Read more about Gy������rgy Ligeti ...
 
Essay
Karol Szymanowski‘s life comprises a Polish lack of openness and Viennese bohème, Catholic strictness and the Dionysian, ecstasy and ascesis.
If Scriabin could be called a constructor and programmaticist of sound ecstasies, in Szymanowski’s works ecstasy is rather coming from within and unfolding out of the mysterioso at the beginnings of the movements in a fever curve that rises continually, discharging itself in a vocal and instrumental apotheosis – as exemplified in his operas and concertos. 
more
 
 
 
Interview
Sakari Oramo on Szymanowki’s Six Songs of the Fairy-tale Princess
more
 
 
 
Interview
Christian Tetzlaff on Karol Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1
more
 
 
 
Essay
Karol Szymanowski and his King Roger
more
 
 
 
Interview
Thomas Zehetmair on Frank Martin’s Polyptyque
more
 
 
 
Interview
Georg Friedrich Haas on Morgen und Abend
more
 
 
 
Interview
Kasper Holten on Haas’ Morgen und Abend
more
 
 
 
Interview
Michael Boder on Haas’ Morgen und Abend
more
 
 
 
Essay
Reviews of Morgen und Abend
more
 
 
 
Interview
Ernst Kovacic on Haas’ Violin Concerto
more
 
 
 
Interview
Benjamin Schmid on Weill’s Violin Concerto
more
 
 
 
Essay
Friends and companions congratulate the composer.
more
 
 
 
Interview
Wolfgang Schaufler conversed extensively with Friedrich Cerha and his wife Gertraud.
more
 
 
 
Milestones
“One thing develops and leads to another, processes influence each other, interfere with and displace each other.” (Friedrich Cerha)
more
 
 
 
Essay
The late works of Friedrich Cerha are characterised by a haunting elegy and utter serenity.
more
 
 
 
Essay
On 11 September 2015 Arvo Pärt celebrated his 80th birthday. The MusikSalon is paying tribute to the composer.
more
 
 
 
Essay
Michael Stallknecht on Arvo Pärt
more
 
 
 
Interview
Manfred Eicher on Arvo Pärt
more
 
 
 
Work insights
An unusual editorial project that in a certain way traces a musical arc across his oeuvre: Arvo Pärt’s Songs from Childhood.
more
 
 
 
Essay
A warm and delicate portrait on Arvo Pärt reveals his philosophy of life and shows intimate scenes with his family and friends.
more
 
 
 
Interview
Dorian Supin on Arvo Pärt
more
 
 
 
Interview
Tõnu Kaljuste on Arvo Pärt
more
 
 
 
Interview
Paul Hillier on Arvo Pärt
more
 
 
 
Interview
Enzo Restagno, the Italian musicologist, conversed extensively with Arvo Pärt and his wife Nora.
more
 
 
 
Interview
David James on Arvo Pärt
more
 
 
 
Milestones
Arvo Pärt: Cantus In Memory Of Benjamin Britten
more
 
 
 
Interview
“This publisher is fortunate to really have all the sources at their disposal.”
more
 
 
 
Interview
“Even a hundred years later, his music is still strikingly original and arresting.”
more
 
 
 
Interview
“He was a composer who never stayed on the surface, he’d always dig in to touch something deeper.”
more
 
 
 
Interview
“Foerster’s music adaptation is highly inspirational.”
more
 
 
 
Interview
“Janáček was well ahead of his time.”
more
 
 
 
Interview
“I don’t regret a single second I put into it.”
more
 
 
 
Work insights
Joseph Bohuslav Foerster: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
more
 
 
 
Milestones
Bohuslav Martinů: The Epic of Gilgamesh for soli, mixed choir and orchestra  
more
 
 
 
Work insights
Vítězslav Novák: In the Tatra Mountains for orchestra
more
 
 
 
Work insights
Peter Kolman: Monumento per 6.000.000 for orchestra
more
 
 
 
Essay
Prof. K. B. Jirák on Foerster’s 70th birthday
more
 
 
 
