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Friedrich Cerha
Friedrich Cerha (German: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈt͜sɛʁha]; 17 February 1926 – 14 February 2023) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and academic teacher. His ensemble die reihe in Vienna was instrumental in spreading contemporary music in Austria. Cerha composed three literary operas, beginning with Baal, based on Brecht's play, which was premiered at the Salzburg Festival in 1981. He is best known for completing Alban Berg's opera Lulu by orchestrating its unfinished third act, which premiered in Paris in 1979.
Cerha was born in Vienna on 17 February 1926, the son of an electrical engineer. He played the violin at age six, instructed by Anton Pejhovsky, and began composing two years later. He played Viennese folk music on the violin in Vienna suburban cafes.
At 17, Cerha was drafted as a Luftwaffenhelfer in 1943, and initially served in Achau, near Vienna. During this time, he participated in a number of acts of resistance against the fascist regime. After a semester at the University of Vienna in 1944, studying musicology with Eric Schenk, philosophy and German, he was sent to an officer's school in occupied Denmark. While there, he obtained a number of blank, but signed, marching order papers and deserted. These papers allowed him to remain within German territory for some time as he could use them as proof that he was supposed to be there. However, after a period, he was forced to rejoin a military unit during an advance by the Soviet forces near Pomerania. He deserted a second time and made his way to the west of Austria, where he lived in the mountains for several months to avoid capture by the Allied forces, until he was eventually able to return to Vienna in November 1945. After the war, he worked as a mountain guide, to find distance from the past.
Cerha studied at the Vienna Music Academy from 1946, violin with Gottfried Feist and Váša Příhoda, composition with Alfred Uhl, and music pedagogy. Simultaneously, he continued his studies at the University of Vienna. His dissertation in German studies there, on the Turandot topic, was completed in 1950. As a student, he played concerts as a violinist. He searched for places to perform new music, and found only cafés, shops and cellar pubs; he realised later that friendships had developed in the process.
Cerha worked as a music and German teacher from 1950 to 1962, developing school orchestras in the early 1960s, while continuing work as a concert violinist. He attended the Darmstädter Ferienkurse from 1956 to 1958, where he experienced "the sense of a new era". He also attended courses with violinist Rudolf Kolisch and pianist Eduard Steuermann, who were experts on the Schoenberg school. After studying serialism further, he composed Relazioni fragili which was first performed in Darmstadt in 1958. He received a grant in 1957 that led to the composition of Espressioni fondamentali for orchestra, premiered in Berlin in 1960.
In 1958 Cerha founded the ensemble die reihe together with Kurt Schwertsik, which was instrumental in spreading contemporary music in Austria. He also founded the Camerata Frescobaldiana for the performance of Renaissance music, editing music for their concerts. Cerha earned a reputation as an interpreter of the works of Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, and Anton Webern. He was recognised internationally as a composer when Relazioni fragili was performed at the 1961 ISCM festival in Vienna, and increasingly conducted contemporary music at leading festivals and opera houses.
He began studies of the unfinished third act of Berg's opera Lulu in 1962. Cerha orchestrated sections of the third act using Berg's notes as a reference. The complete three-act opera was premiered by Pierre Boulez in Paris Opéra on 24 February 1979, and directed by Patrice Chéreau.
Alongside his career as a composer and conductor, Cerha taught from 1959 at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where he was professor of composition, notation, and interpretation of new music from 1976 to 1988. His students include Gerald Barry, Charles Boone, Benet Casablancas, Karlheinz Essl, Georg Friedrich Haas, Petr Kotik, and Thomas Pernes.
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Friedrich Cerha
Friedrich Cerha (German: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈt͜sɛʁha]; 17 February 1926 – 14 February 2023) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and academic teacher. His ensemble die reihe in Vienna was instrumental in spreading contemporary music in Austria. Cerha composed three literary operas, beginning with Baal, based on Brecht's play, which was premiered at the Salzburg Festival in 1981. He is best known for completing Alban Berg's opera Lulu by orchestrating its unfinished third act, which premiered in Paris in 1979.
Cerha was born in Vienna on 17 February 1926, the son of an electrical engineer. He played the violin at age six, instructed by Anton Pejhovsky, and began composing two years later. He played Viennese folk music on the violin in Vienna suburban cafes.
At 17, Cerha was drafted as a Luftwaffenhelfer in 1943, and initially served in Achau, near Vienna. During this time, he participated in a number of acts of resistance against the fascist regime. After a semester at the University of Vienna in 1944, studying musicology with Eric Schenk, philosophy and German, he was sent to an officer's school in occupied Denmark. While there, he obtained a number of blank, but signed, marching order papers and deserted. These papers allowed him to remain within German territory for some time as he could use them as proof that he was supposed to be there. However, after a period, he was forced to rejoin a military unit during an advance by the Soviet forces near Pomerania. He deserted a second time and made his way to the west of Austria, where he lived in the mountains for several months to avoid capture by the Allied forces, until he was eventually able to return to Vienna in November 1945. After the war, he worked as a mountain guide, to find distance from the past.
Cerha studied at the Vienna Music Academy from 1946, violin with Gottfried Feist and Váša Příhoda, composition with Alfred Uhl, and music pedagogy. Simultaneously, he continued his studies at the University of Vienna. His dissertation in German studies there, on the Turandot topic, was completed in 1950. As a student, he played concerts as a violinist. He searched for places to perform new music, and found only cafés, shops and cellar pubs; he realised later that friendships had developed in the process.
Cerha worked as a music and German teacher from 1950 to 1962, developing school orchestras in the early 1960s, while continuing work as a concert violinist. He attended the Darmstädter Ferienkurse from 1956 to 1958, where he experienced "the sense of a new era". He also attended courses with violinist Rudolf Kolisch and pianist Eduard Steuermann, who were experts on the Schoenberg school. After studying serialism further, he composed Relazioni fragili which was first performed in Darmstadt in 1958. He received a grant in 1957 that led to the composition of Espressioni fondamentali for orchestra, premiered in Berlin in 1960.
In 1958 Cerha founded the ensemble die reihe together with Kurt Schwertsik, which was instrumental in spreading contemporary music in Austria. He also founded the Camerata Frescobaldiana for the performance of Renaissance music, editing music for their concerts. Cerha earned a reputation as an interpreter of the works of Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, and Anton Webern. He was recognised internationally as a composer when Relazioni fragili was performed at the 1961 ISCM festival in Vienna, and increasingly conducted contemporary music at leading festivals and opera houses.
He began studies of the unfinished third act of Berg's opera Lulu in 1962. Cerha orchestrated sections of the third act using Berg's notes as a reference. The complete three-act opera was premiered by Pierre Boulez in Paris Opéra on 24 February 1979, and directed by Patrice Chéreau.
Alongside his career as a composer and conductor, Cerha taught from 1959 at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where he was professor of composition, notation, and interpretation of new music from 1976 to 1988. His students include Gerald Barry, Charles Boone, Benet Casablancas, Karlheinz Essl, Georg Friedrich Haas, Petr Kotik, and Thomas Pernes.
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