Composer and conductor Hans Zender celebrates his 80th birthday today, 22 November 2016.
The works which he entrusted to Universal Edition between 1979 and 1990 reflect certain important facets of his intellectual world: the interest in music theatre (his Joyce opera Stephen Climax), the allure of Japanese culture (for example the flute concerto Loshu V), the importance of the voice and, with it, of literature (settings of Mechthild von Magdeburg and Henri Michaux).
We extend our warmest congratulations!
A selection of works by the composer will be performed at this year’s Wien Modern festival on 28 and 29 November:
During preparations for their 25th anniversary in 2010, the ensemble recherche came to the conclusion that “There are no love songs anymore!”. So they request such pieces for the celebration from various composer friends; more than 30 love songs were written in the process and more are in progress: one could almost speak of a new “trend”. (Kornelia Bittmann)
|
WERGO has recently released a two-and-a-half-hour double-CD set that features 30 love songs that are dedicated to the ensemble recherche – an ensemble that, since its founding in 1985, has premièred more than 500 works and released about 50 CDs, many of which have been awarded international prizes including the annual German Critics’ Award and the Diapason d’Or. Their latest CD, which features works by Georg Friedrich Haas, Johannes Maria Staud and Hans Zender, has been highly praised by critics and public alike (“ensemble recherche’s amorous collection reclaims the love song from the embrace of pop music”, Andrew Clements for The Guardian) and already makes us hope for a follow-up CD. |
|
Happy Birthday Hans
Zender!
Hans Zender was this year’s composer in residence at the Klangspuren Schwaz.
View a list of works by Zender that are published by Universal Edition and listen to his music.
An extensive (German) review of Zender’s opera Stephen Climax, which is based both on James Joyce’s Ulysses and on the life of Saint Simeon Stylites, is available on the homepage of the German newspaper Die Zeit.