Role

:

Composer

Country

:

Germany

Birth

:

1944

Genre

:

Chamber

 

 

Orchestral

 

Mathias Spahlinger was a German composer born on July 20, 1944, in Stuttgart, Germany. He grew up in a musical family, with his father being a church musician and his mother a singer. Spahlinger began playing the piano at a young age and later studied composition at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart with Milko Kelemen and Luigi Nono. Spahlinger's early works were influenced by the avant-garde music of the 1960s, particularly the works of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Pierre Boulez. However, he soon began to develop his own unique style, which was characterized by a focus on sound and timbre, as well as a rejection of traditional musical forms. One of Spahlinger's most significant works is his "Klavierstück III" (Piano Piece III), which he composed in 1970. The piece is notable for its use of extended techniques, such as playing the piano strings directly and using the pedals to create unusual sounds. It was also one of the first pieces to use graphic notation, which allows the performer more freedom in interpreting the score. In the 1970s, Spahlinger became interested in the music of John Cage and began incorporating chance elements into his compositions. This can be heard in works such as "Für Stimmen" (For Voices), which was composed in 1974 and features a text by the German poet Ernst Jandl. The piece is structured around a series of chance operations, which determine the order and duration of the vocal sounds. Spahlinger's music continued to evolve throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with a focus on exploring the possibilities of sound and timbre. One of his most significant works from this period is "Extension" (1992), which is scored for large orchestra and features a complex web of interlocking rhythms and textures. In addition to his work as a composer, Spahlinger was also a respected teacher and musicologist. He taught composition at the Musikhochschule Freiburg from 1980 to 2009 and was a visiting professor at numerous universities around the world. He also wrote extensively on contemporary music, with a particular focus on the works of Luigi Nono. Spahlinger's contributions to contemporary music were recognized with numerous awards and honors. In 1993, he was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in classical music. He was also a member of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin and the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts. Mathias Spahlinger passed away on May 13, 2020, at the age of 75. His legacy as a composer and teacher continues to inspire new generations of musicians and composers.

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