Jacques Wildberger (3 January 1922 – 23 August 2006) was a Swiss composer.

Life and career

Born in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, Wildberger became a member of the

Swiss Party of Labour The Swiss Party of Labour (; ; ; ) is a communist party in Switzerland. History The party was founded in 1944 by the illegal Communist Party of Switzerland. On 21 May, the constituent conference of the Basel Federation of the party was held. ...

(PdA) in 1944 and composed battle songs for the Basel workers' cabaret ''Scheinwerfer'' and the Neue Volksbühne Basel; in 1947 he left the PdA as a reaction to

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

's politics. After first studies at the Basel Conservatory he studied from 1948 to 1952 with

Wladimir Rudolfowitsch Vogel Wladimir Rudolfowitsch Vogel (17 February/29 February 1896 – 19 June 1984) was a Swiss composer of German and Russian descent. Life Born in Moscow, Vogel first studied composition in Moscow with Alexander Scriabin, then between 1918 and 1924 wi ...

Ascona 300px, Ascona Ascona ( ) is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore. The town is a popular tourist destination and holds the yearly Ascona Jazz Festival. ...

, in particular the

twelve-tone technique The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition. The technique is a means of ensuring that all 12 notes of the chromatic scale ...

(dodecaphony). Initially criticized for his dodecaphonic works in Switzerland, he later caused a sensation abroad as the successor to

Arnold Schönberg 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 ...

with his twelve-tone compositions. From 1959 to 1966 he taught

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an Originality, original piece or work of music, either Human voice, vocal or Musical instrument, instrumental, the musical form, structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new pie ...

music analysis Musical analysis is the study of musical structure in either compositions or performances. According to music theorist Ian Bent, music analysis "is the means of answering directly the question 'How does it work?'". The method employed to answ ...

and instrumentation at the

Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe The Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe () is a college of music in Karlsruhe, Germany. Originally the Baden Conservatory of Music, it was elevated to a Hochschule under the direction of Franz Philipp, who led the school from 1924 to 1942. Studies ...

. After a stay in Berlin as a scholarship holder of the

German Academic Exchange Service The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD; ), founded in 1925, is a joint organization of German universities and student bodies to foster their international relations. Since 1 January 2020, the president has been Joybrato Mukherjee. Organisa ...

in 1967, he was professor for

music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...

and composition at the conservatory of the

City of Basel Music Academy The City of Basel Music Academy () is an institution for music education, located in Basel, Switzerland. It comprises a music school, college of music, and a center for early music research and performance. History The origins of the City of Base ...

from 1967 to 1987. He died in

Riehen Riehen (Swiss German: ''Rieche'') is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Stadt in Switzerland. Together with the city of Basel and Bettingen, Riehen is one of three municipalities in the canton. Riehen hosts the Fondation Beyeler (a private ...

at age 84.Jacques Wildberger Dies
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External links

*
Jacques Wildberger
on UBNL
Short biography and list of work
(SME – Musinfo, retrieved 20 April 2019) * Michael Kunkel

(statements and documents, compiled for the composer's 80th birthday) * *Sound recordings of works of the composer from the archives of

SRG SSR The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (; ; ; ; SRG SSR) is the Swiss public broadcasting association, founded in 1931, the holding company of 24 radio and television channels. Headquartered in Bern, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation is a non-pro ...

o
Neo.Mx3

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wildberger, Jacques 1922 births 2006 deaths Musicians from Basel-Stadt 20th-century Swiss classical composers Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe