Bernhard Lang (born 24 February 1957 Linz, Austria) is an Austrian composer, improviser and programmer of musical patches and applications. His work can be described as contemporary classical, with roots, however, in various genres such as 20th-century avant-garde, European classical music, jazz, free jazz, rock, punk, techno, EDM, electronica, electronic music, and computer-generated music. His works range from solo pieces and chamber music to large ensemble pieces and works for orchestra and musical theatre. Besides music for concert halls, Lang designs sound and music for theatre, dance, film and sound installations.
Bernhard Lang came to prominence with his work cycle Differenz/Wiederholung (DW, Difference/Repetition), composed since 1998, in which he illuminated and examined the themes of reproductive and DJ cultures based on the philosophic work of Gilles Deleuze. Sociocultural and socially critical questions, as in Das Theater der Wiederholungen/The Theatre of Repetitions (2003) are examined as closely as intrinsically musical and music-cultural problems ("I hate Mozart", 2006).
Another focus is the "recycling" of historic music, which Lang creates using self-programmed patches, applying filter and mutation processes (as in the "Monadologie" cycle).
In the works of Lang's Game series, the performers are given a set of predetermined rules by which they must guide their decisions and interactions. In other words, these works are based on the principles of controlled improvisation or determined indeterminacy.
In addition to classical European instruments, Lang also makes use of their amplified electrical counterparts (e.g. electric viola) as well as mutually microtonally de-tuned ensemble groups. Analogue and digital synthesizers, keyboards, rock music instruments (electric guitar and bass, drumset), turntables (the trailblazing instrument of the hiphop culture), rappers, Arabian singers, the spoken voice and live-electronics (mainly the self-programmed "Loop Generator") are similarly used.
Contents
Education and career
Bernhard Lang studied at the Brucknerkonservatorium in Linz (Austria). In 1975, he moved to Graz to study philosophy and German philology, jazz (Dieter Glawischnig), piano (Harald Neuwirth), counterpoint (Hermann Markus Pressl), and harmony and composition (Andrzej Dobrowolski). From 1977 to 1981, he worked with various jazz ensembles as composer, arranger and pianist. At the Institute of Electronic Music (IEM) in Graz, he began his work in the area of electronic music and computer-based composition systems. From 1984 to 1989, he worked at the Conservatory in Graz while continuing his studies with Georg Friedrich Haas and Gösta Neuwirth. In 1987, he co-founded the composer's club "die andere saite" (roughly "the alternate string", a German-language pun referring also to "the other side"). Together with Winfried Ritsch, he developed the software CADMUS in C++.
In 1989, he began teaching at the Graz University of the Arts, where he was appointed Professor of Composition in 2003, a post which he held until his retirement in 2022.
Since 2000, Lang has given numerous lectures in Europe and abroad, including at the Darmstadt Summer Course, Ostrava Days, Impuls Graz, Berlin's University of the Arts, Vienna's University of Music and Performing Arts and the Vienna Conservatory, as well as holding guest lectureships in, among other cities, Munich, Zurich, Basle, Oslo, Madrid, London, New York and Paris.
Lang has collaborated with dancers and choreographers such as Xavier Le Roy, Willi Dorner, Christine Gaigg and Silke Grabinger.
In 2004–2005 Lang had a scholarship at the International Artists' House Villa Concordia in Bamberg, and in 2006 he was the featured composer at Wien Modern. This was followed by a working residency in 2007 at the Künstleratelier Thomas Bernhard Archiv in Gmunden. In 2007-2008 he was composer-in-residence at the Theater Basel, in 2008-2009 Capell-Compositeur of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and in 2013–14 guest lecturer for composition in Lucerne.
Bernhard Lang is an honorary member of Klangforum Wien and has been a member of the Akademie der Künste Berlin since 2014.
The Differenz/Wiederholung (DW) series
Gilles Deleuze's book Difference and Repetition marks a turning point in Lang's compositional language. The Differenz/Wiederholung (DW, Difference/Repetition) series began in 1998 and currently comprises about 40 works.
Lang uses DJ techniques such as loops and scratching in his music, and employs repetition in a variety of ways. Among these are sections that are repeated in the same form or motifs whose shape changes slightly with each repetition; automatic repetitions result from this procedure, as do continuous developments or abrupt changes.
Just as important as the repetition is the difference; the question arises whether one is now hearing the same thing or whether something has changed after all. The focus is thus not only on the actual performance, but also about the individual listener's perception.
