Mauricio Kagel

Mauricio Kagel
Mauricio Kagel
	Kagel in 1985
Born	Mauricio Raúl Kagel; 24 December 1931; Buenos Aires,Argentina
Died	9 September 2008(aged 76); Cologne,Germany
Occupations	Composer; Academic teacher;
Known for	List of compositions
Awards	Ernst von Siemens Music Prize

Mauricio Raúl Kagel(Spanish pronunciation:[mawˈɾisjoˈkaɣel];24 December 1931 – 18 September 2008) was an Argentine-German composer and academic teacher.

Life and career

Early life and education

Mauricio Raúl Kagel was born on 24 December 1931 inBuenos Aires,Argentina,into anAshkenazi Jewishfamily that had fled Russia in the 1920s.^[1]He studied music, history of literature, and philosophy in Buenos Aires.^[2]In 1957 he moved toCologne,West Germany,where he lived until his death.

As teacher

From 1960–66 and 1972–76 Kagel taught at theDarmstädter Ferienkurse.^[3]He also taught from 1964–65 at theUniversity at Buffaloas the visiting Slee Professor of music theory. At theBerlin Film and Television Academyhe was a visiting lecturer.^[when?]He served as director of courses for new music inGothenburgand Cologne.^[3]He was professor for newmusic theatreat theKöln Hochschulefrom 1974–97.

Among his students wereMoya Henderson,Kevin Volans,Maria de Alvear,Carola Bauckholt,Branimir Krstić,David Sawer,Rickard Scheffer[sv],Juan Maria Solare,Norma Tyer,Gerald Barry,Martyn Harry, andChao-Ming Tung.See:List of music students by teacher: K to M#Mauricio Kagel.

As composer

Some of his pieces give specific theatrical instructions to the performers,^[4]such as to adopt certain facial expressions while playing, to make their stage entrances in a particular way, or to physically interact with other performers. For this reason commentators at times related his work to thetheatre of the absurd.^[5]He has been regarded by music historians as deploying a critical intelligence interrogating the position of music in society.^[6]He was also active in the fields of film and photography.^[7]In 1991 Kagel was invited byWalter Finkto be the second composer featured in the annualKomponistenporträtof theRheingau Musik Festival.In 2000 he received theErnst von Siemens Music Prize.

Music

Staatstheater(1970) remains, probably, Kagel's best-known work. He described it as a "ballet for non-dancers",^{[This quote needs a citation]}although it is in many ways more like an opera; the devices it uses asmusical instrumentsincludechamber potsandenemaequipment.

Similar is the radio playEin Aufnahmezustand(1969) which is about the incidents surrounding the recording of a radio play. InCon voce(With Voice), a masked trio silently mimes playing instruments.Match(1964) is a "tennis game" for cellists with a percussionist as umpire,^[6]also the subject of one of Kagel's films and perhaps the best-known of his works of instrumental theatre.^[8]

Kagel also wrote a large number of more conventional orchestral andchamberpieces. Many of these make references to music of the past by, among others, Beethoven, Brahms, Bach and Liszt.^[9]^[10]

Films

Kagel also made films, with one of the best known beingLudwig van(1970), a critical interrogation of the uses ofBeethoven's music made during the bicentenary of that composer's birth.^[6]In it, a reproduction of Beethoven's studio is seen, as part of a fictive visit of theBeethoven Housein Bonn. Everything in it is papered with sheet music of Beethoven's pieces. The soundtrack of the film is a piano playing the music as it appears in each shot. Because the music has been wrapped around curves and edges, it is somewhat distorted, but Beethovenian motifs can still be heard. In other parts, the film contains parodies of radio or TV broadcasts connected with the "Beethoven Year 1770". Kagel later turned the film into a piece of sheet music itself which could be performed in a concert without the film—the score consists of close-ups of various areas of the studio, which are to be interpreted by the performing pianist.