Essay
World première review of The Makropulos Case by Prof. K. B. Jirák.
more
 
 
 
Essay
Max Brod on Leoš Janáček.
more
 
 
 
Interview
“And then you discover yourself, progressively, just like archaeologists discover an old civilization.”
more
 
 
 
Feuilleton
Pierre Boulez plays Douze Notations: I. Fantasque – Modéré and IV. Rythmique
more
 
 
 
Interview
“Truly a man for the future.”
more
 
 
 
Interview
“One of the greatest musicians of our time or any time.”
more
 
 
 
Interview
“People around him wanted to give their best all the time.”
more
 
 
 
Interview
“He was present, but never too present.”
more
 
 
 
Interview
“In his mind he has remained a young person.”
more
 
 
 
Interview
“He hates nothing more than routine.”
more
 
 
 
Feuilleton
No other photographer has been as close to Boulez as French photographer Marion Kalter.
more
 
 
 
Milestones
Pierre Boulez: Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna for orchestra in 8 groups
more
 
 
 
Essay
Correspondence between Kurt Weill and Universal Edition
more
 
 
 
Essay
“Schönberg” is not only the name of a great composer, but also a word that signifies a complete subversion of and break with tradition.
more
 
 
 
Interview
Even if a few harmonic resources are lost along with major and minor, all of the other prerequisites of “serious” music are preserved.
more
 
 
 
Essay
“Somebody had to be, nobody wanted to be. So I volunteered.”
more
 
 
 
Essay
"Please give me exclusive rights to your works. I promise you that I will print them when this terrible situation has passed.“
more
 
 
 
Essay
Your first impressions are often the most lasting.
more
 
 
 
Essay
By choosing to focus on modern music during the early 20th century, Universal Edition laid the foundation for its success as a publishing house.
more
 
 
 
Work insights
Premiered in 1961, this sound-mass composition is a classic work of modernism.
more
 
 
 
Essay
György Kurtág on György Ligeti
more
 
 
 
Essay
György Ligeti on György Kurtág (1985)
more
 
 
 
Interview
Martin Haselböck in an interview with Eric Marinitsch.
more
 
 
 
Essay
East meets West: multicultural ideas in Kodály’s writings and musical works.
more
 
 
 
Essay
“Is racial impurity favourable to folk (i.e. peasant) music or not?”
more
 
 
 
Essay
Bartók’s music is no longer a closed book for audiences and critics alike.
more
 
 
 
Essay
Jenö Takács on Béla Bartók
more
 
 
 
Interview
Peter Eötvös in an interview with W. Schaufler
more
 
 
 
Essay
Bartók’s relationship with Vienna can be traced back to his first visit in 1897 and ends with the concert in the Großer Musikvereinssaal on 18 May 1936.
more
 
 
 
Essay
Béla Bartók and Universal Edition
more
 
 
 
Essay
Memories of Otto Tomek
more
 
 
 
Essay
Otto Tomek died on 18 February. As shown by the tributes from our composers, he was more than just an important sponsor and someone who made things happen.
more
 
 
 
Essay
Vykintas Baltakas – a profile
more
 
 
 
Interview
David Sawer on drama and theatre in his music in an interview
more
 
 
 
Interview, Work insights
Orchestral version (1914) of the “Chamber Symphony” – An interview with Philippe Jordan 
more
 
 
 
Work insights
An early masterpiece of the 21st century – Simon Rattle on “in vain”
more
 
 
 
Interview
Georg Friedrich Haas in an interview with Heinz Rögl
more
 
 
 
Essay
On the music of Georg Friedrich Haas
more
 
 
 
Interview, Work insights
Harrison Birtwistle in an interview with Sarah Laila Standke on “Gawain”
more
 
 
 
Work insights
“The premiere of an opera by Harrison Birtwistle is now a national event which even makes it into the weekend supplement.”
more
 
 
 
Interview
A discussion of questions of performance practice
more
 
 
 
Interview
“Today’s music is new and at the same time a part of The Universal Work.”
more
 
 
 
