Werner Kaegi (musician)

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Werner Kaegi (born June 17, 1926 in Zurich ) is a Swiss musicologist and composer.

Live and act

Kaegi studied composition, musicology and mathematical logic. In 1952 he received his doctorate (Dr. phil.) At the University of Zurich with a dissertation on fugues by Johann Sebastian Bach . As a versatile pianist, he accompanied cabaret programs during his studies; he also made radio recordings as a bar pianist.

Kaegi was a student of Paul Hindemith , Arthur Honegger and Louis Aubert . He has been involved in electronic music since he came into contact with the circle around Pierre Schaeffer in 1951 . He has written numerous compositions both for mechanical instruments and for voices as well as for electronic means. He is the winner of numerous competitions. A highlight was the performance of electronic music for the Swiss pavilion at the Osaka World Exhibition in 1970. Kaegi also dealt early on with incorporating elements of jazz into his tonal language.

From 1963 to 1970 he worked at the Center de Recherches Sonores de la Radio Suisse Romande in Geneva, and since 1971 he has been teaching and researching at the Institute for Sonology at the University of Utrecht. There he participated in the development of the sound synthesis process VOSIM and the composition programs MIDIM .

Kaegi is the author of a television film, several books, and many articles on electronic and computer music. From his writings, a strong influence by the situation analysis of the music through communication research can be seen. In “What is electronic music?” Kaegi wrote a detailed inventory of the worldwide publications of electronic music (as of 1967).

Works

  • The simultaneous way of thinking in JS Bach's inventions, symphonies and fugues . Basel, 1951
  • What is electronic music? Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich 1967
  • Music and Technology in the Europe of 1970 . 1971
  • From sine tone to electronic music . Stuttgart 1970
  • VOSIM-A New Sound Synthesis System . In: JAES , Vol. 26 (1978), Heft 6, pp. 418-425 (together with Stan Tempelaars )

Selected compositions

  • 9 songs to texts by Joseph von Eichendorff and Hermann Hesse (1943)
  • On the life and death of the shepherd Kaedmon , oratory
  • Miniatures , for oboe, bassoon and cimbalom
  • Magna Voce Ad Dominum Clamo , for singers and orchestra
  • Sonata , for clarinet and piano (1956)
  • Ariadne in Zurich , for clarinet and piano for 4 hands (1957)
  • Concerto , for jazz quartet and string ensemble (1961)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. Bruno Spoerri (Ed.): Biografisches Lexikon des Schweizer Jazz CD supplement to: Spoerri, Bruno (Ed.): Jazz in der Schweiz. History and stories . Chronos-Verlag, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-0340-0739-6
  2. ↑ See Hans Steinbeck, Walter Labhart: Swiss composers of our time . Atlantis Verlag, Zurich, Switzerland 1975.
  3. ↑ After his ballet composition De Bach chunnt (1958) he wrote several works for jazz ensembles: Concerto for Jazzquartet and Strings (1959-61, rev.version 1990; first performed in 1964 with George Gruntz , Elek Bacsik , Guy Pedersen and Daniel Humair ), Mystic Puzzle II for 10 Jazzplayers and electronic music on tape (1966, for Groupe des Dix de la Radio Suisse Romande), Mystic Puzzle I for prepared piano and harpsichord (1964, recorded 1971 with George Gruntz and Antoinette Vischer).
  4. ↑ See The Netherlands Electro-Acoustic Repertoire Center ( Memento from January 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Kaegi, Werner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss musicologist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH June 17, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich