FRANZ KOGLMANN
Koglmann hat mehr als irgendein anderer Musiker eine musikalische Syntax entwickelt, die sich als Grundbau zu einem europäischen Jazz eignen würde.
(Nick Liebmann, Neue Zürcher Zeitung)
One of the greatest composers of his generation, Koglmann metabolized the past in order to create the future (Piero Scaruffi, The History of Jazz Music)
Born in Vienna, Austria, in 1947
Studied classical music, and Jazz. Study trips to New York and Philadelphia.
Koglmann is internationally acclaimed as an important reviver of crossover music bordering between jazz and European modern music.
He collaborated with many renowned international musicians such as Lee Konitz, Derek Bailey, Tony Coe, Steve Lacy, Paul Bley and many more.
Since the mid-1980s Koglmann’s main focus has been composing.
In 1997 his “Ein heller, lichter, schöner Tag”, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies premiered at the Wiener Festwochen along with the Ezra Pound Cantata “O Moon my Pin-up”.
“Don’t Play, Just Be”, performed by Klangforum Wien and conducted by Sylvain Cambreling, had its premier in 1998.
In 2003, the Beach Opera “Fear Death by Water” was performed for the first time.
In honor of the 2007 European Culture Capital Sibiu (Romania), Koglmann composed “Nächtliche Spaziergänge” –Twilight musings on motifs by Joseph Haydn featuring the original voice of E.M. Cioran.
1986–96 Koglmann has recorded for the Swiss label hat ART records;
1998–2004 he has worked as artistic director for the Frankfurt CD label between the lines.
Since 2007 he is recording for col legno.
Koglmann received numerous grants and awards, at last the Music Award of the City of Vienna (2001), the Hans Koller award – CD of the year for „Don’t Play, Just Be“ (2003), the Music Award of Lower Austria (2003) and the Ernst-Krenek-Award for „Nocturnal Walks“ (2008).
CDs (selection):
KOGLMANN – HAYDN: NOCTURNAL WALKS
exxj ... ensemble XX. jahrhundert cond. by Peter Burwik; the Haydn Orchestra Bolzano and Trento cond. by Gustav Kuhn
col legno, WWE 1CD 2027 (2007)
LET’S MAKE LOVE
A co-production of between the lines with the ORF with the Franz Koglmann Pipetet (Gert Schubert, Mario Arcari, Tony Coe, Franz Koglmann, Tom Varner, Rudolf Ruschel, Raoul Herget, Robert M. Weiss, Peter Herbert), cond. by Gustav Bauer
between the lines, BTLCHR 71206 (2005)
THE BRIDAL SUITE
with Oskar Aichinger
Handsemmel records 2108 (2004)
FEAR DEATH BY WATER
Live-recording of the premiere with Morenike Fadayomi, Walter Raffeiner a. o., Monoblue Quartet, exxj ... ensemble xx. jahrhundert, cond. by Peter Burwik
between the lines btl 034 (2003)
DON'T PLAY, JUST BE
with Ursula Fiedler, Tony Coe, James Emery, Uli Fussenegger, Peter Herbert and the Klangforum Wien cond. by Emilio Pomárico
between the lines btl 021 (2002)
VENUS IN TRANSIT
Theatermusic for Beverly Blankenship’s Vivace;
with Chris Speed, Michael Rabinowitz, Mat Maneri, David Fiuczynski, Peter Herbert, John Mettam; recorded in New York
between the lines, btl 016 (2001)
O MOON MY PIN-UP
Cantata for Solo Voice (Phil Minton), Pipetet (Tony Coe, Barre Phillips u. a.) and die Wiener Vokalisten (Ursula Fiedler u .a.), cond. by Gustav Bauer
Text: Ezra Pound (The Pisan Cantos LXXIV−LXXXIV)
with contributions by Peter Niklas Wilson, Franz Schuh, Peter Rüedi, Robert Bilek, Franz Koglmann a .o.
