Michael Obst (born 30 November 1955) is a German

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

Life

Obst was born in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. He studied music education from 1973 to 1978 in Mainz, and from 1977 to 1982 studied piano with Alfons Kontarsky and Aloys Kontarsky at the Hochschule für Musik Köln, where he sat his piano examination in 1982. At the same time, between 1979 and 1986, he studied composition with Hans Ulrich Humpert in the Studio for Elektronic Music of the Hochschule für Musik Köln. From 1981 to 1992 he was the pianist and a founding member of the Ensemble Modern, from 1986 to 1989 he worked as an interpreter with

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

, playing synthesizer in Stockhausen’s operatic cycle Licht. He was invited to the Studios of Ghent (IPEM), Stockholm (EMS), Bourges (Groupe de musique expérimentale de Bourges), Paris (

IRCAM IRCAM (French: ''Ircam, '', English: Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music) is a French institute dedicated to the research of music and sound, especially in the fields of Avant-garde music, avant garde and Electroacoustic ...

), and Freiburg ( SWF-Heinrich Strobel Stiftung) as well as to the Studio for Electronic Music of the

Westdeutscher Rundfunk (; "West German Broadcasting Cologne"), shortened to WDR (), is a German public broadcasting, public-broadcasting institution based in the States of Germany, Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a const ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. At IRCAM he realized the electronics for his chamber opera ''Solaris'' (to a libretto by Stanisław Lem); the opera received its première at the Munich Biennale in 1996. Since 1997 he has been professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

. From 2010 to 2013 he was a guest professor for composition at the University of Music and performing Arts in Vienna. In works such as ''Solaris'', Obst adopts a modernist sensibility while at the same time questioning its underlying philosophy.

Selected World Premières and Important Performances

*''10 Years IRCAM'' Paris 1987: "Kristallwelt III" for ensemble on tape, commission IRCAM *''Donaueschinger Musiktage'' 1987: "Kristallwelt III" for ensemble and tape *''Donaueschinger Musiktage'' 1989: "Miroirs" for 6 vocalists, commission SWF *''Donaueschinger Musiktage'' 1995: "Diaphonia" for soloists, orchestra and live-electronics, com. SWF *''World Music Days'' (ISCM) Cologne 1987: "Chansons" for Mezzo-Soprano, 5 instruments, live-electronics and tape, commission WDR *''Holland-Festival'' Amsterdam 1990: "Kristallwelt III" for ensemble and tape *''10 Years Ensemble Modern'', Frankfurt 1990: "Nachtstücke" for 7 instr. + live-el. *''Présence ‘92 -jeunes compositeurs-'' Radio France, Paris: "Fresko" for 5 instruments, commission Radio France *''Musik-Kino'' Philharmonie Cologne 1992: "Dr. Mabuse Part I", music for the silent movie by Fritz Lang for ensemble, commission Philharmonie Cologne *''CineMémoire'', Paris 1993: "Dr. Mabuse Parts I+II", for ensemble and live-electronics, commission art IIIRCAM/EIC *''Munich Biennale'' 1996: "Solaris" (première), chamber-opera, co-production with IRCAM/Paris and Munich, commission GEMA-Stiftung Munich *''Musik-Triennale'' 1997 Cologne: "Shadow of a Doubt" for solo percussion and ensemble, commission Philharmonie Cologne *''European Cultural City 1999'' – Weimar: "Caroline", opera, commission '' German National Theater Weimar'' *''Le Merveilleuse'' Festival 2003, Cité de la Musique, Paris: "Nosferatu" (Murnau), music for the silent movie for ensemble, commission Ensemble InterContemporain *''Gewandhaus Leipzig'' 2006: "Espaces sonores" (première) for Wind Quintett and Orchestra, commission from the Radio/TV – Orchestra Leipzig (MDR) *''MainFranken Theater Würzburg'' 2010: "Die andere Seite" (Kubin) (première), commission from the MainFranken Theater Würzburg * ''Bayerische Theaterakademie'' "August Everding" 2013, "Solaris" Chamber Opera, Stage Direction: Kovalik Balázs * ''Festival cresc...Biennale für moderne Musik'', Frankfurt 2013, "Die Befristeten", concertante radio play after the theatre piece of the same name by Elias Canetti * ''Landestheater Linz'', 17 September 2016, Austrian première "Solaris", MD: Daniel Linton-France, SD: Hermann Schneider * ''Landestheater Linz'', 21 May 2017, Austrian première "Die andere Seite", MD: Dennis Russel Davies, SD: John Dew

Discography

*METAL DROPS ,Inside–metal drop music–Ye–Na–Je, electroacoustic music, CD Wergo WER SM 1043–2 *CRYSTAL WORLD ,Crystal World I–III, electroacoustic music,CD Wergo WER 2011–50 *MICHAEL OBST, Kristallwelt III–Fresko–Nachtstücke, EIC/IRCAM, CD Adès 205832 *Diaphonia, SWF–Sinfonieorchester/Gielen, Donaueschingen 1995, CD col legno WWE 31898 *Fábrica, electroacoustic music, composers of Nordrhein Westfalen (Germany), CD Koch–Schwann 3–5037–3 *Oktett für Bläserensemble, Bläserensemble Sabine Meyer, EMI Records 7243-5-57084-2-7 *Trio No 2 for Violin, Violoncello and Piano, Abegg Trio, TACET Records 174