Music Theatre
Music theatre is a special passion of Bernhard Lang. There are currently about 20 works in this genre, among them:
Das Theater der Wiederholungen, based on the writings of the Marquis de Sade and William S. Burroughs and choreographed by Xavier Le Roy, was premiered at the festival Steirischer Herbst, Graz in 2003.
esc#5 Impostors, for five voices and amplified ensemble, is one of seven short operas based on a libretto by Jonathan Safran Foer. The premiere took place in 2005 at the Oper unter den Linden, Berlin.
I Hate Mozart, with a libretto by Michael Sturminger, was composed for the Viennese Mozart Year festival in 2006. It is a parody of the opera business, a behind-the-scenes look at the relationships between singers, opera conductors, managers and artists' agents.
Montezuma – Fallender Adler, based on a text by Christian Loidl, for 6 voices, choir, jazz combo, turntables, ensemble and pre-recorded electronic sounds, is a work commissioned by the Kulturhauptstadt Linz09, but was not performed in Linz. The premiere took place in June 2010 at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, with further performances in the following season.
Der Reigen, after a libretto by the Viennese writer-director Michael Sturminger and based on the play by Austrian dramatist Arthur Schnitzler, was commissioned by the German Schwetzingen Festival, where it had its premiere in 2014. Further performances followed in 2014 at the New Opera Days Ostrava and in 2019 at the Bregenzer Festspiele and at the Wien Modern Festival.
Der Golem, for voices, choir, large orchestra and jazz trio based on the novel by Gustav Meyrink and a video libretto by Peter Misotten, was premiered at the Nationaltheater Mannheim in 2016.
ParZeFool, based on Richard Wagner's Parsifal and staged by Jonathan Meese, was composed in 2017 and commissioned by the Vienna Festival, with performances at the Theater an der Wien and the Berlin Festival.
The Monadologie series
The Monadologie series, beginning in 2007, consists of more than 40 works. Lang calls the concept "musical-cellular processing", derived from Leibniz's Monadology. Lang's pieces are basically meta-compositions, i.e. machine-assisted reworkings of existing scores. With the use of a computer programme he developed, the original structures are disintegrated and then reassembled with the help of cellular automata and granulators, similar to the experimental film techniques of the destructivist Raphael Montañez Ortiz.
Lang uses his own works as source material, but also compositions by, for example, Beethoven (Hammerklaviersonate, VII. Sinfonie), Richard Strauss (Don Quixote), Anton Bruckner (Linzer Sinfonie –Das kecke Beserl), Puccini (Butterfly Overture, Madame Butterfly's aria Im weiten Weltall fühlt sich der Yankee heimisch), Chopin (12 Études), Arnold Schoenberg (II. Kammersinfonie) and Petr Kotik's (Many Many Women).
The GAME series
Lang has been composing pieces of the GAME series since 2016. The basis for this is experience of improvisation, e.g. with Uli Fussenegger, and with organised improvisation projects of Klangforum Wien, the Scan Projects. In the GAME pieces there is no longer a continuous score, but a collection of playing rules from which the musicians can make choices. Therefore, the pieces change with each performance.
The Hermetika series
The Hermetika series, begun in 2008, consists of choral pieces based on a collection of hermetic texts ranging from ancient mystical writings to quasi-dadaistic enigmatic codes. These can be inner voices, voices of angels and demons, happenings in trance or sleep states, the voices described in medivial grimoires. Language is transformed into sound or into imaginary meanings and signs through projection and individual interpretation.
Festivals
Lang's works have been performed at numerous festivals, such as Moscow Alternativa Festival, Moscow Modern, resistance fluctuations Los Angeles 1998, Tage Absoluter Musik Allentsteig I und II, Klangarten, Herbstfestival Lissabon 1998, Steirischer Herbst Graz, Wien Modern, Münchner Opernfestspiele, Darmstädter Ferienkurse, Donaueschingen Festival, Salzburg Festival, Disturbances – Music Theater Workshop Copenhagen 2003, Moving Sounds Festival New York 2010, Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, Impuls Tanz Wien, MaerzMusik Berlin,
Warsaw Autumn, Contempuls Prague, Eclat Stuttgart, Edinburgh International Festival, Suntory Hall Summer Festival Tokyo, ManiFeste Festival Paris, and Ostrava Days.
