Role

:

Composer Performer

Birth

:

February 24, 1957 in Linz, Austria

Period

:

Contemporary

Genre

:

Avant-Garde

 

 

Opera

 

Bernhard Lang is a contemporary Austrian composer who was born on May 24, 1957, in Linz, Austria. He grew up in a musical family, with his father being a conductor and his mother a pianist. Lang began playing the piano at a young age and later studied composition at the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Lang's early works were influenced by the serialism and minimalism movements of the 20th century. However, he soon developed his own unique style, which he calls "repetition and transformation." This style involves taking a short musical phrase and repeating it with slight variations, gradually transforming it into something new and unexpected. One of Lang's most famous works is his opera "I Hate Mozart," which premiered in 1996. The opera is a satirical take on the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Lang portraying Mozart as a spoiled and arrogant child prodigy. The opera features a mix of classical and contemporary music, with Lang's signature repetition and transformation technique used throughout. Another notable work by Lang is his "Monadologie XII: The Anatomy of Disaster," which premiered in 2011. The piece is a multimedia work that combines live music with video projections and spoken word. It explores the theme of disaster, both natural and man-made, and features Lang's unique repetition and transformation technique applied to a variety of musical and spoken phrases. Lang has also composed numerous chamber music works, including "Differenz/Wiederholung 2" for string quartet and "DW 8: Loops for the Heart" for piano and electronics. These works showcase Lang's ability to create complex and intricate musical structures using his repetition and transformation technique. In addition to his work as a composer, Lang is also a professor of composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. He has received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the Austrian State Prize for Music in 2013. Overall, Bernhard Lang is a highly innovative and influential composer whose unique style has had a significant impact on contemporary classical music. His use of repetition and transformation has inspired a new generation of composers and continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in classical music.

More....