons for string quartet (1982)
  • 2nd string quartet (1988)
  • Five pieces for violoncello and piano (1992–93)
  • Quintet for clarinet and string quartet (1993)
  • Duo No. 1 for violoncello and piano (1995)
  • Sextet for two violins, two violas and two cellos (1996)
  • Quartet for violin, viola, violoncello and piano (1996)
  • Trio for oboe, violoncello and piano (1996)
  • Trio for violin, violoncello and piano (1997)
  • Trio for two violins and piano (1997)
  • Duo No. 2 for violoncello and piano (1998)
  • Trio for flute, violoncello and piano (1998)
  • 3rd string quartet (1999)
  • Trio for violin, viola and violoncello (2001)
  • 4th string quartet (2004)
  • 5th string quartet (2008-12)
  • White Elegy for Viola and Piano (2010)
  • Schattenwechsel for violin, viola and violoncello (2011)
  • Narrow path through twilight for flute, clarinet and violin (2012)
  • Waves under the moon for drums (2013)
  • Trio for viola, horn and harp (2014)
  • Trio for violin, viola and piano No. 1 (adaptation of the trio for two violins and piano from 1997) (2015)
  • Trio for violin, viola and piano No. 2 (arrangement of the trio for viola, horn and harp from 2014) (2017)
  • Second elegy for viola and piano (2019)
  • Colors of Memories for flute solo (2019)

Piano music, organ music

  • Execution for organ four hands (1981)
  • Piano piece I (1984)
  • Ten Dances for Two Pianos (1986)
  • Piano piece III (1987)
  • Piano piece IV (1987)
  • Piano piece II (1989)
  • Piano piece V (1993)
  • Piano piece VI (1996)
  • Three songs for piano (2009-12)
  • Silent service for organ (2009–13)

Vocal works

  • Seven choir pieces based on poems by Lucia Cors (1982–83)
  • Three poems by Friedrich Hölderlin for soprano and chamber ensemble (1983)
  • Five madrigals based on poems by Paul Verlaine for five-part choir or ensemble (1988–1991)
  • Lullaby for soprano and clarinet (1990)
  • Seven poems by Oskar Pastior for soprano and piano (1992)
  • Requiem for twelve-part mixed choir a cappella (2000)
  • Psalm 76 for eight-part mixed choir a cappella (2001)
  • Cantus poenitentialis for four solo voices (2001)
  • Mass for twenty-four-part mixed choir a cappella (2007)
  • Sonnet of Evening for mezzo-soprano, flute and piano (2012)
  • Stabat mater for soprano and violoncello (2016)
  • Song (based on Chinese) for soprano and piano (2016)
  • Carmen 31 (Gaius Valerius Catullus) for soprano and piano (2019)

Edits

  • Johann Sebastian Bach: Three partitas for violin solo . Arrangement for piano (1989–1992)
  • Gustav Mahler: 9th Symphony in D major . Arrangement for piano solo (1993)
  • Alexander Scriabin: Vers la flamme . Arrangement for string orchestra (1994)
  • Gustav Mahler: Kindertotenlieder. Arrangement for oboe, violoncello and piano (1997)
  • Franz Schubert: Three Night Songs . Arrangement for soprano (tenor) and orchestra (2003)
  • Scottish lullaby for female choir, based on Johannes Brahms (2019)
  • Scottish lament for female choir, after Johannes Brahms (2019)

Fonts (selection)