Television Productions

*DR MABUSE, DER SPIELER Ensemble InterContemporain – Ann Manson, ZDF-ARTE 1996 *SOLARIS Biennale München-Xsemble München – Musical Director: Peter Rundel Stage Director: Anja Sündermann, Bayerischer Rundfunk 1996

Compositions

Stage works

Other works

* 1980/81 ''Metal Drop Music'', quadraphonic electronic music * 1980/83 Piano Piece no. 3 for piano solo * 1981 ''Resonanzen 1'' for violoncello solo * 1981/88 ''Traumlandschaften'' for 2 pianos * 1981/82 ''Inside'', quadrophonic electronic music * 1982 ''YE-NA-JE'' stereophonic electronic music * 1983 ''Visioni di Medea'', quadrophonic electronic music * 1983–85 ''Crystal World I'', quadrophonic electronic music * 1984 ''Crystal World II'' (Chorale), quadrophonic electronic music * 1985/86 ''Crystal World III'', quadrophonic electronic music * 1985/86 ''Crystal World III'' for ensemble and tape * 1987 ''Chansons'' for mezzo-soprano, 5 instruments, live-electronics, and tape * 1987 ''Ende Gut'', quadrophonic electronic music * 1989 ''Poèmes'' for percussion solo and tape * 1989 ''Miroirs'' for 6 vocalists * 1990 ''Dr. Mabuse Der Spieler Part I: Der große Spieler'' for ensemble and live-electronics (film music for the restored complete version of the silent film " Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler" by

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), better known as Fritz Lang (), was an Austrian-born film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety Obituari ...

) * 1990–92 ''Poèmes, "d'après des images en blanc et noir"'' for orchestra * 1990 ''Nachtstücke'' for 7 instruments and live-electronics * 1991 ''Fresko'' for 5 instruments * 1991 ''Nuances'' for flute and percussion * 1992–93 ''Dr. Mabuse Der Spieler Part II: Inferno'' for ensemble and live-electronics (film music for the restored complete version of the silent film " Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler" by

) * 1993–94 ''Diaphonia'' for soloists, orchestra and live-electronics * 1994 ''Fábrica I'', stereophonic electronic music * 1995 ''Fábrica II'' for 4 percussionists and tape * 1996 ''Journey's End'', quadrophonic electronic music * 1997 ''Shadow (...of a Doubt)'', for percussion and ensemble * 1998 ''Traces'' for oboe solo * 1998 ''Suite'' for bass clarinet, accordion and double bass * 1998 Octet for Winds * 1998/99 Piano Piece no. 5 for piano solo * 1998/99 ''Reflections'' for accordion solo * 2000 ''The Wind'' for violin, French horn and tape * 2000 ''Images'' for violin solo * 2000 ''Six Sketches'' for French horn solo * 2001 Piano Trio no. 1 * 2001 ''Transit'', for orchestra * 2002 ''Nosferatu'', (music for the classic silent film by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau) * 2003/04 ''Espaces Sonores'', 8-track electronic music * 2004–05 ''Espaces sonores'', for wind quintet and orchestra * 2006 ''Arcus'' for string quartet and electronic music * 2006 Piano Trio no. 2 * 2009 ''Trois Rêves'' for ensemble * 2009 ''Four Little Pieces'' for B-flat clarinet * 2013 ''Die Befristeten'', concertante radio play for speakers and ensemble after the theatre piece of the same name by

Elias Canetti Elias Canetti (; 25 July 1905 – 14 August 1994; ; ) was a German-language writer, known as a Literary modernism, modernist novelist, playwright, memoirist, and nonfiction writer. Born in Ruse, Bulgaria, to a Sephardi Jews, Sephardic Jewish fam ...

(text adaptation by Ursula Ruppel) * 2013–14 ''Variazioni'' for two trumpets and two ensembles * 2014 ''Te Deum'' for six-part mixed choir * 2016 ''Noctuelles'' for 11 instruments

Writings by Michael Obst (selection)

*De nouveau critère pour apprécier la musique electroacoustique in: Esthétique et Musique Electroacoustique, Paris 1996, pp. 71–76 *Neue Musik (-festival)? in: Festschrift 75 Jahre Donaueschinger Musiktage, Donaueschingen 1996, pp. 77–80 *Fábrica – analyse structurelle in: Analyse en Musique Electroacoustique, Bourges 1997, pp. 155–159 *Projection du son prise comme élément compositionnel, La fonction de l'électronique en direct dans mon opéra *Solaris in: Composition/Diffusion en Musique Electroacoustique, Bourges 1998, pp. 142–150 *La musique – pourquoi? in: Musique Electroacoustique: expérience et prospective, Bourges 1999, pp. 116–117

References

External links

*
Michael Obst's official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Obst, Michael 1955 births Living people 20th-century German classical composers 21st-century German classical composers Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln alumni German male classical composers Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar 20th-century German male musicians 21st-century German male musicians