Heinz Holliger Explained

Heinz Holliger
Birth Place:Langenthal, Switzerland
Education:Conservatory of Bern
Occupation:Oboist, composer, conductor

Heinz Robert Holliger (born 21 May 1939) is a Swiss virtuoso oboist, composer and conductor. Celebrated for his versatility and technique, Holliger is among the most prominent oboists of his generation. His repertoire includes Baroque and Classical pieces, but he has regularly engaged in lesser known pieces of Romantic music, as well as his own compositions. He often performed contemporary works with his wife, the harpist Ursula Holliger; composers such as Berio, Carter, Henze, Krenek, Lutosławski, Martin, Penderecki, Stockhausen and Yun have written works for him. Holliger is a noted composer himself, writing works such as the opera Schneewittchen (1998).

Biography

Holliger was born in Langenthal, Switzerland. He began playing the oboe at age eleven, and studied at the conservatory of Bern before taking first prize for oboe in the Geneva International Music Competition in 1959. He studied composition with Sándor Veress and Pierre Boulez.

He has become one of the world's most celebrated oboists, and many composers, Luciano Berio, Elliott Carter, Hans Werner Henze, Ernst Krenek, Witold Lutosławski, Frank Martin, Krzysztof Penderecki, Henri Pousseur, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Sándor Veress and Isang Yun have written works for him. He began teaching at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg, Germany in 1966.

In 1972 Holliger, Maurice Bourgue (oboe), Klaus Thunemann (bassoon), and Christiane Jaccottet (continuo) et al. recorded the Six Trio Sonatas for Oboe and Bassoon by Jan Dismas Zelenka. This recording is credited for the "Zelenka Renaissance".

Holliger has also composed many works in a variety of media. Many of his works have been recorded for the ECM label.

Invited by Walter Fink, he was the 17th composer featured in the annual Komponistenporträt of the Rheingau Musik Festival in 2007 in chamber music and a symphonic concert that he conducted himself, including works of Claude Debussy and Robert Schumann along with his Lieder after Georg Trakl and Gesänge der Frühe on words of Schumann and Friedrich Hölderlin.

On the occasion of Paul Sacher's 70th birthday, Holliger was one of twelve composer-friends of his who were asked by Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich to write compositions for cello solo using his name spelt out in German names for musical notes on the theme (eS, A, C, H, E, Re); Holliger contributed a Chaconne for Violoncello Solo. The compositions were partially presented in Zurich on 2 May 1976. The whole "eSACHERe" project was (for the first time in complete performance) performed by Czech cellist František Brikcius in May 2011 in Prague.[1]

Heinz Holliger was married to the harpist Ursula Holliger née Hänggi (1937–2014).[2]

Awards

Selected works

Source:[11]

Discography

Sources

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: eSACHERe . 10 October 2011 . 10 June 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120610072751/http://www.brikcius.com/Projects.uk.eSACHERe.html . dead .
  2. News: Apone . Carl . 16 March 1989 . Holliger to debut Soviet oboe work . . Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . 27 . . 31 May 2020.
  3. Web site: Main prize recipients . Léonie Sonnings Musikpris . 21 March 2021 . 12 August 2024.
  4. Web site: HauptpreisträgerInnen Archiv . Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung . de . 12 August 2024.
  5. Web site: Pierre . Fondation Prince . Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco . Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco . 12 August 2024.
  6. https://archive.today/20120629122842/http://www.schott-music.com/news/archiv/show,881.html "Zurich Festival Prize for Heinz Holliger"
  7. Web site: Rheingau Musik Preis . Rheingau Musik Festival . de . 12 August 2024.
  8. Web site: Heinz Robert Holliger . American Academy of Arts & Sciences . 1 July 2024 . 12 August 2024.
  9. Web site: Preisträger . Willkommen in der Robert-Schumann-Stadt Zwickau! . de . 12 August 2024.
  10. Web site: Holliger . ORDEN POUR LE MÉRITE . de . 12 August 2024.
  11. Web site: Heinz Holliger . Schott Music . 21 May 1939 . 12 August 2024.
  12. Web site: Jan Dismas Zelenka: Trio Sonatas . ECM Records . 17 April 2024 . 12 August 2024.
  13. Web site: Sándor Veress: Passacaglia Concertante / Songs Of The Seasons / Musica Concertante . ECM Records . 12 March 2024 . 12 August 2024.
  14. Web site: Heinz Holliger: Beiseit / Alb-Chehr . ECM Records . 29 May 2024 . 12 August 2024.
  15. Web site: Music of Elliott Carter and Isang Yun . ECM Records . 3 June 2024 . 12 August 2024.