Otto M. Zykan

Otto Josef Matthäus Zykan (born April 29, 1935 in Vienna ; † May 25, 2006 in Sachsendorf ) was an Austrian composer , language artist and pianist . He was the son of the Austrian composer Otto Zykan .

Life

Otto M. Zykan studied piano at the Vienna University of Music and composition with Karl Schiske . He distinguished himself early on through his musical and artistic versatility, was the creator of heterogeneous musical works as well as dadaistic language and verse art. As a composer he began with dodecaphonic works, for example in the early piano concerto, which received a prize at the Innsbruck Youth Culture Weeks in 1963. Very soon he was interested not only in the invention of music, but also in the metamusical level: the ritual of musical performance, the musical structure of linguistic works, the theatrical aspect of music, analogous to Mauricio Kagel's instrumental theater , the creative process of composing, reflection about musical and literary work. The emancipation from pure twelve-tone music and from its inventor Arnold Schönberg was also expressed in a critical examination of himself: with Schönberg's unfortunate statement that he had secured German music dominance for the next hundred years, or in the criticism of a submissive letter from Schönberg to the Donaueschingen prince Max Egon II. zu Fürstenberg , who in 1921 was a patron of the foundation of the “Chamber Music Performances for the Promotion of Contemporary Music”, today the Donaueschinger Musiktage . The play Die Staatsoperette (1977) led to a tangible scandal, which subsequently even led to church bans and debates in parliament. The film produced with Franz Novotny was never shown again. The first performance as a stage play took place in August 2016 on the occasion of the Bregenz Festival .

Zykan also persistently resisted marketing his music. Although he attached great importance to meticulous documentation of his work, during his lifetime he tried to prevent performances from taking place without him and without his supervision. Sometimes the documents for his compositions were lost or destroyed after the premiere .

The former boy choir became famous early on as a Schoenberg piano specialist. His best-known compositions include the opera or ode or opera Singer's sewing machine is the best (1966), of which there is also a film version, art comes from Gönnen (1980) or his Humanic advertising. In the last few decades he has created works with video performances for festivals - Odysseus (1994) - such as the Linzer Klangwolke , the Wiener Festwochen etc., chamber music and incidental music for the Burgtheater Vienna, and most recently that in December 2005 by Heinrich Schiff and the Vienna Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta premiered concerto for violoncello and orchestra entitled Beethoven's Cello . In 2003 he composed the music for Nestroy's fear of hell for the Nestroy Games in Schwechat .

Zykan lived as a freelance composer in Vienna until his death. As his partner Irene Suchy confirmed, he died while cycling near his house in Sachsendorf. Zykan was buried in the cemetery in Reinprechtspölla .

literature

• Wolfgang Gratzer : Zykan, Otto M. (Matthäus). In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon . Online edition, Vienna 2002 ff., ISBN 3-7001-3077-5 ; Print edition: Volume 5, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-7001-3067-8 .
• Cooperative of German Stage Members (Ed.): Deutsches Bühnen-Jahrbuch 2007 , Verlag der Bühnenschriften-Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg, page 875, ISSN  0070-4431

Web links

• Literature by and about Otto M. Zykan in the catalog of the German National Library
• Entry on Otto M. Zykan in the Austria Forum  (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
• Music Information Center Austria (mica)