  • The time of seeing and the space of hearing. An experiment on Chinese painting and European music , Metzler, Stuttgart 2002
  • Norbert von Hannenheim. On the physiognomy of an unknown composer , in: Musik-concepts 117/118, Munich 2002, 37–49.
  • Chinese questions. The composer Shi-Rui Zhu on the new music in China , book review, in: Musik & Ästhetik , Heft 27, Stuttgart 2003, 102-108.
  • Defenseless advisor - Anton Webern as a teacher . Book review, in: Musik & Ästhetik , Heft 29, Stuttgart 2004, 117–120.
  • Music as the art of time . Speech & Essay, in: art music. Writings on Music as Art 5, Fall 2005, 2–11.
  • The spirit of silent music . Essay, in: Ostasiatische Zeitschrift, New Series, No. 15, Spring 2008, 7–18
  • The Creature's Sign and Musical Note. Jakob Ullmann's View of Western Music. Review of Jakob Ullmann's Logos Agraphos: The Discovery of Tone in Music (Berlin: Edition Context, 2006) Fall 2008 (Issue 3).
  • About time. Essay, in: Positions , Contributions to New Music 75/2008, 8–11.
  • Numbers and Morals. A draft ; Passagen, Vienna 2014.
  • Walter Zimmermann. Nomad in the times , Wolke, Hofheim 2014.
  • Wind Blowing Through Utopia. Essay, in: Živá hudba ♯6, June 2015, 22–37.

conversations

  • Mathematics, Ethics, and Time in Music . Albert Breier in conversation with Peter Graham, in: Czech Music Quarterly, 2010.

About Albert Breier

  • Stastný, Jaroslav: Klavírista Albert Breier , in: Harmonie, December 2005, 26.
  • Müller, Matthias: On the search for new forms , in: Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung, February 5, 2007.
  • Šťastný, Jaroslav: Hudba - obraz - poezie , in: A2 # 31/2008 .
  • Helmut Rohm: Living space, fulfilled time. The composer Albert Breier , radio broadcast, Bayerischer Rundfunk November 2, 2009.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Albums. In: Sonar Quartet. Retrieved July 12, 2020 .
  2. ^ A b Albert Breier: The time of seeing and the space of hearing. An experiment on Chinese painting and European music. Metzler, M & P series for science and research, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-476-45266-2 .
  3. ↑ Scholarships. In: German Academy Rome Villa Massimo. Retrieved July 12, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Concert introduction. In: Dresden Philharmonic. Retrieved July 12, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Norbert von Hannenheim Edition, Boosey & Hawkes, ed. by Albert Breier. Norbert von Hannenheim: Sonata No. 1 for Viola and Piano, ISMN 9790202535097, Sonata No. 2 for Viola and Piano, ISMN 9790202535103, Suite for Viola and Piano ISMN 9790202535220.
  6. ↑ Boosey & Hawkes starts Hannenheim edition series. In: Boosey & Hawkes. October 2019, accessed July 12, 2020 .
  7. ^ Albert Breier Licht Im Vorübergangs for orchestra. In: SoundCloud. Retrieved July 12, 2020 .
  8. ^ KlangNetz Dresden: Composing in Saxony. In: University of Music Carl Maria von Weber Dresden. Retrieved July 12, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Babett Kaiserkern: Aggressive to sensual. In: Potsdam's latest news. April 25, 2016, accessed July 12, 2020 .
  10. ^ Philip Clark: Breier brings Mahler's Ninth Symphony to the piano. In: Gramophone. Retrieved July 12, 2020 .
  11. ^ Morton Feldman, Trio , Albert Breier, piano; Kristina Radke, violin; Adelheid Schloemann, violoncello. New Classical Adventure - MA 96 12 824.
  12. ^ Albert Breier: Numbers and Morals. A draft . Passagen Verlag, Passagen Philosophie series, Vienna 2014, ISBN 978-3-7092-0132-9 .
  13. ^ Albert Breier: Walter Zimmermann. Nomad in the times . Wolke Verlag, Archives for the Music of the 20th and 21st Centuries, Volume 14, ISBN 978-3-95593-114-8 .
  14. ^ Archives on the music of the 20th and 21st centuries. In: Wolke Verlag. Retrieved July 15, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Albert Breier: How does Europe sound in the 21st century? In: Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts (ed.): Yearbook 33/2019 . 1st edition. Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2020, ISBN 978-3-8353-3664-3 , p. 243-247 .
  16. ^ Albert Breier: About time. In: positions. Retrieved July 15, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Breier, Albert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer, pianist and writer
DATE OF BIRTH April 29, 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH Paderborn