Michael Vetter (composer)

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Michael Vetter (born September 18, 1943 in Oberstdorf ; † December 7, 2013 in Munich ) was a German composer , writer , poet , performing artist , calligrapher and teacher.

Life

Vetter was born in Oberstdorf in the Allgäu and received a classic school education. He made the recorder his favorite musical instrument and began experimenting with its timbres and techniques in the late 1950s, e.g. B. with multi-sounds and micro-tones . He inspired composers such as Louis Andriessen , Will Eisma and Rob du Bois in the Netherlands, Sylvano Bussotti in Italy, and Mauricio Kagel and Karlheinz Stockhausen in Germany to use this instrument in their compositions. His technical discoveries were codified in the text Il flauto dolce ed acerbo (The sweet and sour flute, 1969) and included fingering tables with around 2000 fingerings.

In 1964 he began studying philosophy, during which time he continued his career as a performing artist. In 1967 he began to compose graphically and verbally notated music, and from 1968 he wrote experimental and improvised vocal music for children.

German pavilion at Expo '70 (the ball auditorium is out of sight on the right edge of the picture)

From March to September 1970 at the Expo '70 in Osaka , Japan, he performed works by Stockhausen (including hymns , Spiral , Pole and From the Seven Days ) in the ball auditorium of the German pavilion together with nineteen other musicians . Back in Europe, he continued his collaboration with Stockhausen and took part in the world premieres of Sternklang (1971) and Alphabet for Liège (1972).

In 1973 he returned to Japan, where he spent ten years as a Zen monk. During this time he performed what he called "structural theater," and in 1981 published a series of works on "Experimental Zen Arts" in the book Shijima no oto [The Sound of Silence]. He returned to Germany in 1983 to found the center for meditative communication and communicative meditation in Todtmoos- Rütte. In 1993 he moved his “School of the Art of Living” to Italy.

In 1997 Stockhausen composed the main role of Luca, the operator, for Vetter in Michaelion , the fourth scene of his opera Wednesday from Light . Vetter sang the role at the world premiere on July 26, 1998 in the Prinzregententheater in Munich (Musica Viva series).

Vetter died on December 7, 2013 in Munich.

Music genre

Vetter's compositions are based on improvisation . His early works are for voice, recorder and piano, while later he turned to instruments such as the koto , the Tibetan singing bowl , the tambura and the gong .

Visual arts

Vetter's early interest in graphically notated music resulted in purely visual expression during his stay in Japan, with works such as the ink drawings in The Book of Signs , his 120 color etchings ( monotype ), titled Structural Mandalas and Two-Part Inventions , and the Codex Aureum (gold-violet dialogue between intention and chance). Later works, which emerged after his return to Germany, include a series of panel paintings , titled Symphonies , Duets , Trios , Quartets , The Way of the Cross of Light , Cloud Pictures , and The Tablets of the Law .

Publications

  • 1969: Il flauto dolce ed acerbo 1: Instructions and exercises for players of new recorder music . Celle: Moeck-Verlag.
  • 1973: Hand movements I / II — Roman , with a foreword by Helmut Heissenbüttel . Stuttgart: E. Klett. ISBN 3-12-908930-6 (v. 1); ISBN 3-12-908940-3 (v. 2)
  • 1981: With Satoshi Yamanaka. し じ ま の 音: あ る い は 、 音 楽 は 精神 の 身体 語 [Shijima no oto: arui wa ongaku wa seishin no shintaigo] [The Sound of Silence, or The Physical Language of the Music of the Soul]. Tokyo: Asahishuppansha.
  • 1983: Recorder School , 10 vols. Viennese instrumental schools. Vienna: Universal Edition; Stuttgart: E. Klett.
  • 1988: Experience of Being: the book about the love of life . Edition Esotera. Freiburg im Breisgau: farmer. ISBN 3-7626-0357-X .
  • 1990: Transverbal . Kirchzarten-Geroldstal: self-published.
  • 1991: Sesshin: the celebration of the reception of the heart; thirteen lectures were held occasionally at the turn of the year 1990/91 in Griesgethof near St. Georgen in the Black Forest . Geroldstal: Vetter-Verlag.
  • 1995: Music: Texts and pictures as an introduction to the art of falling in love with nothing . Spiritual wealth. Petersberg: Publisher Via Nova. ISBN 3-928632-14-0 .
  • 1997: The Psychology of the Experience of Being . Freiburg i. Br .: Lüchow. ISBN 3-925898-73-5 .
  • 2000: Form is emptiness and emptiness is form: Lectures during the 1992 summer session in the Griesgethof . Oberried-Geroldstal: Vetter-Verlag.

