Felix Werder AM (24 February 19223 May 2012''Resonate'' magazine
/ref>) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

-born

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

of classical and

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

, and also a noted critic and educator. The son of a distinguished liturgical composer, he composed all his life. His published and recorded music includes

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

for all combinations, solo concerti, choral works and

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

Biography

Werder was born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, as Felix Bischofswerder, the son of the composer Boaz Bischofswerder, who was a member of

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

's circle.Warren Burt, Obituary: "Champion of the new tweaked conservative noses", ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 9 May 2012
Retrieved 9 May 2016 He studied Fine Arts and Architecture in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

before arriving in Australia in 1940 on the ''

HMT Dunera HMT (Hired Military Transport) ''Dunera'' was a British passenger ship which, in 1940, became involved in a controversial transportation of thousands of "enemy aliens" to Australia. The British India Steam Navigation Company had operated a prev ...

'', along with his father, leaving Germany because of their Jewish heritage. They were interned at a camp in

Tatura Tatura is a town in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia, and is situated within the City of Greater Shepparton local government area, north of the state capital (Melbourne) and west of the regional centre of Shepparton, Victoria ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

for the duration of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1943, he wrote his first

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

. In 1946 his father died. During the 1960s and early 1970s, Werder wrote seven operas, which were popularly received. His opera ''Private'' was commissioned for television by the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

and was broadcast in 1969. He also wrote works for

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the ...

and

Opera Australia Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, New South Wales, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with t ...

among others. Werder lived in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and his teaching included influential courses in electronic music and sound synthesis. His students in the mid-1970s included

Ollie Olsen Ollie Jngbert Christian Olsen (born Ian Christopher Olsen, 20 February 1958 – 16 October 2024) was an Australian multi-instrumentalist, composer and sound designer. From the mid-1970s until his later years, he performed, recorded and produced ...

who became a leading figure in Melbourne's little band scene,

Whirlywirld Whirlywirld were an Australian post-punk band led by Ollie Olsen in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the first of his musical collaborations with drummer John Murphy. They played in Melbourne and Sydney and were supporters of the Melbourne ...

and Max Q, and bandmate Arne Hanna. Other students included

Andrew Duffield Andrew Peter Duffield (born 9 February 1958) is an Australian musician, producer and teacher. He has been a member, on keyboards, synthesisers or electronics, for various groups, including Whirlywirld, Models, and Absent Friends. Duffield has ...

(

Models A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided int ...

) and

Karen Ansel Karen Ansel is a visual effects specialist in the United States. Previously an Australian musician, she was an influential member of the Australian band The Reels. In 2001, the title track " Quasimodo's Dream" from their album '' Quasimodo's Dre ...

(

The Reels The Reels are an Australian rock music, rock band which formed in Dubbo, New South Wales in 1976. It disbanded in 1991, and reformed in 2007. Its 1981 song "Quasimodo's Dream (song), Quasimodo's Dream" was voted one of the APRA Top 30 Australian ...

). Werder was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in 1976. He received the Stamitz Performance Prize (1984), the Australia Council Fellowship (1986), the Arts Guild of Germany Composition Prize (1988), the Stamitz Prize (1988), and an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

in Music from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. He formed the performance ensemble Australia Felix, which toured Europe and included Bruce Clarke, Merlyn Quaife, Brian Brown, Alex Grieve, Judy Easton, Tony Conolan, Kevin Makin and Peter Clinch. For many years, during the 1960s and 1970s, he wrote music criticism for the Melbourne newspaper ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

''. On 24 February 2012 a concert was held at the

Iwaki Auditorium Iwaki (岩城、磐城) may refer to: Places *Iwaki, Fukushima (いわき市), a city in Japan *Iwaki, Akita (岩城町), a former town in Japan *Iwaki, Aomori (岩木町), a former town in Japan *Iwaki Province (718) (岩城国), an old province of ...

, Melbourne, to celebrate Werder's 90th birthday. The concert included the premiere of three new works: "Ill-Tempered Clavier" (2009) and "Dice" (2010)", both performed by

Michael Kieran Harvey Michael Kieran Harvey (born 7 July 1961) is an Australian pianist and composer whose career has been notable for its diversity and wide repertoire. He is renowned for commissioning, performing and composing new music. He has especially promoted th ...

; and "H Factor", a work that Werder said would be his final composition, performed by the Silo String Quartet. Also, percussionist Eugene Ughetti performed "Quinney on the Roof" and "Recipe for Disaster";

Warren Burt Warren Burt (born 10 October 1949) is an Australia-based composer of American birth. He is known for composing in a wide variety of new music styles, ranging from acoustic music, electroacoustic music, sound art installations to text-based musi ...

presented a digital restoration of Werder's 4-speaker piece for analogue synthesizer "The Tempest", originally recorded and released in 1974. Werder died in Melbourne on 3 May 2012 aged 90, and was interred at the Springvale Botanical Cemetery.

Personal life

Whilst in the army in 1944, he married Mena Waten, the sister of the novelist Judah Waten. In 1976, aged 54, he married the widowed Vera Phillip, whose first husband had been on the ''Dunera'' with Werder. Her family were also refugees from Europe in the 1930s.

Operas

*''Kisses for a Quid'' (1961) *''The General'' (1966) *''

Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans during the Trojan War. He was the son (or grandson) of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of C ...

'' (1967) *''The Affair'' (1969) *''Private'' (1969) *''The Vicious Square'' (1971) *''The Conversion'' (1973) *''Medea'' (1985)

Discography

* 1973 LP ''Felix Werder's Banker'', Discovery Stereos GYS 001 (Greg Young Production) * 1974 LP ''Music by Felix Werder, Volume 2'', Mopoke GYS 002 (Greg Young Production) * 1977 LP ''Agamemnon'' * 1970s LP ''Requiem'' * 1992 CD ''Machine Messages'', ACMA Vol 1 * 2007 CD ''The Tempest/Electronic Music'' (reissue compilation)

Awards and nominations

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

(APRA). They include the Classical Music Awards which are distributed by APRA and the

Australian Music Centre The Australian Music Centre (AMC), founded as Australia Music Centre in 1974 and known as Sounds Australian in the 1990s, is a national organisation promoting and supporting art music in Australia. It operates mainly as a service organisation, a ...

(AMC). , - ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, , Werder , , Long-Term Contribution to the Advancement of Australian Music , ,

Don Banks Music Award

The

Don Banks Music Award The Don Banks Music Award was established in 1984 to publicly honour a senior artist of high distinction who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to music in Australia. It is awarded by Creative Australia (formerly the Australia Cou ...

was established in 1984 to publicly honour a senior artist of high distinction who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to music in Australia. It was founded by the

Australia Council Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announ ...

in honour of

Don Banks Donald Oscar Banks (25 October 19235 September 1980) was an Australian composer of concert, jazz, and commercial music. Early life and education Jazz was Banks' earliest and strongest musical influence. He learned the saxophone as a boy in Aust ...

, Australian composer, performer and the first chair of its music board. , - , 1986 , Felix Werder , Don Banks Music Award , , -

References

External links

Outline of a composer seminar given by Felix Werder on 28 August 2004Werder biography by Australian Music Centre, 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Werder, Felix 1922 births 2012 deaths APRA Award winners German opera composers Australian male opera composers German emigrants to Australia Members of the Order of Australia Australian music critics German male classical composers Australian classical composers 20th-century German musicians 20th-century Australian musicians 20th-century German male musicians 20th-century Australian composers