With his multilayered, poetic work – full of consistent and radical austerity and yet provocative humour – the composer Hermann Markus Preßl continues to influence the following generation of musicians, especially those of the Graz music scene, even 30 years after his death. Like few others, Preßl managed to put death at the center of his work addressing it with such lightness and directness while never slipping into the pathetic. By including mystical concepts such as the "holy nothing", Preßl’s work offers a multifaceted projection surface.
To mark the 30th anniversary of the composer's death, students from the Performance Practice in Contemporary Music (PPCM) programme at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz will dedicate themselves to his work as part of this year's ORF musikprotokoll, placing the composition in a contemporary context together with ensemble members of Klangforum Wien.
A project by Institute 1 Composition, Theory of Music, History of Music and Conducting at KUG–University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, PPCM Instrumental and Vocal, Klangforum Wien, and ORF musikprotokoll.
© Wendelin Pressl: "Globe" (2004)
© Hermann Markus Preßl