Compositions

  • Felder II , a musical project for children (1967)
  • Recitatives , for a recorder player (1967)
  • Figurations III , for any instrument (1968)
  • Line Game (1973)
  • Love Games: Musical Concepts (1973)
  • Writing games without words (1973)
  • Cosmic Comic (1975)
  • Radio plays I – IV (1977)
  • The Vienna Recorder School (1983)
  • When Heaven and Earth Unite Again: Thoughts, Meditations, and Exercises on the Way of the Voice (1987)
  • The overtone school (1987)
  • Maria: musical interpretation of a mantric name (1991)
  • Music (1995)
  • Pianissimo: Concepts for Keyboard Instruments (1996)
  • Sei-Un-Sho: A Musical Oracle (1997)

Discography

  • Stockhausen, Karlheinz. Gold Dust (from From the Seven Days , May 1968). Peter Eötvös; Herbert Henck; Michael Vetter. 1985, 1973. Deutsche Grammophon 410 935-1; 2,720,073; 2561 301. LP. Hamburg: Deutsche Grammophon,
  • Stockhausen, Karlheinz. "Spiral" for recorder and short waves; Cycle for one percussionist ; Piano piece No. 10. Michael Vetter (recorder and shortwave radio); Max Neuhaus (drums); Frederic Rzewski (piano); Christoph Caskel (drums). LP. Wergo, Hörzu Black Label SHZW 903 BL. Mainz: Wergo.
  • Stockhausen, Karlheinz. Spiral, integral version . Michael Vetter, voice and shortwave receiver. 2-CD set. Stockhausen Complete Edition CD 46 A – B. Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag, 1996.
  • Stockhausen, Karlheinz. Star sound . 2-LP set. Deutsche Grammophon 2707 123 (2531 281; 2531 282). [Hamburg]: Deutsche Grammophon, 1976. Polydor 2612 031 (2335 116; 2335 117). [Hamburg]: Polydor International, 1976. Reissued on 2-CD set, Stockhausen Complete Edition CD 18 A – B. Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag, 1992.
  • Szathmáry, Zsigmond . Organ improvisations . Zsigmond Szathmáry: Omaggio a György Ligeti ; Michael Vetter: The Circle ; John Cage: Music for Carillon No. 5 ; Shinichi Matsushita: Concentration ; Roman Haubenstock-Ramati: Untitled . Wergo CD 60119-50 (1983). Reissued in 1996 under the same catalog number as Music and Graphic: Organ Improvisations .
  • Cousin, Michael. Ancient Voices . Michael Vetter and the Overtone Choir. New Music Series. CD. Amiata Records ARNR 0192.Seggiano: Amiata Records, 1992.
  • Cousin, Michael. Clouds: Music for Koto Harp and Voice . Michael Vetter, koto harp and voice. Jecklin Disco JD 636-2. 1990.
  • Cousin, Michael. Il flauto dolce ed acerbo . Michael Vetter (recorder). LP recording. Jürg Baur, Mutazioni ; Rob du Bois, Pastorale VII ; Klaus Hashagen, gestures ; Dieter Schönbach, Canzona da sonar III ; Michael Vetter, Figurations III and Recitatives . Corono, 1974.
  • Cousin, Michael. Flowers: Musical Icons for Piano and Voice . Michael Vetter, piano and voice. Jecklin Disco JD 637-2. 1990.
  • Cousin, Michael. Light: Music for Tamburas and Voice . Michael Vetter, tamburas and voice. Jecklin Disco JD 640-2. 1990.
  • Cousin, Michael. Missa Universalis: overtone mass for voice and instruments . LP, Spectrum SM 1051, Mainz: Spectrum, 1985. CD. Spectrum SM 1051-50. Mainz: Spectrum, 1986.
  • Cousin, Michael. Om . 3-CD set. Ginkgo SM 1812-2, 1813-2, 1814-2; Ginkgo 281 812-2, 281 813-2, 281 814-2. [Mainz, Germany]: Ginkgo, 1996, 1987.
  • Cousin, Michael. Overtones in Old European Cathedrals: Senanque . Compact Disc. Wergo SM 1078-50. Mainz: Wergo, 1989, 1987.
  • Cousin, Michael. Overtones: Voice and Tambura . 2-LP set. Mainz: Wergo Spectrum, 1983.
  • Cousin, Michael. Pianissimo . CD. WER T 335-2. Zurich: Atlantis Musikbuch-Verlag, 1996.
  • Cousin, Michael. Silence . Michael Vetter, voice, singing bowls, and cymbals. CD. Jecklin Disco JD 641-2. Zurich: Jecklin Disco, 1990.
  • Cousin, Michael. Spaces . Compact disc. Jecklin Disco JD 639-2. Zurich: Jecklin Disco, 1990.
  • Cousin, Michael. Tambura meditations . Compact disc. Mainz: Wergo Spectrum, 1984. Reissued on CD, Wergo Spectrum SM 1039-50. Mainz: Wergo Spectrum, 1990.
  • Cousin, Michael. Wind: Music for Flutes, Voice and Gongs . Michael Vetter, flutes, voice, and gongs. Jecklin Disco JD 638-2. 1990.
  • Cousin, Michael. Zen bells . Wergo Spectrum SM 1054-2. Mainz: Wergo Spectrum, 1990.
  • Cousin, Michael. Zen gong . Compact disc. Wergo Spectrum SM 1053-2. Mainz, W. Germany: Wergo Spectrum, 1990, 1986.
  • Cousin, Michael. Zen flute . Michael Vetter. LP recording. Spectrum SM 1062. Mainz, W. Germany: Spectrum, 1987.
  • Cousin, Michael. Zen-Koto: memories in the present . Compact disc. Wergo Spectrum SM 1052-2. Mainz, W. Germany: Wergo Spectrum, 1990, 1985.

