Robert Suter

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Robert Suter (born January 30, 1919 in St. Gallen ; † June 11, 2008 in Basel ; resident in Krummenau and St. Gallen) was a Swiss composer and pianist who was also active in the jazz field .

Live and act

Suter grew up in a music-loving family. a. was friends with Othmar Schoeck . The lawyer and officer Richard Suter was his brother. Robert Suter began taking piano lessons at the age of eight and composed at an early age. As a high school student, he decided to turn music into a profession and dropped out of cantonal school before graduating from high school . From 1937 he studied piano with Paul Baumgartner at the Conservatory of the Music Academy in Basel . He then trained as a music theory teacher from Walter Müller von Kulm and Ernst Mohr (diploma in 1943) after he had to interrupt some of his studies during the Second World War due to active militia service . From 1945 to 1950 he worked as a theory teacher at the Bern Conservatory; first larger compositions were created. In 1950 he was elected to the Basel Music Academy. There he taught composition, counterpoint , harmony , analysis, but also improvisation at the music school until 1955 and then until his retirement in 1984 at the Basel Conservatory .

As a composer, Suter was largely self-taught , even if after studying theory he received a few lessons from the Busoni student Walther Geiser ; In the 1950s he took lessons in Arnold Schönberg's twelve-tone technique from Wladimir Vogel . At the Darmstadt summer courses he received further suggestions from Wolfgang Fortner and Ernst Krenek . As a composer, Suter maintained an independent stance; In addition to chamber music, he has also written for radio plays and silent films, cabaret and jazz ensembles. The percussion concert (1999) Jeux d'après un ballet imaginaire for the Basel Sinfonietta and drummer Fritz Hauser should also be emphasized .

Between 1954 and 1964 he chaired the Basel branch of the International Society for New Music . For several years he worked as a freelance music editor for Radio Basel for the “Monday Studio”.

For several decades Suter played hot jazz and swing as a pianist in the amateur camp. He started out as a student with Broadway Stars and Swing Kiddies ; then he played with the clarinetist Peter Wyss in the traditional jazz band "Barrelhouse Boys". In 1948 he founded with this and Lukas Burckhardt , Balz Fischer and Willy Bosshardt existing for many years Dark Town Strutter that in 1951 several times at the Festival Zurich Amateur Jazz were excellent and the he recorded several disks. As a solo pianist, he also received first and second prizes at the Zurich Festival several times. He also accompanied Edmond Hall , Jimmy Archey and Wild Bill Davison .

Robert Suter is the father of the pilot and entrepreneur Moritz Suter .

Prizes and awards

Suter has received numerous prizes, including the 1977 composer prize of the Swiss Tonkünstlerverein .

Discographic notes

  • Robert Suter: Trois Nocturnes / String Quartet / Ballade (with Hirofumi Fukai, Amati Quartet and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra );
  • Robert Suter: Suites for Piano No. 1 & 2 / German Chansons ; Claudia Sutter: incredible (Claudia Sutter, piano; Leslie Leon, mezzo-soprano); Guild GMCD 7382.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Professional amateur: Robert Suter has died. In: Basler Zeitung . June 12, 2008.
personal data
SURNAME Suter, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss composer and jazz musician (pianist)
DATE OF BIRTH January 30, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Gallen
DATE OF DEATH June 11, 2008
Place of death Basel