Georg Friedrich Haas was born in 1953 in Graz, a city in the east of Austria. His childhood was spent in the mountainous province of Vorarlberg, on the Swiss border. The landscape and the atmosphere of the place have left a lasting impression on his personality.

The atmosphere was marked not so much by natural beauty in the accepted sense of the word. Rather, Haas experienced the mountains as menace; he felt closed in by the narrow valley where the sun rarely penetrated. Nature for him represented a dark force.

The composer adds: “Just as important for me was the experience of being an outsider: unlike my younger siblings, I never learned to speak the local Alemannic dialect. Also, I was a Protestant in a predominantly Catholic society.”

To study music, Haas returned to his native city where his professors were Gösta Neuwirth and Ivan Eröd. He continued his studies later in Vienna with Friedrich Cerha.

Haas: “For all our apparent differences (and probably mutual personal disappointments) I learned from Eröd – apart from many things about the craft of composition – one principle above all else: that the measure of everything is Man, that is,  the possibilities inherent in human perception”.

Haas holds Friedrich Cerha in high esteem, something that the older composer (born in 1926) returns in full measure. When the occasion arises, they demonstrate their mutual appreciation
unstintingly. In 2007, it was Cerha, the doyen of Austrian composers, who proposed his former pupil for the Great Austrian State Prize which Haas duly received that year.

Until then, however, Haas had had a thorny path to traverse. He speaks openly of the years of “total failure” in trying to make his mark as a composer – another experience to leave its imprint on his development, aggravating his pessimistic leanings. Success, when it did gradually emerge, only mitigated his pessimism but could never wholly eliminate it.

It is no wonder, then, that night, darkness, the loss of illusions should have played such an important role in Haas’ oeuvre (such as in his Hölderlin-opera Nacht, 1995/1998). It was not until quite recently that his music has been illuminated by light.

Light effects, as integral components of a range of his compositions, have featured prominently for quite some time now, designed by artists specially for the music. (in vain, 2000, and particularly Hyperion, a Concerto for Light and Orchestra, 2000). However, light as opposed to darkness first emerged as late as 2006 in Sayaka for percussion and accordion as well as in the piano trio Ins Licht (2007) written for Bálint András Varga.

Georg Friedrich Haas is known and respected internationally as a highly sensitive and imaginative researcher into the inner world of sound. Most of his works (with the notable exception of the Violin Concerto, 1998) make use of microtonality which the composer has subjected to thorough examination in the wake of Ivan Wyschnegradsky and Alois Hába. He has taught courses and lectured on the subject in several countries; in 1999 he was invited by the Salzburg Festival to give a talk under the title “Beyond The Twelve Semitones”, with the subtitle “Attempt at a Synopsis of Microtonal Composition Techniques”. In the last paragraph, he writes:

“’Micro-‘counts as ‘tonality’ only in contrast with ‘normal tonality’ in its role as a system of reference. Where this system of reference has become obsolete, the notion of ‘microtonality’ has been replaced by the free decision of the individual composer in his use of pitch as his material.”

Haas: “I am not really comfortable with being pigeonholed as a ‘microtonal composer’. Primarily, I am a composer, free to use the means needed for my music. There is no ideology regarding ‘pure’ intonation, either as Pythagorean number mysticism or as a notion of ‘Nature’ determined by trivial physics. I am a composer, not a microtonalist.”

In each new work, Haas enters uncharted territory, but his music is firmly rooted in tradition. His profound admiration for Schubert has found moving expression in his Torso of 1999/2001, an orchestration of the incomplete piano sonata in C major, D 840, an image of the tragic figure of Franz Schubert. Haas paid respect to Mozart not only in his … sodaß ich’s hernach mit einem Blick gleichsam wie ein schönes Bild…im Geist übersehe, composed for string orchestra in 1990/1991, but also in Sieben Klangräume, 2005, meant to be interspersed with movements of Mozart’s Requiem fragment (that is, divested of the supplements provided by his pupils). In Blumenstück, 2000, for chorus, bass tuba and string quintet, one hears echoes of Beethoven (perhaps never intended by the composer). In the Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra, 2003/2004, the solo instrument quotes a motif from Franz Schreker’s opera Der ferne Klang (‘O Vater, dein trauriges Erbe’). Commissioned by the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Haas’ latest work for orchestra (Traum in des Sommers Nacht, 2009) is a tribute to Mendelssohn, drawing on motifs from works of that composer, masterfully woven into Haas’ own music.

The Cello Concerto, just as Wer, wenn ich shriee, hörte mich ..., 1999, for percussion and ensemble, reflect Haas’s political commitment and his bitter realisation of his helplessness as a composer: there is no way his music could serve to better the world. The percussion concerto was written at the time of the Balkan war; when Haas heard aeroplanes flying overhead carrying their deadly burden, he asked himself whether anyone could hear him, if he were to cry out in protest against the war. The Cello Concerto begins with a scream in unbearable pain, followed by a section where the drumbeat conjures up the march rhythm of the Prussian army: a plea against fascism.

A daringly innovative composer of rich imaginative power, a homo politicus aware of his responsibilities as a citizen, Georg Friedrich Haas is one of the leading artists in Europe today.