Awards and honors
Music Prize, City of Graz 1986
1st Prize Alpe-Adria Composition Competition 1988
Sponsorship "Musikprotokoll" Graz 1988
Special Honour of the Federal Council of Science, Austria
Andrej Dobrowolski Price Styria 2001
Anton Bruckner Sponsorship Upper Austria 2001
Sponsorship International Artist House Villa Concordia in Bamberg 2004/05
Central Composer at Wien Modern (Vienna Modern)
Capell-Compositeur of the "Sächsische Staatskapelle" Dresden 2008/09
Music Prize City of Vienna 2008
"Erste Bank" Composition Award 2009
"Outstanding Artist Award" in the category of music (composition) from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Art and Culture 2014
Austrian Art Prize for Music in 2019
Works (selection)
Lang's entire catalogue of works are published by Ricordi.
Stage works
Versuch über Drei Traumkongruenzen (1990) after a text by Günther Freitag for an actor, a female singer, a cellist and live electronics. WP Forum Stadtpark Graz 1990
Das Theater der Wiederholungen (2000–2002). Music theatre based on texts by Marquis de Sade, William S. Burroughs, trial records and testimonies of eyewitnesses. WP Styrian Autumn Festival Graz 2003
Schachoper (2005), based on a concept by Zenita Komad. Premiere Kunsthalle Wien 2005
esc#5 Impostors (2005). Music theatre for 5 voices and amplified ensemble after a text by Jonathan Safran Foer. WP Deutsche Oper Berlin 2005
Odio Mozart/I hate Mozart (2006). Music theatre in two acts, libretto Michael Sturminger. Wiener Mozartjahr 2006
Der Alte vom Berge(2007). Music theatre for 6 voices and amplified ensemble. WP Schwetzinger Festspiele 2007
Haydn bricht auf: Sieben Tage die die Welt verändern (2008–2009). Premiere by the Kabinetttheater at the Theater an der Wien 2009
Montezuma – Fallender Adler. Music theatre based on a text by Christian Loidl for 6 voices, choir, jazz combo, turntables, ensemble and tape. Commissioned by European Capital of Culture Linz 2009, WP at the Nationaltheater Mannheim 2010
Monadologie XXIV "The Stoned Guest" (2013). Kurzoper for 3 voices, flute, clarinet, cello, accordion and percussion. UA Vienna 2013
Der Reigen/Re:igen. Music theatre for voices and 23 instruments after a libretto by Michael Sturminger, based on Arthur Schnitzler's Reigen. WP Schwetzingen Festival 2014
Der Golem (2014) after Gustav Meyrink. Music theatre for large orchestra, choir and voices. WP Nationaltheater Mannheim 2016
Orchestra music
Kohelet for choir, orchestra and soloists (1987). WP Belgrade 1988
La Bas à S. for low orchestra, two solistic tenor saxes and solo viola (1993). WP Graz 1993
Felder for string orchestra (1993–1994). WP Konzerthaus Wien 1994
Hommage à Martin Arnold 2 for large orchestra (1996). WP Grazer Musikverein 1997
DW 7 for large orchestra and loop generator (2002). WP Donaueschinger Musiktage 2002
DW 8 for orchestra and two turntablists (2003). Commissioned by musica viva, WP Munich 2004
DW 11.2 "orchestra loops #2" for orchestra (2003). WP Weimar 2005
DW 14 for saxophone, jazz trio and orchestra loops (2004). WP Konzerthaus Wien 2005
DW 17 Doubles/Schatten II (2004) for e-viola, e-cello und surround orchestra. WP Donaueschinger Musiktage 2005
Monadologie I for e-zither and large orchestra (2007). Commissioned by musica viva, WP Munich 2008
Monadologie II: "A New Don Quichotte" (2008). Commissioned by Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden
Monadologie XIX "SacRemix... for Igor" for large orchestra (2012)
Monadologie XIII "The Saucy Maid" for two orchestra groups in quarter-tone intervals, after Anton Bruckner's Linzer Sinfonie "Das kecke Beserl" (2011–2012). WP Donaueschinger Musiktage 2013
Ensemble music
Deformazioni della Notte for recorders, string orchestra and percussion. WP Graz 1987
Rondell-Remise for mobile chamber ensemble, mezzo-soprano and viola. WP Intro-Spection Graz 1993
Icht I for mezzo-soprano and 8 instruments. WP Hannover 1997
Schrift/Bild/Schrift for amplified ensemble (1998). WP Bludenz 1998
DW 2 for amplified chamber ensemble and 3 voices (1999). WP Musikprotokoll Graz 1999
DW 5 for 14 instruments and tape (2000)
DW 9 "Puppe/Tulpe" for voice and 8 instruments after texts by Christian Loidl (2003). Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik 2003
DW 13 "the lotos pond" for 2 ensembles (2003)
DW 16 "Songbook I" (2004) for voice, saxophone, keyboards and percussion. WP Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik 2005
Die Sterne des Hungers (2007) after texts by Christine Lavant. WP Kunstfest Weimar 2007
Monadologie III "Lamentatio/Metamorphosis" (2008) for string orchestra. Commissioned by the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and the Münchner Kammerorchester
