The scale of Friedrich Cerha's stage work is as epochal as it is colorful. The present volume tries to do justice to this. A difficult undertaking, when one considers the diversity and complexity of Cerha's musical language; on the other hand an easy one, since his stage work can easily be placed under one roof, as it all traces the "mechanisms of power", the tension between freedom-hungry individuals and restrictive society.
Unique Stage Work
In this volume, the composer's stage work, among other things, is discussed in more detail. His works "Baal" or "The Pied Piper" are among the works discussed. Other articles are devoted to how Cerha handled texts by the writers Thomas Bernhard and Bertolt Brecht, as well as the role language plays in his works. Performers and dramaturges also report on relevant work experience.
Beautiful Insights
The volume is supplemented by an extensive illustrated section and topic-specific documentation, with materials from Cerha's living estate, which the Archives of Contemporary Arts at Danube University Krems has made available for academic purposes.
With contributions by Daniel Ender, Anne Fritzen, Gerhard Gensch, Christine Grond-Rigler, Matthias Henke, Lothar Knessl, Anna Langenbruch, Manfred Mittermayer, Sabine Töfferl, Christoph Wagner-Trenkwitz, Barbara Zuber.
Matthias Henke, Gerhard Gensch (ed.), in collaboration with Gundula Wilscher: Mechanismen der Macht. Friedrich Cerha und sein musikdramatisches Werk. Vienna, Innsbruck: Studienverlag 2016 ( The Archives of Contemporary Arts, Writings Volume 1). 304 pages, bound, numerous colored illustrations, ISBN 978-3-7065-5196-0