Biography

André Werner studied composition at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin with Frank Michael Beyer and lives in this city where he has devoted himself exclusively to composing since 1982.

He received various awards, including the composition prize of the city of Stuttgart, the Förderpreis of the city of Berlin. He was a resident at the Villa Massimo in Rome, as well as residence in Paris at the Cité des Arts.

A portrait CD has just been published by Wergo.

In addition to his work in chamber music for band or orchestra, he devoted himself to the opera, and created a children's opera La Fata Turchina (1997), an opera based on William Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus (1994-1999) and an opera commissioned by the Munich Biennale by Christopher Marlowe The Jew of Malta (2001).

Among his recent works including Schattengitter, for orchestra (2008), Augen-Blick (2009) for viola and chamber ensemble.

http://www.andrewerner.eu/

NOTICE

"Schattengitter" (lit. shadow grids) originates from studies of the "ombres chromatiques", developed by two groups of strings, the second provided a quarter tone lower than the first.

There are also some "ombres intérieures" generated by differential structures of sounds from three piccolos in the third movement.

Along with two groups of strings, a large brass section and instruments to the extreme of the frequency spectrum - two bassoons, three piccolos and two glockenspiels - characterize the sound of each of the three movements of "Schattengitter."

In the first movement, after the "note-ombre" of fa hash (which will return in the third movement as at the same time a different sound and as a real note), and a general pause, the two groups of strings outline a mesh in the quarter- tones. In the second part of this movement the relationship is played between a soft section of glissandi, the strings tuned a quarter tone, and the comings and goings of the tones of copper, which occur and then disappear.

The second movement combines "concertanto" piano with bass horn, bassoon and strings. Alternating with sequences of piano, the bass sound helps create a rhythmic accelerated movement.

After another intervention of two groups strings tuned a quarter of a tone, the third movement, explores the high end of the spectre, with cells of different sounds played by the piccolos punctuated with the glockenspiel.

The whole forms a continuous frequency with internal fluctuations punctuated with stressed accents.