Photos by ÖhnerKraller
Limited edition Hrsg. Wespennest, a co-production with hat HUT records, 1998
reissued: hatOLOGY 566 (2001)
OPIUM / FOR FRANZ
with Bill Dixon, Steve Lacy, Steve Horenstein, Josef Traindl, Alan Silva, Cesarius Alvim Botelho, Aldo Romano, Toni Michlmayr, Muhammad Malli, Gerd Geier;
limited edition: 500 copies, all covers hand painted by Franz Koglmann
pipe records 152 (1976);
reissued: OPIUM, between the lines, btl 011 (2001)
ANNETTE
with Paul Bley und Gary Peacock
hat ART CD 6118 (1992)
THE USE OF MEMORY
with the Franz Koglmann Pipetet; premiered at Donaueschingen 1990
hat ART CD 6078 (1990)
MONOBLUE QUARTET
Tony Coe – tenor saxophone, clarinet
Franz Koglmann – trumpet, flugelhorn
Ed Renshaw – guitar, electronics
Peter Herbert – bass
The Monoblue Quartet is a splinter group of the 18-head Franz Koglmann Pipetet. It first performed at the “Donaueschinger Musiktage” in 1990. Monoblue - inspired by the blue monochrome works of the legendary French artist Yves Klein - was the first composition Koglmann wrote for this quartet.
First recorded on “The Use of Memory”, hat ART CD 6078
The Monoblue Quartet has recorded several CDs and made guest performances at festivals in Le Mans, Paris, Frankfurt, Vienna, Dokumenta IX in Kassel, and the Triennale of Cologne among many others. 2008: the New Year’s Concert at the Kölner Philharmonie.
Since 1999, the quartet has featured bass-player Peter Hebert, who succeeded Klaus Koch, long-standing bass-player of several of Koglmann’s ensembles. The British guitarist Ed Renshaw has replaced Burkhard Stangl and Martin Siewert in the Monoblue Quartet in 2007.
CDs:
L'HEURE BLEUE
Monoblue Quartet (Tony Coe, Franz Koglmann, Burkhard Stangl, Klaus Koch) und Misha Mengelberg
hat ART CD 6093 (1991)
Top CD 1992 in: Jazz Magazine, Paris;
Record of the year 1991 in: The Times, London;
Nr. 3 in the list of the world's best CDs 1992 in: Pulse, New York;
Jazzrecord of the year 1992 in: Die Presse, Wien.
WE THOUGHT ABOUT DUKE
Lee Konitz, Monoblue Quartet und Pipe Trio (Franz Koglmann, Rudolf Ruschel, Raoul Herget)
hat ART CD 6163 (1994, reissued: May 2002)
5 stars in: Diapasson, France;
4 stars in: Cuadernos de Jazz, Spain.
Choc in: Jazzman, Paris
MAKE BELIEVE
Monoblue Quartet, Tom Varner und Brad Shepik
between the lines btl 001 (1998)
unter den Top 10 1999 in Jazz Weekly, USA by Steve Koenig;
5 stars in: Fono Forum, Germany, Stereo,Germany; all about jazz, USA;Italy; Diário de Notícias, Portugal
AN AFFAIR WITH STRAUSS
Monoblue Quartet
between the lines btl 006 (2000)
Choc in: Jazzman,France;
5 stars in Jazzthetik,Germany.
DON’T PLAY, JUST BE
Monoblue Quartet und Klangforum Wien
between the lines btl 021 (2002)
„Unüberhörbare Spitze“ in: Jazz ‘n‘ More, Schweiz, August/September 2002;
4 stars in: Cuadernos de Jazz, Spanien, Sebtember/Oktober 2002;
4 stars in: all about jazz, USA, Juni 2002;
Hans Koller Preis 2003 – CD des Jahres.
exxj ... ensemble xx. jahrhundert
Founded in 1971 by Peter Burwik, who has been leading it ever since. The ensemble of soloists, composed of members of large Viennese orchestras and free-lance musicians, has made it its mission to provide exposure for classical modern and 20th-century New Music by outstanding interpretation and to promote contemporary music by awarding commissions to Austrian and international composers as well as by including many first performances in its programmes. The ensemble’s repertoire ranges from the Second Vienna School (Schönberg, Berg, Webern) and Ernst Krenek to Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Arvo Pärt, Steve Reich, Vinko Globokar, Morton Feldman, Klaus Huber and Marc Anthony Turnage, including composers such as Emmanuel Nunes, Gerd Kühr, Johannes Maria Staud and Franz Koglmann.