1953 – Born on 16 August in Graz

1972–79 – Studies: composition (with Gösta Neuwirth, Ivan Eröd and others), piano (with Doris Wolf) and music pedagogy at the Musikhochschule in Graz

since 1978 – Teaching at the Musikhochschule in Graz (counterpoint, contemporary composition techniques, analysis, introduction to microtonal music)

1981–83 – Postgraduate study with Friedrich Cerha at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna

1980/88/90 – Attends the Darmstadt Summer Courses

1991 – Participation in the "Stage d’Informatique Musicale pour Compositeurs" at IRCAM, Paris

1992–93 – Fellowship for the Salzburg Festival

1992 – Sandoz Prize

1995 – Young Composers' Grant of the Federal Ministry for Science, Research and Culture

07 Aug 1996 – World Première (concertante) of the chamber opera Nacht (Night) at the Bregenz Festival

07 Aug 1998 – Stage Première of Nacht at the Bregenz Festival

18 Nov 1996 – Ernst Krenek Prize of the City of Vienna for the chamber opera Nacht

1999 – Selected composer in the Next Generation series at the Salzburg Festival

1999/2000 – German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) fellowship

2000 – International Rostrum of Composers Prize for Violin Concerto

14 Aug 2003 – World Première of Die schöne Wunde (chamber opera), commissioned by Bregenz Festival and NetzZeit Wien in Bregenz (Klangforum Wien, Sylvain Cambreling)

19 Oct 2003 – World Première of Natures mortes (for large orchestra), commissioned by Donaueschinger Musiktage, (SWR SO Baden-Baden and Freiburg, Sylvain Cambreling)

March 2004 – Festival composer at "ars musica" in Brusels

16 June 2004 – City of Vienna Prize for Music

9 July 2004 – World Première of Concerto for violoncello and orchestra commissioned by Musica Viva Munich (SO des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Vykintas Baltakas)

August 2004 – Lecturer at the Darmstadt Summer Courses

2005 – German CD Critic Prize for the CD String Quartets No. 1 and 2 recorded by Kairos Quartett

25 April 2005 – Andrzej Dobrowolski Composition Award, presented by the Province of Styria/Austria in Graz

3 July 2005 – World Première of Ritual for 12 big drums and 3 wind orchestras, commissioned by Klangspuren Schwaz in cooperation with Tiroler Landesausstellung and Alpinarium Galtür

since 2005 – University Lecturer at the Music Academy of the City of Basel, Switzerland

Autumn 2005 – Featured Composer at Klangspuren Festival Schwaz / Austria

4 Dec 2005 – World Premiere of 7 Klangräume for soloists, chorus and orchestra commissioned by Stiftung Mozarteum, Salzburg/A (Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Ivor Bolton)

March 2006 – Festival Composer at Borealis Festival in Bergen / Norway

23 Mar 2006 – World Première of Poème for large orchestra, commissioned by Cleveland Orchestra / Franz Welser-Möst (Cleveland Orchestra, Franz Welser-Möst)

22 Oct 2006 – World Première of Hyperion for Lighting and Orchestra, Donaueschinger Musiktage (SWR SO Baden-Baden and Freiburg, Rupert Huber, lighting: rosalie)

13 May 2007 – World Première of Bruchstück for large orchestra, commissioned by Munich Philharmonic (Munich Philharmonic, Markus Stenz)

07 Nov 2007 – World Première of Concerto for piano and orchestra at Wien Modern, in Vienna, RSO Wien, c. Martyn Brabbins, Thomas Parcher, pn

12 Nov 2007 – World Première of REMIX for ensemble, Wien Modern, in Vienna, Klangforum Wien, c. Enno Poppe

28 Nov 2007 – Award of the Großer Österreichischer Staatspreis of the Republic of Austria

03 May 2008 – Première of Concerto for Baritone Saxophone and Orchestra, WDR SO  Cologne, c. Emilio Pomàrico, Marcus Weiss, sax

09 June 2008 – Première of Melancholia (Opera), Opéra National de Paris, Klangforum Wien,
c. Emilio Pomàrico

28 Aug 2009 – World Première of Traum in des Sommers Nacht, Leipzig, Gewandhausorchester, c. Riccardo Chailly

15 Jan 2010 – World Première of ATTHIS, Berlin, Scharoun Ensemble, Annette Dasch, c. Michael Hasel

04 Feb 2010 – World Première of La profondeur, Amsterdam, Klangforum Wien, c. Sylvain Cambreling

17 Oct 2010 – World Première of limited approximations for 6 micro-tonally tuned pianos and orchestra, Donaueschinger Musiktage, SWR-SO Baden-Baden und Freiburg, c. Sylvain Cambreling
SWR Symphony Orchestra Composition Prize 2010 for limited approximations at Donaueschingen

22 Oct 2010 – World Première of Arthur F. Becker (od. Buhr?), Heidelberg, Schola Heidelberg, c. Walter Nussbaum

26 Nov 2010 – World Première of „... damit ... die Geister der Menschen erhellt und ihr Verstand erleuchtet werden ...“ for ensemble. Basel, Ensemble Phoenix Basel, c. Jürg Henneberger

04 Feb 2011 – World Première of String Quartet No. 6, Mozartwoche, Salzburg, Hagen Quartett

04 Jun 2011 – World Première of chants oubliés for chamber orchestra. Munich, Münchener Kammerorchester, c. Alexander Liebreich

10 Sep 2011 – World Première of String Quartet No. 7, Luzern, Arditti String Quartet, Experimentalstudio des SWR, Freiburg

18 Dec 2011 – World Première of Mlake / Laaken, Munich, Neue Vocalsolisten

Summer 2011 – Composer-in-residence at the Lucerne Festival

Publications: papers on the works of Luigi Nono, Ivan Wyschnegradsky,
Alois Hába and Pierre Boulez.

The composer lives and works in Basel / Switzerland.