The Emil Breisach commissions for compositions (2) | MON | 20 03 2023 | 23:03

March 20, 2023 at 11:03 p.m

Austria’s cultural landscape would look different today without the visionary writer, cultural manager and radio director Emil Breisach (1923-2015). Breisach was the founder of ORF musikprotokoll, originator of the “La Strada” festival, initiator of the Austrian sculpture park, first president of the Forum Stadtpark and co-founder of steirischer herbst. After his retirement he founded the Graz Academy. On March 21, 2023, Breisach would have been 100 years old.

The ORF musikprotokoll im steirischer herbst has been awarding an “Emil Breisach composition commission” every year since 2013 in recognition of Breisach’s achievements. As part of the “30 Years of Time Tone” series, we are sending the audio results of these ORF composition commissions to Katharina Klement, Erin Gee, Wen Liu, Gerhard E. Winkler, Peter Jakober, William Dougherty, Oxana Omelchuk, Andrea Sodomka, Svetlana Maras and Shiva Feshareki.

From 1958 to 1967, Breisach was president of the Forum Stadtpark, an action group of artists, scientists and cultural workers. During his time as director of the ORF Landesstudio Steiermark (1967-1988), he founded the ORF musikprotokoll together with the culture editor and composer Peter Vujica.

The ORF musikprotokoll is thus one of a number of important world premiere festivals sponsored by public broadcasters, such as the Donaueschingen Music Days (SWR), the Witten Days for New Chamber Music (WDR), the Biennale for Contemporary Music Frankfurt Rhein Main (hr) and ultraschall berlin (rbb Kultur and Deutschlandfunk Kultur).

“What I had in mind at the time,” Emil Breisach recalled at the end of the 1960s when he was appointed director of the new state studio in Graz, “came from a conversation with Gerd Bacher, who turned me down as future director of the state studio to continue the Forum Stadtpark. But there, in late-night talks with Hanns Koren, the idea arose of founding a steirischer herbst that would include all kinds of art. I talked about this daring plan and suggested that Bacher bring in a program with new music and literature through the state studio . He agreed.”

Design: Rainer Elstner

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