Numerous concert tours, records and radio productions and invitations to international festivals (including the Edinburgh Festival, the Warsaw autumn festival, Berliner Festspiele, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Vienna Festival, Wien modern, Steirischer Herbst, Salzburg Festival, Festival Musica Strasbourg, Festival de Lille, Ircam/Paris) testify to the ensemble’s international importance.
After the world premiere of Franz Koglmann’s “beach opera” Fear Death by Water in 2003 and concerts at the Vienna jazz club Porgy & Bess and at the Arnold Schönberg Center, the ensemble is focusing increasingly on the presentation of compositions that cross the boundaries of genres, as for instance the Alt-Wiener Musik (Old Viennese Music) project (in which composers with a great variety of stylistic approaches are invited to explore original folksong material in their compositions), or the presentation of contemporary composers from China, Mexico, South America and Caucasian countries as well as Azerbaijan. Projects with contemporary Austrian writers are in the pipeline.
"It is more than a mere pleasure to listen to each and every musician separately and to the whole ensemble as a body." - Ernst Krenek
PETER BURWIK
The founder and music director of exxj studied conducting at the "Wiener Musikakademie" under Hans Swarowky and earned his doctor´s degree of theatre history at the University of Vienna. He went on to study with Bruno Maderna and their close cooperation in Salzburg and Darmstadt contributed greatly to his musical development.
In 1971 he founded The 20th Century Ensemble in Vienna. Apart from his regular engagements in Vienna (ORF, Wiener Konzerthaus, Wiener Musikverein, Wiener Festwochen) he and his ensemble also accepted numerous invitations to well known festivals including the Salzburg Festival, the Berliner Festwochen, the Edinburgh Festival, the Warsaw Autumn, Musica in Strasbourg, the Festival de Lille, IRCAM Paris, Huddersfield Festival, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Zagreb Biennale, Musical Spring St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Cologne, Baku, Gent, St.Paul de Vence, Mexico City, Geneva, Moscow, Havana, New York ...
Peter Burwik was also invited as a guest conductor by several important international orchestras such as the Vienna Symphonic Orchestra, the RSO Berlin, the Orchestre Philharmonique Paris, the WOS Katowice, the NDR-Symphonieorchester Hamburg as well as the ORF-Symphonieorchester, the Symphonieorchester of the SF Stuttgart, the Radio Orchestra of Lisbon and the Orchestre National de Lille. As guest conductor for these orchestras he directed numerous premieres of compositions by contemporary composers.
In 1987 he started teaching at the "Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien", and has held a professoral chair for the interpretation of New Music since 2004.
His recent musical activities include the following projects: Score for "Metropolis" (Lang, Malaton, IRCAM), music lessons at the Gustav Mahler Academy in Bozen, at the conservatories in Ljubljana and Birmingham, concerts and masterclass at Dartington International Summer School in England, concerts in Santiago de Chile and Taipei, premiere of a Chinese Chamber Opera at Hong Kong Arts Festival and the scenic design for "Lohengrin"/ Sciarrino and "Erwartung"/Schönberg at the Vienna Festival and at the Finish National Opera House Helsinki.
Recent CDs:
KOGLMANN – HAYDN: NOCTURNAL WALKS
exxj ... ensemble xx. jahrhundert unter Peter Burwik und dem Haydn Orchestra Bolzano ant Trento unter Gustav Kuhn
col legno, WWE 1CD 2027 (2007)
SOUNDSCAPES 4 ADVANCED
Johannes Maria Staud: Configuration / Reflect; Erich Urbanner: Klavierkonzert; Karlheinz Essl: Deviation; Fritz Heinrich Klein: Die Machine
exxj ... ensemble xx. jahrhundert, Dirigent: Peter Burwik
Gramola 98783 (2006)
WIEN – GEGEN DEN STRICH
Otto Lechner: Tanz 1 / Tanz 2; Oskar Aichinger: ¾ verstrahlt; Erich Urbanner: Jodler – Tanz / ...drum greif ma zua; Axel Seidelmann: Wiener Elegie; Franz Koglmann: Heut’ hab’ i schon mei Fahn’l; Christoph Cech: S.herz; Vladimir Pantschev: Wir gengan heut’ nach Nussdorf h’naus; Wolfgang Liebhart: Altwiener Tanz.
exxj ... ensemble xx. jahrhundert, Dirigent: Peter Burwik
Gramola 98773 (2005)