Sven Helbig (born in 1968) is a German composer and director. He composes orchestral, chamber and choral music. Beside this, he is active in the field of

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

( dark ambient,

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

field recording Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside a recording studio, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It also applies to sound recordings like electromagnetic fields or vibra ...

s). Helbig's versatility has made him a much sought-after producer for crossover projects; he has worked as a producer, composer and arranger with

Rammstein Rammstein (, "ramming stone") is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band formed in Berlin in 1994. The band's lineup—consisting of lead vocalist Till Lindemann, lead guitarist Richard Kruspe, rhythm guitarist Paul Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, ...

, Pet Shop Boys,

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

, the

Fauré Quartet The Fauré Quartet is a German piano quartet, named after Gabriel Fauré. Founded in 1995, they have performed internationally and recorded, including works written for them by composers such as Volker David Kirchner and Toshio Hosokawa. History ...

, cellist

Jan Vogler Jan Vogler (born February 18, 1964) is a German-born classical cellist who lives in New York City."About Jan Vogler" ...

, opera singer

René Pape René Pape (born 4 September 1964) is a German operatic bass. Pape has received two Grammys, was named "Vocalist of the Year" by Musical America in 2002, "Artist of the Year" by the German opera critics in 2006, and won an ECHO award (the German ...

, pianist

Olga Scheps Olga Scheps (born 4 January 1986) is a German pianist, who currently resides in Cologne, Germany. Biography 1986–2001: Early life and career beginnings Scheps was born on 4 January 1986, in Moscow and came to Germany at the age of six. Infl ...

and more. Helbig's work builds on the tradition of the

Gesamtkunstwerk A ''Gesamtkunstwerk'' (, literally 'total artwork', translated as 'total work of art', 'ideal work of art', 'universal artwork', 'synthesis of the arts', 'comprehensive artwork', or 'all-embracing art form') is a work of art that makes use of al ...

(all-embracing art form) and he often takes responsibility for concept, music and production at the same time.

Biography

Helbig was born in 1968 and grew up in

Eisenhüttenstadt Eisenhüttenstadt (literally "ironworks city" in German; , dsb, Pśibrjog) is a town in the Oder-Spree district of the state of Brandenburg, Germany, on the border with Poland. East Germany founded the city in 1950. It was known as Stalinstadt ( ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. His first experience with music began with the clarinet, later he added guitar, piano and drums. In 1996, Helbig and hornist Markus Rindt founded the Dresden Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra is specialized in new, symphonic music in unusual productions and was the first European symphony orchestra to exclusively perform contemporary music. The self-taught composer’s acclaimed debut album Pocket Symphonies has been released on the

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

label. Since 2016, Helbig is playing live with his ''Forrklang Quartet''. The ensemble is individually formed to fit the need of his current concert program. In 2017 he toured Europe, North- and Southamerica with his choir work ''I Eat the Sun and Drink the Rain''. The production for choir, electronics and visuals has been staged at Milton Court Hall/London, Elbphilharmonie/Hamburg and Reina Sofia Hall/Madrid beside others. In recent years, the artist has delved into work as a director. He directed music videos, stage shows and theatrical multimedia events. For example, he produced the ''High-rise Symphony'' on Dresden's 800th anniversary during which the orchestra's musicians sat on individual balconies of an old East German apartment building. Since 2017, Sven hosts his weekly radio show ''Schöne Töne'' on Berlin's Radio 1, celebrating music history and contemporary artists. In 2022 he was honored with the Art Award by the city of

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

. The cover artwork he created in the style of 17th century

vanitas A ''vanitas'' (Latin for 'vanity') is a symbolic work of art showing the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death. Best-known are ''van ...

painting for his album ''Skills'' (2022) was shown in a joint exhibition with

Gerhard Richter Gerhard Richter (; born 9 February 1932) is a German visual artist. Richter has produced abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, and also photographs and glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important contemporary German ...

Tony Cragg Sir Anthony Douglas Cragg (born Liverpool 9 April 1949) is an Anglo-German sculptor, resident in Wuppertal, Germany since 1977. Early life and training Tony Cragg was born in Liverpool."Tony Cragg." ''Contemporary Artists''. Farmington Hills, ...

and

William Kentridge William Kentridge (born 28 April 1955) is a South African artist best known for his prints, drawings, and animated films, especially noted for a sequence of hand-drawn animated films he produced during the 1990s. The latter are constructed by ...

