Johannes Maria Staud
Johannes Maria Staud is considered one of the most important Austrian composers of today's younger generation and his works have been premiered by many of the world's leading orchestras and ensembles. Born in Innsbruck in 1974, Johannes Maria Staud's career has progressed at warp speed. Before finishing his studies, which were carried out in Vienna and Berlin with Michael Jarrell and Hanspeter Kyburz among others, Universal Edition was already publishing his works. Scholarships, composer residencies, composition prizes, and prestigious commissions followed.
The fast pace of his career, however, has not pushed Johannes Maria Staud to rush the creative process. He allows himself enough time to compose his works with a high level of care and integrity and also to explore other forms of art and expression. He draws much of his inspiration from literature and the visual arts as well as from music history and philosophy, subjects which he studied in Vienna parallel to composition. Apeiron (2004/2005) for example, commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic and conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, draws from the wisdom of Leonardo da Vinci as well as the Greek philosopher Anaximander. In On Comparative Meteorology, performed in its original version in 2009 by the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst and in a revised version in 2010 by the RSO Wien under Peter Eötvös, Johannes Maria Staud confronted the work of the Jewish writer and artist Bruno Schulz. This work is the first part of an orchestra diptych, whose second part Contrebande (On Comparative Meteorology II) was commissioned by Pierre Boulez for Ensemble Modern and was premiered under the baton of Peter Eötvös in 2010.
The traditions of western classical music, including of course the composers of the First and Second Viennese School, serve Johannes Maria Staud as a technical guide and also provide him with artistic stimulation. This is clearly evident in Segue - Musik für Violoncello und Orchester (world premiere: Vienna Philharmonic under Daniel Barenboim, 2006; revised version dedicated to Jean-Guihen Queyras in 2008), in which he focuses on a Mozart fragment, and in Über trügerische Stadtpläne und die Versuchungen der Winternächte (Dichotomie II), premiered by the Arditti Quartet and the RSO Wien under Emilio Pomàrico, which was inspired by material from Beethoven's Große Fuge.
For the 2010/2011 season, the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden named Johannes Maria Staud Capell-Compositeur. The collaboration brought about three new works: Tondo for orchestra (premiered under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach), Celluloid for bassoon, and Der Riß durch den Tag, a monodrama for narrator and ensemble (text by Durs Grünbein, Bruno Ganz provided the narration for the premiere).
This season's first highlight was the world premier of the new piece for orchestra, Maniai, with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Mariss Jansons in February 2012. Further highlights include the world premiere of Le Voyage, a new piece for vocal ensemble, several instruments, actor and electronics at the Parisian festival Agora in June 2012, performed by Les Cris de Paris and world premiers at Salzburger Festspiele and Klangspuren Schwaz.
Johannes Maria Staud has been awarded numerous composition prizes, including the Composition Prize of the Salzburger Osterfestspiele in 2002, the International Rostrum of Composers Prize in 2003, the Ernst von Siemens Composers' Prize in 2004, and the Paul-Hindemith-Preis of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in 2009. Recordings of his works are released on Kairos.
The fast pace of his career, however, has not pushed Johannes Maria Staud to rush the creative process. He allows himself enough time to compose his works with a high level of care and integrity and also to explore other forms of art and expression. He draws much of his inspiration from literature and the visual arts as well as from music history and philosophy, subjects which he studied in Vienna parallel to composition. Apeiron (2004/2005) for example, commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic and conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, draws from the wisdom of Leonardo da Vinci as well as the Greek philosopher Anaximander. In On Comparative Meteorology, performed in its original version in 2009 by the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst and in a revised version in 2010 by the RSO Wien under Peter Eötvös, Johannes Maria Staud confronted the work of the Jewish writer and artist Bruno Schulz. This work is the first part of an orchestra diptych, whose second part Contrebande (On Comparative Meteorology II) was commissioned by Pierre Boulez for Ensemble Modern and was premiered under the baton of Peter Eötvös in 2010.
The traditions of western classical music, including of course the composers of the First and Second Viennese School, serve Johannes Maria Staud as a technical guide and also provide him with artistic stimulation. This is clearly evident in Segue - Musik für Violoncello und Orchester (world premiere: Vienna Philharmonic under Daniel Barenboim, 2006; revised version dedicated to Jean-Guihen Queyras in 2008), in which he focuses on a Mozart fragment, and in Über trügerische Stadtpläne und die Versuchungen der Winternächte (Dichotomie II), premiered by the Arditti Quartet and the RSO Wien under Emilio Pomàrico, which was inspired by material from Beethoven's Große Fuge.
For the 2010/2011 season, the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden named Johannes Maria Staud Capell-Compositeur. The collaboration brought about three new works: Tondo for orchestra (premiered under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach), Celluloid for bassoon, and Der Riß durch den Tag, a monodrama for narrator and ensemble (text by Durs Grünbein, Bruno Ganz provided the narration for the premiere).
This season's first highlight was the world premier of the new piece for orchestra, Maniai, with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Mariss Jansons in February 2012. Further highlights include the world premiere of Le Voyage, a new piece for vocal ensemble, several instruments, actor and electronics at the Parisian festival Agora in June 2012, performed by Les Cris de Paris and world premiers at Salzburger Festspiele and Klangspuren Schwaz.
Johannes Maria Staud has been awarded numerous composition prizes, including the Composition Prize of the Salzburger Osterfestspiele in 2002, the International Rostrum of Composers Prize in 2003, the Ernst von Siemens Composers' Prize in 2004, and the Paul-Hindemith-Preis of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in 2009. Recordings of his works are released on Kairos.
Photo: Jonathan Irons