Web links

www.natascha-nikeprelevic.de/vetter-transverbal/

swell

  • Benda, Susanne. 1996. "Michael Vetter's Travels into the Inner Tones". Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 154, no. 6: 42–44.
  • Braun, Gerhard. 1995. "Dolce ed acerbo". Tibia 20: 351-56.
  • Lasocki, David. 2001. "Vetter, Michael". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell . London: Macmillan Publishers.
  • Nikeprelevic, Natascha. 2013. " Michael Vetter: September 18, 1943 - December 7, 2013 ". Transverbal Structural Music Theater website (accessed January 1, 2014).
  • O'Kelly, Eve. 1990. The Recorder Today . Cambridge, New York, Port Chester, Melbourne, Sydney: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-36681-X .
  • O'Loughlin, Niall. 1982. "The Recorder in 20th-Century Music". Early Music 10, no. 1 (January: The Recorder, Past and Present): 36–37.
  • Stockhausen, Karlheinz, and Michael Vetter. 1996. "SPIRAL (1968) for a soloist with a shortwave receiver". Booklet accompanying Stockhausen: Spiral, integral version . Michael Vetter, voice and short-wave receiver. 2-CD set. Stockhausen Complete Edition CD 46 A – B. Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag, 1996.
  • Stockhausen, Karlheinz. 2002. Michaelion: 4th scene from Wednesday from light, for choir, bass with shortwave receiver, flute, basset horn, trumpet, trombone, a synthesizer player, tape, 2 dancers, sound director . Work No. 70. Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag.
  • Thomson, J [ohn]. M [ansfield]. 1971. "Michael Vetter". Recorder and Music Magazine 3 (March): 317-19. Reprinted in JM Thomson. Recorder Profiles . London: Schott and Co. Ltd., 1972.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Lasocki 2001
  2. ^ O'Loughlin 1982, 37
  3. ↑ O'Kelly 1990, 59 and 99-100
  4. ↑ Stockhausen and Vetter 1996, 94 and 97
  5. ↑ a b Stockhausen and Vetter 1996, 95 and 98
  6. ^ Stockhausen 2002, VII and XV
  7. ↑ Nikeprelevic 2013
personal data
SURNAME Cousin, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer, writer, poet, performing artist, calligrapher and teacher
DATE OF BIRTH September 18, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Oberstdorf
DATE OF DEATH December 7, 2013
Place of death Munich