Discography

* 2003: Album “Mein Herz brennt” -

Torsten Rasch Torsten Rasch (born 1965 in Dresden) is a German composer of contemporary classical music. He lives in Berlin, but has found moderate success in the UK. Biography Torsten Rasch was born in Dresden in 1965 and began piano lessons at the age of s ...

with

and

Katharina Thalbach Katharina Thalbach (; actually ''Katharina Joachim genannt Thalbach''; born 19 January 1954) is a German actress and stage director. She played theatre at the Berliner Ensemble and at the Volksbühne Berlin, and was actress in the film ''The T ...

, released by Deutsche Grammophon (producer) * 2004: Album “

The Battleship Potemkin '' Battleship Potemkin'' (russian: Бронено́сец «Потёмкин», ''Bronenosets Potyomkin''), sometimes rendered as ''Battleship Potyomkin'', is a 1925 Soviet silent drama film produced by Mosfilm. Directed and co-written by S ...

” - Pet Shop Boys (producer) * 2008: Album “The Color Of Snow” - Polarkreis 18 (orchestra arranger/producer) * 2009: Album “Liebe ist für alle da” - Rammstein (orchestra and choir arranger) * 2009: Album “Popsongs” - Fauré Quartett (arranger/producer) * 2010:

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...

Sido (rapper) Paul Hartmut Würdig (born 30 November 1980), better known as Sido, is a German rapper. He interprets his artist name as "super-intelligentes Drogenopfer" (super-intelligent drug victim). It used to stand for "Scheiße in dein Ohr" (shit into y ...

- (arranger/producer) * 2010: Album "Frei" - Polarkreis 18 (orchestra arranger/producer) * 2011: Album "

The Most Incredible Thing "The Most Incredible Thing" ( da, Det Utroligste) is the final literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). The story is about a contest to find the most incredible thing and the wondrous consequences ...

" - Pet Shop Boys (orchestra arranger/producer) * 2013: Album " Wagner Reloaded-Live in Leipzig" -

Apocalyptica Apocalyptica is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Helsinki, formed in 1993. The band is composed of classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, and Perttu Kivilaakso, and jazz drummer Mikko Sirén. Originally a classical ...

(orchestra arranger/producer/writer) * 2013: Album "Pocket Symphonies" - (composer)

* 2016: Album "Pocket Symphonies Electronica" - (composer) * 2016: Album "I Eat the Sun and Drink the Rain" - with Vocalconsort Berlin and

Kristjan Järvi Kristjan Järvi (, alternate (U.S.) spelling: Kristian Järvi) (born 13 June 1972, Tallinn) is an Estonian American conductor, composer and producer born in Estonia, younger son of the conductor Neeme Järvi and brother of conductor Paavo Järv ...

(composer, lyrics) * 2018: EP "Tres Momentos" - piece for string orchestra and electronics with the

Kammerorchester Berlin The Kammerorchester Berlin has been in existence since 1945 and its first director was the conductor Helmut Koch (conductor), Helmut Koch. Already in the 1950s, the orchestra succeeded in making a name for itself. Among other awards it received the ...

(composer) * 2020: Cello Concerto "Three Continents" - Jan Vogler ( Cello) - (composer)

Sony Classical Sony Classical is an American record label founded in 1924 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records. In 1980, the Columbia Masterworks label was renamed as CBS Masterworks Records. The CBS Records Group was acquired by S ...

* 2022: Album "Skills" - (composer)

Projects

* 2004: Premiere of The Battleship Potemkin at London's Trafalgar Square * 2006: Production of the high-rise symphony at Dresden's 800th anniversary (director, light design, music) * 2006: The Mover Ballet, 250 solar panels danced to his music during the opening ceremony of the world's largest solar park in Arnheim * 2007: MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA) Snoop Dogg and orchestra (arranger) * 2011: Premier performance of the ballet ''The Most Incredible Thing'' in London at

Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...

, music by Pet Shop Boys with orchestrations by Sven Helbig * 2014: ''A Man from the Future'', work for orchestra, choir, speaker and electronics about the life of

Alan Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical com ...

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...

, premiered by BBC

Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

, (orchestrations)

Awards

* 2004: ECHO Classical Music Award in the world premier recording category for “Mein Herz brennt” to Torsten Rasch * 2010: ECHO Classical Music Award in the classical music without borders category for “Popsongs” to the Fauré Quartett * 2013: Maestro titel by the National University San Martín (UNSAM), Buenos Aires * 2019: Golden Stage Cross by the Ministry of Culture, Lithuania * 2022: Art Award by the city of Dresden

References

External links

Interview by Tess Crebbin on ECHO Klassik

Homepage of Sven Helbig

Spex-Interview with Martin Hossbach
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helbig, Sven 1968 births Living people People from Eisenhüttenstadt People from Bezirk Frankfurt German composers