Monadologie VII "Kammersinfonie" (2009) for chamber orchestra. Commissioned by Klangforum Wien
TablesAreTurned (2010) for turntable and amplified ensemble after a song by Amon Düül II
Music for choir/vocal ensemble
Sonett 1 for mixed choir (1990)
Sonett 2 for mixed choir (1990)
DW 20 "con complicatione": Hermetika I for boys' choir (2008)
Hermetika III for mixed choir (2010)
Hermetika IV "O Dolorosa Gioia" for double choir and 2 organs (2011). WP Heidelberg 2012
Hermetika V "Fremde Sprachen" for bass clarinet and 7 voices (2011). WP ECLAT Festival Stuttgart 2013
Hermetika VI – Sisyphos-Fragmente, 7 pieces for large choir after a text by Homer (2015). WP Wien 2015
Hermetika VII for E-Bass + FX and 8 voices (2016). WP Heidelberg 2018
Hermetika VIII for bagpipes and 24 voices (2017). WP Brest, France 2019
Chamber music
Necronomicon for clarinet, violin, violoncello and piano (1985). WP Die Andere Saite Graz 1986
Neue Tänze for violin and piano (1985). WP Die Andere Saite Graz 1987
Zeitmasken for string quartet (1986). WP Die Andere Saite Graz 1987
Relief for flute, viola and harp (1988). WP Die Andere Saite Graz 1989
Stele for 2 quarter tone detuned pianos (1988). WP Musikprotokoll Graz 1988
Romanze for piano (1988). WP Klangzeichen 1992
Mozart 1789 for actress and nine tape recorders (1989). WP Styriarte Graz 1989
Zwischen Morgen und Mitternacht for piano and string quartet (1989). WP Die Andere Saite Graz 1990
Modern Monsters. 12 kleine Stücke for violoncello and piano (1990). WP Open Music Graz 1991
Quartett für Flöte solo (1991). WP Alternativa Moskau 1991
2. Streichquartett "Kleine Welten" (1991). WP Musikprotokoll Graz 1991, Arditti Quartett
Küstenlinien for two pianos and double percussion (1992). WP Tallinn 1992
Brüche for clarinet, string quartet and prepared piano (1992). WP Lange Nacht der Neuen Klänge, Konzerthaus Wien 1992
Versuch über das Vergessen 2 for violin, electric guitar and live electronics (1995). WP Musikprotokoll Graz 1995
Film music
Niemandsland (1989), music for film. Intro Spection Graz
Notes on Film 02 (2005), music for Norbert Pfaffenbichler's film
a1b2c3 (2006), music for a video by Pfaffenbichler and Schreiber
Mosaik Mécanique (2007), music installation for Norbert Paffenbichler's film
BORGATE (2008), music for Lotte Schreiber's film
Conference (2011), music for Norbert Pfaffenbichler's film. Selected for the Horizons (Orizzonti) section at the 68th Venice International Film Festival 2011
Messenger from the Shadows (2013), music for Norbert Pfaffenbichler's film
Music for dance performance
RETRO, room installation for Wagner-loops and one dancer (2004). Hängende Gärten, project by Cie. Willi Dorner. WP ImPulsTanz Wien 2004
TRIKE summer, Tanzperformance Christine Gaigg (2004). WP ImPulsTanz Wien 2004
V-Trike for a performer, soundplate and visual loop generator (2007). WP Kaaitheater Brussels 2007
NetTrike for 2 pairs of performers, 2 performing choreographers, 2 soundplates, surround sounds plus 2 visual loopgenerators (2009–2010). WP Graz/Paris 2010
Maschinenhalle#1 for 12 soundplates, player pianos and 12 dancers (2010). WP Steirischer Herbst Graz 2010
Jazz/Improvisation
Paranoia for 2 rappers, band and CD recording (2007). Commissioned bei SWR, WP Donaueschinger Musiktage 2007
Monadologie VIII: Robotika II for Big Band (2009). Commissioned by HR, WP Frankfurt 2009
Electronic compositions/sound installations/remixes
V for 64 analogue generators (1985). WP Tage Absoluter Musik Allentsteig 1989
Radiophones Synchronizitätsexperiment. 23 Montagen à 1' (1989). WP ORF Kunstradio 1989
Icht II for voice, tape and live electronics (1995). WP Offenes Kulturhaus Linz, Festival "Das Innere Ohr" 1995
Hommage à Martin Arnold 1 for tape (1996). WP Allentsteig
I speak in riddles, sound installation based ona text by Nora Gomringer (2004). WP Bamberg, Villa Concordia 2004
OP. 6.1 for electronics (2004). WP Mittersill 2004
the scythe, remix of music by Christoph Dientz (2004)
Schwarze Bänder. Hartmann-Studien (2005). Sound installation Musica Viva München 2005
Paranoia for 2 rappers, band and CD recording (2007). Commissioned bei SWR, WP Donaueschinger Musiktage 2007
Playhouse 8-channels sound installation for an installation by Norbert Pfaffenbichler (2008)
Die Gläserne Kapelle, interactive sound installation in the Gläsernen Manufaktur (2008) on the occasion of the 460th anniversary of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden
Monadologie X "alla turca" for player piano (2010). Commissioned bei SWR, WP Mannheim 2010
Loops for Ashley (2016), digital file. WP Musikprotokoll Graz 2017
Discography (selection)
CDs
Differenz/Wiederholung 2. Salome Kammer, Risgar Koshnaw, Robert Lepenik, Dimitrios Polisoidis, Wolfgang Musil, Klangforum Wien, Sylvain Cambreling. KAIROS, 2000.
