Friedrich Cerha
Born in 1926 in Vienna. After graduating from the Academy of Music, where he majored in violin, composition and music pedagogy, he studied musicology, germanistics and philosophy at the University of Vienna. In the 1950s he became involved with the Art Club – a society of avant-garde painters and writers, as well as the Austrian section of IGNM, where, guided by Josef Polnauer, he focused on the analysis of the works of the Second Viennese School and their interpretation techniques. This study had a substantial effect on his artistic development. From 1956 Friedrich Cerha regularly participated in the Darmstadt Summer Courses, by taking masterclasses with violinists Rudolf Kolisch and Eduard Steuermann.
In 1958, together with Kurt Schwertsik, he founded the "die Reihe” Ensemble, which subsequently won international acclaim for its pioneering work in the presentation of new music and the Second Viennese School. Friedrich Cerha was responsible for establishing the successful concert series "Wege in unsere Zeit” (Paths in Our Times) in Vienna in 1978. Since 1959 he has been professor at the Academy of Music in Vienna. Besides his intensive work with "die reihe”, he has been conducting orchestras since 1961. He has cooperated regularly with the most important institutions, leading opera houses and festivals to help the cultivation of contemporary music. The premiere of his opera "Baal” in 1981 at the Salzburg Festival and the Austrian premiere of Alban Berg’s "Lulu” - the 3rd act of which Cerha finished based on Berg’s original sketches and personally conducted - brought his career its final breakthrough. Besides solo, choir, chamber, and orchestra pieces he has also written important works for the stage: "Spiegel”, "Netzwerk” and "Der Rattenfänger” (The Pied Piper - premiered in 1987 at steirischen herbst, Graz). Friedrich Cerha has been honoured several times for his outstanding work as a composer: he was awarded the Prize of the City of Vienna in 1974 and the Great Austrian State Award in 1986.
Cerha has been married to the musician and music teacher Gertraud Cerha since 1951 and has two daughters.
In 1958, together with Kurt Schwertsik, he founded the "die Reihe” Ensemble, which subsequently won international acclaim for its pioneering work in the presentation of new music and the Second Viennese School. Friedrich Cerha was responsible for establishing the successful concert series "Wege in unsere Zeit” (Paths in Our Times) in Vienna in 1978. Since 1959 he has been professor at the Academy of Music in Vienna. Besides his intensive work with "die reihe”, he has been conducting orchestras since 1961. He has cooperated regularly with the most important institutions, leading opera houses and festivals to help the cultivation of contemporary music. The premiere of his opera "Baal” in 1981 at the Salzburg Festival and the Austrian premiere of Alban Berg’s "Lulu” - the 3rd act of which Cerha finished based on Berg’s original sketches and personally conducted - brought his career its final breakthrough. Besides solo, choir, chamber, and orchestra pieces he has also written important works for the stage: "Spiegel”, "Netzwerk” and "Der Rattenfänger” (The Pied Piper - premiered in 1987 at steirischen herbst, Graz). Friedrich Cerha has been honoured several times for his outstanding work as a composer: he was awarded the Prize of the City of Vienna in 1974 and the Great Austrian State Award in 1986.
Cerha has been married to the musician and music teacher Gertraud Cerha since 1951 and has two daughters.
Fragment: dreamt
The title already says a lot. The dynamics of the piece very rarely go beyond pianissimo. The elements of movement are much reduced. It’s like in a dream: one tries to move forward; however it’s impossible. The music feels it’s way as if blind. The piece is an epitome - the highest praise of slowness; a strange foreign element in our hectic world with time and again the ticking sound of time passing, at various speeds. Transience – even in dreams. (Friedrich Cerha)
The title already says a lot. The dynamics of the piece very rarely go beyond pianissimo. The elements of movement are much reduced. It’s like in a dream: one tries to move forward; however it’s impossible. The music feels it’s way as if blind. The piece is an epitome - the highest praise of slowness; a strange foreign element in our hectic world with time and again the ticking sound of time passing, at various speeds. Transience – even in dreams. (Friedrich Cerha)