October 16 2020, 7.30pm Großer Saal, Frankfurt University for Music & the Performing Arts
Portrait: Claude Vivier Please note different venue
He is one of the most enigmatic, exceptional figures in modern music: the Canadian composer Claude Vivier was born Montreal, Québec in 1948, but never knew who his parents were; he was murdered by a male prostitute in his flat in Paris in 1983, when he was only 34 years old. After studying with Gilles Tremblay he went to Gottfried Michael Koenig at the Institute for Sonology in Utrecht in the early 1970s and then Karl-Heinz Stockhausen in Cologne. In contrast to Serialism his compositions dealt more with melodies; sound colours and other influences of Spectral music are also noticeable. All his works are marked by radical subjectivity and are often autobiographical. He first drew a lot of international interest for his Lettura di Dante (1974). The cardinal theme of the abandoned, lonely child is present here too. He was also influenced by oriental and east Asian music, which he got to know on his travels to Japan, Bali and Iran.
Also taking part is the soprano Sarah Maria Sun, who recently took part in a concert dedicted to Rolf Riehm in this series, his opera Sirens and Peter Eötvös' Der goldenem Drachen / The Golden Dragon at Oper Frankfurt.
Claude Vivier
Lettura di Dante for soprano and ensemble (1974)
Sarah Maria Sun soprano
Dirk Kaftan conductor
Stefan Drees moderator
