Bernhard Lang

born in 1957 in Linz, he graduated from the piano class at the city’s Bruckner Conservatory. Having moved to Graz, he continued his piano studies, including jazz and arrangement. He subsequently studied composition with Andrzej Dobrowolski, and counterpoint with h.m. Pressl, who introduced him into the work of j.m. Hauer. He also studied philosophy and German literature.
Between 1977 and 1981 he worked with various jazz bands, including the Erich Zann Septett.
Since 1988 he has lectured in theory of music, harmony and counterpoint at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz.
Bernhard Lang’s music has been tangibly influenced by Gösta Neuwirth and Georg Friedrich Haas. The latter introduced him into microtonal music and commissioned a quartertone piece for the ‘Musikprotokoll’ Festival in 1988.
The music of Bernhard Lang has been featured at numerous prestigious events including the ‘Steirische Herbst’, the ‘Alternativa’ in Moscow and ‘Moscow Modern’, the Hanover Biennale, the Tage Absoluter Musik Allentsteig i and ii, ‘Klangarten’ i and ii, ‘Wien Modern’, ‘Musica Viva’ in Munich and the festivals in Salzburg, Donaueschingen and Witten.
He has worked with such ensembles as Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Recherche, the George Crumb Trio, Intro-Spection Graz, Fond, and Klangarten Wien. Some of his pieces were realized in collaboration with Winfried Ritsch (Hexagrammatikon, Mozart 1789, Versuch über das Vergessen 2), Christian Marczik (Rondell–Remise), Edmund Steirer (Porn Again) and Christian Loidl (Icht I / Icht II, dw 2).
He is also a member of various groups of improvised music including laleloo and vlo. He occasionally does studio work for various bands.
In 1998 he was a guest lecturer with Peter Weibel’s media class in Vienna, where he now lives.

Selected works: Neue Tänze for violin and piano (1985), Necronomicon for clarinet, violin, cello and piano (1985), V for 64 analogue generators (1985), Zeitmasken for string quartet (1986), Deformazioni della Notte, concerto for recorder, strings and percussion (1986), Kohelet for choir, orchestra and soloists (1987), Hexagrammatikon for six synthesizers (1988), Stele for two quarter-tone pianos (1988), Relief for flute, viola and harp (1988), Mozart 1789 for actress and nine cassette recorders (1989), Zwischen Morgen und Mitternacht for piano and string quartet (1989), Modern Monsters: 12 small pieces for cello and piano (1990), Two Sonnets for mixed choir (1990), String Quartet No. 2 ‘Kleine Welten’ (1991), Quartet for Solo Flute (1991), Brüche for clarinet, string quartet and prepared piano (1992), Küstenlinien for two pianos and double percussion (1992), La Bas ą S. for bass orchestra, two tenor saxophones and viola (1993), Rondell-Remise for mobile chamber ensemble, mezzo-soprano and viola (1993), Felder for string orchestra (1994), Icht I for mezzo-soprano and eight instruments (1994), Icht ii for voice, tape and live electronics (1995), Versuch über das Vergessen 2 for violin, electronic guitar and live electronics (1995), Schrift 1 for flute solo (1996), Schrift 2 for cello solo (1996), Hommage ą Martin Arnold 1 for tape (1996), Hommage ą Martin Arnold 2 for large orchestras (1996), 60 for G. for saxophone quartet (1996), Schrift 3 for accordion solo (1997), Schrift/Bild/Schrift for seven instruments, percussion and live amplification (1998), Schrift/Fragment 4 for trumpet, horn and trombone (1998), the series Differenz/Wiederholung: 1 – for flute, cello and piano (1998), 2 – for amplified chamber ensemble and three voices (1999), 3 – for flute, cello and accordion (2000), 4.1 – for trombone, electric viola and piano (2000), 5 – for 14 instruments and tape (2000), 6b – for electric guitar and loop-generator (2001), 1.2 – for flute, tenor saxophone and piano (2002), loops from the 4th district for double bass and cd (2002), dw6a for electric viola, electric violin and loop-generator (2002), dw7 for large orchestra and loop-generator (2002), dw10a for electric zither and loop-generator (2002), dw10b for koto, voice and loop-generator (2002), dw9 ‘puppe/tulpe’ for voice and eight instruments to works by p.c. Loidl (2003), dw8 for orchestra and two gramophones (2003), dw11 ‘orchestra loops #2’ for orchestra (2003), dw12 ‘cellular automata’ for piano solo (2003), dw13 ‘the lotos pond’ for two ensembles (2003), dw13b for sheng, viola, flute and loop-generator (2003), dw15 ‘Songs/Preludes’ for zither and mezzo-soprano (2003).

dw9 ‘puppe / tulpe’

die schlange küßt

den schlafenden
daß der kreis
nicht gebrochen würde

p. c. loidl, 161201

die schlange küßt

den schlafenden
daß der kreis
nicht gebrochen würde

p. c. loidl, 161201

dw9 ‘puppe / tulpe’ is based on poetry by the Austrian poet Christian Loidl ‘die schlange küsst den schlafenden’ (The serpent kisses the sleeper). The text, being mainly constructed by loops, presents the notion of structural repetition. Loidl also introduced me to Deleu-zes’s book Difference and Repetition, which led to a lasting confrontation with these two notions and their dialectics. dw9 is an attempt to refocus on these last texts by Loidl, which I subjected to the process of deconstruction by means of a cut-up technique borrowed from the Austrian experimental film maker Martin Arnold. I tried to explore the inside of the texts: the voices from the inside, the voices of remembrance. I did not re-read the texts while composing, just letting them emerge from memory, letting them circle and submerge again. So the voice emerges only from the inside of the piece as a metaphor for the inner structure, and drowns again amidst instrumental parts. The loops are projected onto the singers’ body movements, being translated into spatial movement of sound by three microphones and extreme panning. dw9 is meant as a homage to Christian Loidl (who died on 17 December 2001), my friend, inspirer and ‘serpent who kisses the sleeper’.

Bernhard Lang, Vienna 26 June 2004