Hermann Haller (9 June 1914 – 13 August 2002) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

composer.

Life

Hermann Haller was born in

Burgdorf, Switzerland Burgdorf (french: Berthoud; High Alemannic: ''Bùùrdlef'') is the largest city in the Emmental in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It was the capital of the district of the same name until 2010, when it became part of the new Emmental di ...

. His uncle was the sculptor Hermann Haller. After his

matura or its translated terms (''Mature'', ''Matur'', , , , , , ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cz ...

in 1933 he studied at the conservatory of Zurich:

Volkmar Andreae Volkmar Andreae (5 July 1879 – 18 June 1962) was a Swiss conductor and composer. Life and career Andreae was born in Bern. He received piano instruction as a child and his first lessons in composition with Karl Munzinger. From 1897 to 1900, ...

, Paul Müller-Zürich and Rudolf Wittelsbach were his teachers. In 1938–39 he studied composition in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Haller started to teach

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

at the "Lehrerseminar" Küsnacht until 1979. He wrote many works, including three

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinist ...

s, two

piano concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showp ...

s, one symphony for large orchestra and a

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle, of individually complete songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarel ...

for baritone and orchestra, ''Ed è subito sera'' (1978), on poems of

Salvatore Quasimodo Salvatore Quasimodo (; August 20, 1901 – June 14, 1968) was an Italian poet and translator. In 1959, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own time ...

Works (selection)

Chamber music

* ''Sonate'' for flute and piano (1945) * ''String quartet'' (1961) * ''6 Inventionen'' for flute and harpsichord (1966) * ''«In memoriam»'' 5 pieces for piano trio (1968) * ''Sonata'' for piano (1969) * ''String quartet #2'' (1971) * ''3 Nocturnes'' for viola and piano (1972) * ''Oktett'' for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, string quartet and piano (1976) * ''5 pièces en forme de variations'' for wind quintet (1980) * ''«Blaue Wand»'', Impressionen nach einem Bild von Hans Fischli for flute, string sextet and piano (1986) * ''String quartet #3'' (1992)

Orchestral works

* ''Concerto per archi'' (1961) * ''Sinfonie'' (nach Gemälden von

Max Gubler Max Gubler (born Zürich, May 26, 1898, died Zürich July 29, 1973) was a Swiss artist. Early life and education Max Gubler was born in Zürich-Aussersihl to Heinrich Eduard Gubler, a stage painter and restorer of wall paintings and Berta Gu ...

) (1965) * ''Ballade'' for horn and string orchestra (1967) * ''«Per la Camerata»'' for 16 strings (1974) * ''Variations'' for orchestra (1975/76) * ''«Fünf Aspekte»'' for orchestra (1985/86)

Solo concertos

* ''Konzert'' for organ and string orchestra Orgel (1957) * ''Konzert #1'' for piano and orchestra (1959) * ''Doppelkonzert'' for flute, clarinet and string orchestra (1961) * ''Konzert #2'' for piano and string orchestra (1962) * ''Extension – Contraction'', musique élégiaque pour violoncelle et orchestre (1980/81) * ''«Episoden»'' for viola and orchestra (1990/91)

Vocal works

* ''«Exoratio»'' for alto and string quartet (or string orchestra) (1956) * ''5 Lieder'' on poems by Hölderlin for alto solo and orchestra (1961) * ''«Hiob»'', oratorio for soprano and baritone solo, mixed choir, organ and orchestra (1974) * ''Psalm 103'' for soprano solo, mixed choir and organ (1976) * ''«Ed è subito sera»'', cinque liriche su versi di

per baritono e orchestra (1978) * ''Abschied'' for soprano solo and string orchestra (on the poem "El viaje definitivo" by

Juan Ramón Jiménez Juan Ramón Jiménez Mantecón (; 23 December 1881 – 29 May 1958) was a Spanish poet, a prolific writer who received the 1956 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which in the Spanish language constitutes an example of high ...

(1984) * ''Blätterfall…'' for baritone solo and string sextet, on a poem by Adrien Turel (1994)

References

External links

Hermann Haller biography and list of works at Musinfo, the Database of Swiss Music

Hermann Haller's musical works on YouTube
* 1914 births 2002 deaths 20th-century classical composers People from Burgdorf, Switzerland Swiss classical composers Swiss male classical composers Zurich University of the Arts alumni 20th-century male musicians 20th-century Swiss composers {{composer-stub