• Source: Theo Hirsbrunner

Theodor Walter Hirsbrunner (2 April 1931 – 6 November 2010) was a Swiss musicologist and violinist.




Life


Born in Thun, Hirsbrunner attended an old-language grammar school. He then studied violin with Walter Kägi in Bern and René Benedetti in Paris. From 1956 he studied musical composition and music theory (twelve-tone technique) with Sándor Veress and Wladimir Vogel. In the 1960s he attended a conducting course with Pierre Boulez in Basel.
From 1956 to 1987 he taught music theory, work analysis, and more recently, historical musicology at the Hochschule der Künste Bern. From 1968 to 1973 he conducted research at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. From 1979 to 1983 he taught at Boulez' request at the IRCAM. He gave lectures in Europe (e.g. at the Lucerne Festival), Australia (Adelaide 1979), Japan (Tokyo 1989), Taiwan (Taipei 1999) and the USA (Berkeley 1977 and Los Angeles 1987) as well as on representatives of Neue Musik at European radio stations (BR, WDR, RSR, RIAS, NDR, SFB and DRS). In addition to numerous articles for specialist journals, encyclopaedias and newspapers, he wrote five monographs on musical personalities (Debussy, Stravinsky, Boulez, Messiaen and Ravel) and two volumes on the history of music.
He has received several awards, including the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.
Hirsbrunner died in Bern at the age of 79.




Students


Jean-Luc Darbellay
Hans Eugen Frischknecht
Daniel Glaus
Christian Henking
Alfred Schweizer
Robert Suter
Jacques Wildberger




Awards


1978: Janáček-Medaille der Tschechoslowakei
1984: Medaille of the UNESCO
1989: Medaille of the Nissay-Theaters Tokio
1996: Ehrendoktorwürde of the University of Bern
1998: Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres
2006: Grosser Musikpreis des Kantons Bern




Work


Debussy und seine Zeit. Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 1981, ISBN 3-921518-61-X.
Igor Strawinsky in Paris. Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 1982, ISBN 3-921518-62-8.
Pierre Boulez und sein Werk. Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 1985, ISBN 3-89007-047-7.
Olivier Messiaen. Leben und Werk. Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 1988; 2nd expended edition 1999, ISBN 3-89007-139-2.
Maurice Ravel. Sein Leben, sein Werk. Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 1989, ISBN 3-89007-143-0, 2nd expended edition u.d. T. Maurice Ravel und sein Werk. Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 2014, ISBN 978-3-89007-253-1.
Die Musik in Frankreich im 20. Jahrhundert. Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 1995, ISBN 3-89007-197-X.
Von Richard Wagner bis Pierre Boulez. Essays. Müller-Speiser, Anif 1997, ISBN 3-85145-048-5.




Literature


Hirsbrunner, Theodor. In Brockhaus Riemann Musiklexikon. CD-Rom, Directmedia Publishing, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89853-438-3, p. 12805.




References






External links


Literature by and about Theo Hirsbrunner in the German National Library catalogue
Theo Hirsbrunner bei Musinfo
Literatur von Theo Hirsbrunner in the Bibliography of Music Literature
Theo Hirsbrunner discography at Discogs

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Theo Hirsbrunner
• Antigonae
• Hans Eugen Frischknecht
• Électre (Gouvy)
• Christian Henking
• Jean-Luc Darbellay
• Alfred Schweizer
• Lorenzo Ferrero
• Daniel Glaus
• Charlotte Corday (opera)