″<trio x 3> New Jazz Meeting, Baden-Baden 2002″ (2 CDs). Steve Lacy, Peter Herbert, Wolfgang Reisinger, Christof Kurzmann, Bernhard Lang. HatHut Records, 2003.
DW 8 | DW 15 | DW 3. Dieter Kovacic, Marina Rosenfeld, Peter Rundel, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Martina Koppelstetter, Georg Glasl, Stefan Hussong, Michael Moser, Carin Levine. Col legno, musica viva 10, 2004.
″Steve Lacy: New Jazz Meeting, Baden-Baden 2002″. Steve Lacy, Peter Herbert, Wolfgang Reisinger, Christof Kurzmann, Bernhard Lang. HatHut Records, 2006.
Das Theater der Wiederholungen (2 CDs). Anna Maria Pammer, Renate Wicke, David Cordier, Martin Wölfel, Ekkehard Abele, Alfred Werner, les jeunes solistes, Klangforum Wien, Johannes Kalitzke. KAIROS, 2006.
I Hate Mozart (2 CDs + DVD). Florian Boesch, Dagmar Schellenberger, Andrea Lauren Brown, Salome Kammer, Vokalensemble NOVA, Klangforum Wien, Johannes Kalitzke. Col legno, 2006.
Die Sterne des Hungers, Monadologie VII ... for Arnold. Sabine Lutzenberger, Klangforum Wien, Sylvain Cambreling. KAIROS, 2010.
Monadologie IX ″The Anatonomy of Desaster″. Arditti String Quartet. Winter & Winter, 2014.
ParZeFool (3 CDs). Daniel Gloger, Magdalena Anna Hofmann, Wolfgang Bankl, Tómas Tómasson, Martin Winkler, Manuela Leonhartsberger, Marie-Pierre Roy, Melody Wilson, Xiaoyi Xu, Johanna Von Der Deken, Sven Hjörleifsson, Alexander Kaimbacher, Andreas Jankowitsch, Arnold Schoenberg Chor, Klangforum Wien, Simone Young. KAIROS, 2019.
The Cold Trip. Sarah Maria Sun, Aleph Guitar Quartet, Juliet Fraser, Mark Knoop. KAIROS, 2017.
DVDs
″The Return of Erich Zann″. Bernhard Langs Jazz compositions from 1978-1981, Uwe Werner and his band.
I Hate Mozart, music theatre in 2 acts. DVD with the complete performance + 2 Super Audio CDs. col legno, 2006.
LPs
″TablesAreTurned″ (2 LPs). Philip Jeck, Alter Ego. GOD RECORDS, GOD 06, 2011.
Monadologie XII (LP + CD). Klangforum Wien, Johannes Kalitzke. GOD RECORDS, GOD 16, 2013.
DW 16, Songbook I. Jenny Renate Wicke, Trio Accanto. GOD RECORDS, GOD 28, 2015.
Differenz/Wiederholung 2. Klangforum Wien, Johannes Kalitzke. GOD RECORDS, GOD 39, 2016.
Cheap Opera #1 ″Répétitions″, DW 30 ″Loops for Klaus Schulze″. Lange // Berweck // Lorenz. GOD RECORDS, GOD 63, 2021.