Biography

Hanspeter KYBURZ

Work(s)

" Touché "

for soprano, tenor and orchestra

Born in 1960 in Lagos, Nigeria, Hanspeter Kyburz first studied composition in Graz with A. Dobrowolski and Gösta Neuwirth before pursuing studies in composition, musicology, history of art and philosophy in Berlin (1982-1990) and in Frankfurt-sur-le Main with Hans Zender (1990-1993).


In 1990, Kyburz won the "Boris Blacher" composition prize and he received a grant from the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. Since 1997 he is professor of composition at the Academy of Music in Berlin and since 1998, lecturer in summer courses for contemporary music in Darmstadt.

The composer totally dissociated himself from his first works, which is why his catalog begins in 1993 with works for ensembles, Cells (1993-94) and Parts (1994-95), and only includes a dozen titles.


For Kyburz, his work as a composer really starts at the moment when he became aware of the increased importance of ideas in the field of the system and the integration of theory and experiments in computer-assisted formal processes. He then focuses his research on the development of new structures, non-linear.


One feature of his work with the algorithms lies in the fact that all that is part of a system must be variable and predetermined elements must always allow the development of new structural spaces.


Among the titles of his works, some already attract the attention to the fact that with Kyburz,the conception of musical process itself becomes the subject of his work. This is the case in Cells: powerfully suggestive, this music is made in the form of a very ingenious network of structual moments that overlap each other. The most diverse processes of concentration and development, but also of dissolution and fraying, occupy a central place.


In his musical scenarios, the composer seeks to release the sound constellations and to free, at least partially, the energy thus creating moments of surprise. Therefore in Parts or Diptychon (1997-98) disconcerting outbreaks interrupt a flowing sound.


A major innovation in the latest works of Kyburz is that the general drama is developed in an even more varied and complex way, giving a more important role to confusion. These processes are fitted in a complex manner and form each time one with the other, in a polyphonic manner a mellow tone.


On the other hand, his works also contain musical situations that seem immediately obvious. This is most often the assembly of traditional material, as reminiscent of types such as the concerto, the oratorio in The Voynich Cipher Manuscript (1995) for choir and ensemble, or the discourse of classical chamber music in Danse aveugle (1997) for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano.
(from Musica falsa No. 19)


In 2003, the composer works on an evolving work (work in progress), a reseau, inspired by the works of Japanese painter Sesshu and in 2004 he composed his first string quartet. In 2005, Kyburz creates Projektion, a combination for a large orchestra (75 musicians) and an ensemble (flute, clarinet, horn, trumpet, vibraphone, piano, violin, viola and cello) which allows an alternatively fast rhythm marked by horizontal and vertical movements and by the contrasting tones that produce high energy emission.

NOTICE

Touché, commissioned by Roche Commissions for the Lucerne Festival, was created September 2, 2006 in Lucerne by Laura Aikin (soprano), John Mark Ainsley (tenor) and the Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst. Text by Sabine Marienberg. The text and music were developed jointly.


"This piece recounts the conversation between two characters, a couple, but we did not want an intimate story. We wanted it to be purely formal and the most analytical as possible. The way the two characters exchange information takes it to a more abstract level than the true form of their exchange. The key question is not so much the exchange of information in itself or the resolution of conflict in dramatic terms, the contrast of feelings, the communicative aspect, the ability to focus / mark / highlight rhythm in a rapid series of blows.


The song opens with a prelude, a relationship very isolated and rhythmically surprising. Then, slowly emerges a dialogue based on mutual separation. Each attempt opening towards the other character is punished. In the second part, they begin to dream of each other but in parallel. First he dreams of how she sleeps, she dreams of the first time they met. Finally they both sing in parallel.

(From the interview of the composer and librettist conducted by Ulrich Mosh in Basel May 16, 2006)


Duration: 22 minutes