Heinrich Sutermeister
Encyclopedia
Heinrich Sutermeister was a Swiss
opera
composer
.
where Carl Orff
was his teacher and Orff remained a powerful influence on his music. Returning to Switzerland in the mid 1930s, he devoted his life to composition. He wrote some works for the radio, starting with Die schwarze Spinne in 1936, before turning later to television opera. His most successful stage work was Romeo und Julia
, premiered in Dresden in 1940 under Karl Böhm
.
He was the brother of Hans Martin Sutermeister
; their grandfather was the folklorist Otto Sutermeister
.
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Life and career
During the early 1930s he was a student at the Akademie der Tonkunst in MunichMunich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
where Carl Orff
Carl Orff
Carl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...
was his teacher and Orff remained a powerful influence on his music. Returning to Switzerland in the mid 1930s, he devoted his life to composition. He wrote some works for the radio, starting with Die schwarze Spinne in 1936, before turning later to television opera. His most successful stage work was Romeo und Julia
Romeo und Julia
Romeo und Julia is an opera in two acts by Heinrich Sutermeister. The composer wrote the libretto, after William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet....
, premiered in Dresden in 1940 under Karl Böhm
Karl Böhm
Karl August Leopold Böhm was an Austrian conductor. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century.- Education :...
.
- Sutermeister's penultimate stage work, Madame BovaryMadame BovaryMadame Bovary is Gustave Flaubert's first published novel and is considered his masterpiece. The story focuses on a doctor's wife, Emma Bovary, who has adulterous affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life...
, first given in ZurichZürichZurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
in 1967, is loosely based on FlaubertGustave FlaubertGustave Flaubert was a French writer who is counted among the greatest Western novelists. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary , and for his scrupulous devotion to his art and style.-Early life and education:Flaubert was born on December 12, 1821, in Rouen,...
's novel. With many characters cut, it consists largely of monologues for Emma Bovary, who was superbly sung by Anneliese RothenbergerAnneliese RothenbergerAnneliese Rothenberger was a German operatic soprano who had an active international performance career which spanned from 1943 to 1983...
. For his final opera, he adapted Eugène IonescoEugène IonescoEugène Ionesco was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, and one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd...
's play Exit the King (Le Roi se meurt). Premiered in 1985 at Bavarian State OperaBavarian State OperaThe Bavarian State Opera is an opera company based in Munich, Germany.Its orchestra is the Bavarian State Orchestra.- History:The opera company which was founded under Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy has been in existence since 1653...
, with only six characters, a tiny chorus and small orchestra, this work, in its modest way, is as effective as anything Sutermeister wrote.
He was the brother of Hans Martin Sutermeister
Hans Martin Sutermeister
Hans Martin Sutermeister was a Swiss physician and medical writer, politician, and activist against miscarriages of justice.-Early years:...
; their grandfather was the folklorist Otto Sutermeister
Otto Sutermeister
Friedrich Gottlieb Otto Sutermeister was a Swiss folklorist and professor at the University of Berne who collected and revised numerous folk tales, legends, fables, and proverbs....
.
Concert, chamber and religious music
- 1. Piano Concerto, 1943
- Capriccio for unaccompanied Clarinet in A,1947
- Die Alpen, fantasy on Swiss folksongs, 1948
- Gavotte de Concert, for trumpet and piano, 1950
- 2. Piano Concerto, 1953
- Missa da Requiem, 1952-1953
- 1. Cello Concerto, 1954-55
- 3. Piano Concerto, 1961-62
- Poème funèbre - En mémoire de Paul Hindemith for string orchestra, 1965
- Omnia ad Unum, cantata, 1965-66
- 2. Cello Concerto, 1971
- Te Deum, 1975
- Clarinet Concerto, 1975-76
- Consolatio philosophiae, 'Scène dramatique', 1979