References

Citations

^Anon. n.d.
^Grimshaw 2009.
^^a ^bAttinello 2001.
^Kennedy and Bourne 2006.
^"Mauricio Kagel".Classical Music Forum.22 December 2021.Retrieved20 June2024.
^^a ^b ^cGriffiths 1978,188.
^Jack, Adrian (19 September 2008)."Mauricio Kagel".The Guardian.ISSN 0261-3077.Retrieved20 June2024.
^Griffiths 1981,812.
^Warnaby 1986,38.
^Decarsin 1985,260.

Sources

Anon. n.d. "Mauricio Kagel, 1931–2008".Mauricio Kagel website. (Accessed 21 September 2010).
Attinello, Paul. 2001. "Kagel, Mauricio."The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians,second edition, edited byStanley SadieandJohn Tyrrell.London: Macmillan Publishers.
Decarsin, François. 1985. "Liszt'sNuages grisand Kagel'sUnguis incarnatus est:A Model and Its Issue ", translated byJonathan Dunsby.Music Analysis4, no. 3:259–63.
Griffiths, Paul.1978.A Concise History of Modern Music: From Debussy to Boulez.London: Thames and Hudson.ISBN 0-500-18167-5.(Originally published asA Concise History of Avant-garde Music: from Debussy to Boulez.New York: Oxford University Press, 1978.ISBN 0-19-520044-6(cloth),ISBN 0-19-520045-4(pbk.). Reissued asModern Music: A Concise History from Debussy to Boulez.New York: Thames and Hudson, 1985.ISBN 0-500-20164-1.Revised edition, asModern Music: A Concise History.New York: Thames and Hudson, 1994.ISBN 0-500-20278-8.)
Griffiths, Paul. 1981. "Unnecessary Music: Kagel at 50".Musical Times122:811–12.
Grimshaw, Jeremy. 2009 "Mauricio Kagel".Allmusicwebsite (accessed 24 January 2010).
Kennedy, Michael,and Joyce Bourne Kennedy (eds.). 2006. "Kagel, Mauricio".The Oxford Dictionary of Music,second edition, revised. Oxford, Toronto, New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN 0-19-861459-4.
Warnaby, John. 1986. "Bach according to Kagel:St Bach Passion".Tempo,no.156:38–39.

External links

Mauricio Kagelwebsite, biography
Mauricio Kagelbiography and works on the UE website (publisher)
Mauricio Kagel site by Björn Heile
Kagel Biography by BBC Radio 3 programme Cut and Splice.
Mauricio Kagel at UbuWeb Filmpresents various Kagel films, including the full version ofLudwig Van,available for free download.
Kagel'sAcusticaat the Avant Garde Projecthas FLAC files made from a high-quality LP transcription available for free download.
Edition Peters: Mauricio KagelOctober 1998.
Interview: There Will Always Be Questions EnoughMauricio Kagel in conversation with Max Nyffeler.
UbuWeb: Mauricio KagelfeaturingDer Schall(1968) andACUSTICAfor experimental sound-producers and loud-speakers.
Washington Postobitby Anne Midgette.
Guardianobitby Adrian Jack.
New York Timesobituaryby William Grimes.
"Mauricio Kagel (biography, works, resources)"(in French and English).IRCAM.
Interview with Mauricio Kagel,2 November 1992

[FOOTNOTEAnon.n.d.-1] Anon. n.d.

[FOOTNOTEGrimshaw2009-2] Grimshaw 2009.

[FOOTNOTEAttinello2001-3] Attinello 2001.

[FOOTNOTEKennedy_and_Bourne2006-4] Kennedy and Bourne 2006.

[5] "Mauricio Kagel".Classical Music Forum.22 December 2021.Retrieved20 June2024.

[FOOTNOTEGriffiths1978188-6] Griffiths 1978,188.

[7] Jack, Adrian (19 September 2008)."Mauricio Kagel".The Guardian.ISSN 0261-3077.Retrieved20 June2024.

[FOOTNOTEGriffiths1981812-8] Griffiths 1981,812.

[FOOTNOTEWarnaby198638-9] Warnaby 1986,38.

[FOOTNOTEDecarsin1985260-10] Decarsin 1985,260.

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