Essay
31 March 1913 is a magical date in musical history.
more
 
 
 
Interview
1913 was a fateful year for Arnold Schönberg.
more
 
 
 
Essay
Alex Ross, music editor at “The New Yorker”, on Morton Feldman
more
 
 
 
Interview
Kim Kowalke, President of the Kurt Weill Foundation in New York, explains the history, reception, and performance issues of Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny.
more
 
 
 
Essay
Gerard McBurney explores the relationship between drama and music in the works of David Sawer.
more
 
 
 
Essay
Luke Bedford will receive a composer’s award from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.
more
 
 
 
Work insights
Georges Lentz‘s “Monh” for viola and orchestra
more
 
 
 
Work insights
Janáček’s opera Jenůfa was his breakthrough to the international scene.
more
 
 
 
Essay
John Tyrrell considered as the foremost Janáček expert.
more
 
 
 
Interview
Leoš Janáček’s From the House of the Dead was hailed the “performance of the year” when Pierre Boulez and Patrice Chéreau unveiled their new international co-production.
more
 
 
 
Essay
Max Brod (1884–1968) wrote this obituary of Leoš Janáček in 1928. It is a moving document testifying to a great friendship.
more
 
 
 
Work insights
The Three Fragments from Wozzeck were premiered as early as 1924, at the Frankfurt Tonkünstlerfest.
more
 
 
 
Work insights
Alban Berg died on 24 December 1935, before he could finish his opera Lulu.
more
 
 
 
Essay
Universal Edition fittingly celebrated Alban Berg’s 50th birthday on 9 February 1935.
more
 
 
 
Work insights
With four scenes and lasting around two-and-a-half hours, Das Rheingold is the shortest evening of Richard Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen.
more
 
 
 
Work insights
One of the most fascinating works from the orchestral repertoire is being reborn.
more
 
 
 
Essay
Alexander Zemlinsky – I owe almost all my knowledge of the technique and problems of composition to him.
more
 
 
 
Essay
Kurt Weill also left behind a small number of works written for the concert hall.
more
 
 
 
Interview
Mauricio Sotelo has been very successfully exploring uncharted musical territory.
more
 
 
 
Interview
Cristóbal Halffter became involved with opera relatively late. His [first,] Don Quijote, which premiered in 2000 in Madrid, is a setting of the most renowned work in Spanish literature.
more
 
 
 
Essay
David Fennessy: “I think each piece has its own individual technique but what people hear is something much deeper and profound and long lasting.”
more
 
 
 
Essay
Rihm had a tendency for impetuous gestures and vehement eruptions in his early orchestral works.
more
 
 
 
Essay
Hans Sommer studied music privately and took lessons in composition with Franz Liszt, among others.
more
 
 
 
Essay
Arranger Klaus Simon has produced reduced versions of Gustav Mahler’s Symphonies No. 1 and 4.
more
 
 
 
Essay
A fascinating report about manuscripts and prints of Mahler’s Second that were left behind by the composer.
more
 
 
 
Interview
Markus Hinterhäuser on his impressions of Mahler and the concept of his festival programme.
more
 
 
 
Interview
Pablo Heras-Casado on Kurt Weill’s “Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny”.
more
 
 
 
Interview
Johannes Maria Staud offers an insight into his working methods and his image of himself as a composer.
more
 
 
 
Essay
Founded in tradition, Haas’ oeuvre conquers listeners with its truly unprecedented, utopian adventures in sound.
more
 
 
 
Interview
The conductor Ingo Metzmacher is regarded as a renowned authority on operas by Franz Schreker.
more
 
 
 
Musicologist Christopher Hailey on Franz Schreker.
more
 
 
 
Work insights
Reviews of the première of Wolfgang Rihm’s Dionysos at the Salzburg Festival in 2010.
more
 
 
 
Essay
Wolfgang Rihm presented an introduction to Arnold Schönberg’s Variations op. 31 at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden.
more
 
 
 
Interview
With Le Marteau sans maître Pierre Boulez established himself once and for all as a major composer.
more