# Helmut Lachenmann



## Sina

I cannot believe there hadn't been a thread for him! Isn't there any Lachenmann fan on this forum?!


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## Guest

There is; as evidenced by his "enshrinement" in the current post 1950s project:

131. Lachenmann: Kontrakadenz (1970/71)

Current goings-on:
http://www.talkclassical.com/37569-tc-top-recommended-post-257.html#post916681


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## Mandryka

It's quite interesting to listen to the thee quartets and ask "is he selling out as he becomes older? " I like his music, what I've heard, he reminds me of Holliger sometimes. 

Has anyone seen the opera about the matchstick seller?


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## Morimur

Sina said:


> I cannot believe there hadn't been a thread for him! Isn't there any Lachenmann fan on this forum?!


I love his work-I find it similar to Hespos'


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## rsikora

This guy is my favorite composer. My favorites works of his are Fassade, Kontrakadenz, and Staub. I like all of his works for large orchestra. 

Are there any composers similar to lachenmann? I'm looking for any other musique concrete instrumentale pieces out there. I love this stuff


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## Guest

rsikora said:


> This guy is my favorite composer. My favorites works of his are Fassade, Kontrakadenz, and Staub. I like all of his works for large orchestra.
> 
> Are there any composers similar to lachenmann? I'm looking for any other musique concrete instrumentale pieces out there. I love this stuff


Mathias Spahlinger and Mark Andre, for starters.


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## tortkis

Keeril Makan's _The Noise Between Thoughts_ (2003) reminded me of Lachenmann.


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## rsikora

I listened to Lachenmann's Mouvement and this was what popped into my head. The music works so well for this!


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## Janspe

Listening to _Ausklang_ for piano and orchestra - don't really know what to make of it to be honest. I also heard his _Harmonica_ for tuba and orchestra live earlier this season, and quite enjoyed it! I think this kind of music works better in an actual acoustic space.

Even if I don't fully connect with Lachenmann's language yet, I have this strange urge to explore more...


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## calvinpv

Janspe said:


> Listening to _Ausklang_ for piano and orchestra - don't really know what to make of it to be honest. I also heard his _Harmonica_ for tuba and orchestra live earlier this season, and quite enjoyed it! I think this kind of music works better in an actual acoustic space.
> 
> Even if I don't fully connect with Lachenmann's language yet, I have this strange urge to explore more...


My two favorite works of his are Gran Torso and Salut für Caudwell:










These are Lachenmann at his most extreme, where he attempts to muster any and every possible sound out of an instrument.

I haven't heard Ausklang, but his more recent stuff like Grido, Schreiben, and Concertini is, frankly, a little tame and underwhelming compared to the pioneering early works such as the ones above. They're not bad, just not his best.

If you like this sort of aesthetic, I also recommend Salvatore Sciarrino as well as Lachenmann/Sciarrino's two best students (in my opinion), Pierluigi Billone and Mark Andre.


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## Myriadi

rsikora said:


> I listened to Lachenmann's Mouvement and this was what popped into my head. The music works so well for this!


My word, this is hilarous! It'd be great if you picked up some more scenes from the cartoon and matched them with more music. I don't find Lachenmann very interesting, but this proves me wrong... :tiphat:


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## schigolch

I attended this performance of "Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern" in Madrid, a few years ago. I enjoyed it a lot.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT

schigolch said:


> I attended this performance of "Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern" in Madrid, a few years ago. I enjoyed it a lot.


Probably my favourite work by Lachenmann. Thanks for posting the video.


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## Janspe

I enjoyed _Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern_ too when I listened to it a few days ago! Certainly a work that I will revisit soon.


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## Mandryka

How can I get hold of the libretto of "Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern" in English or French? At the moment, not knowing what they're singing about is stopping me enjoying it.


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## Janspe

Upon returning to _Ausklang_ for piano and orchestra after well over a year I realized that I understand Lachenmann's idiom much better now. I've listened to bits of this and that occasionally, and the more I listen the more connected I feel to what he's trying to do.

A great performance by the ever-brilliant Pierre-Laurent Aimard:









I heard _Harmonica_ (a tuba concerto of sorts) in a concert some time ago and the live element definitely added to the experience. Even my very anti-modernist concert friend was positively surprised and (relatively) thrilled by the piece.


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## Mandryka

The last thing I enjoyed was a piano piece, Ein Kinderspiel


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## APSoeteman

I love the music of Lachenmann. Last year november I attended a performance of Got Lost in Den Bosch, Netherlands. To hear his music live makes one appreciate it so much more. Lachenmann was there for the performance and afterwards I coincidentally got to chat with him for a few minutes. Very friendly and easy going person.


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## bobbysikora

In the last few minutes of Accanto, Lachenmann makes really interesting sounds with the piano. Anybody know what technique he is using exactly, or know somebody who would know?

It sounds like a bass rubbing against metal or something but I guess it's a piano. 

I really want to find out and apply it to a composition I'm writing.


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