Austria’s Young Composers: Šimon Voseček

There’s a lot going on in Austria’s contemporary music scene. Mainly responsible for this development is a new generation of composers, who expand the spectrum of contemporary music with many never-before-heard facets. This time in the series “Austria’s Young Composers”, mica – music austria portrays the composer Šimon Voseček.

Fast Facts

Šimon Voseček was born in 1978 in Prague and began studying composition at the Prague Conservatory with Otomar Kvěch. At the same time he sang in choirs, one of which he also directed, and learned languages (German, Russian, Italian). 2002, after the completion of the Conservatory, he moved to Vienna, where he continued his compositional studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, first with Dietmar Schermann, Erich Urbanner and then with Chaya Czernowin. In 2008 he finished his studies with distinction.
For the time being Šimon has been trying to get by as a composer, although he currently also works as a craftsman, teacher, chansonnier and office employee.
He lives and works in Vienna.
Portrait

Šimon Voseček’s aesthetics are based on a theatrical approach to music. This is not only apparent in the opera “Biedermann und die Brandstifter” or in the opera miniatures “Soudničky” (cheerful district court), but also in his instrumental works, where you can always sense the dramatic thinking due to the tense phrasing. Especially in his songs, he uses a romantic musical language and has no fear of emotion. Occasionally he abandons the usual expected ways with surprising twists. In his instrumental compositions, he increasingly uses avant-garde sonorities, for example in “Intermezzo” where the voices of the strings and horns are fused into clusters and include noisy elements.

Important works

“Biedermann und die Brandstifter” (2005-2007), based on the eponymous play by Max Frisch
Opera in two acts (90′), for 8 voices and chamber ensemble
The opera “Biedermann und die Brandstifter” that was written in the years 2005 to 2007, following the template by Max Frisch, plays a key role in Šimon’s work. On the meta-level, the play of M. Frisch describes the decompositional process of a supposedly perfect world up to a complete resolution of the rules of reason. This process is also reflected in the music, which is initially based on the language of classical opera. In the course of the evening, more and more elements of this language get lost, until at the end, where the actors have no more room for maneuver, the music is completely “speechless”. The opera still awaits its first performance.

“Soudničky” – Cheerful District Court (1999/2008), libretto by Jan Panenka, 3 opera miniatures (40′), for 6 voices and chamber ensemble
The three musical mini comedies (the shortest lasts for just 9 minutes) act around the rather turbulent events at the district court in a big city suburb in the interwar period. The partially authentic reports of František Němec were edited by Jan Panenka as a libretto.

“Im Säurebad” (2008) for string quartet (10′)
The ensemble is bathed in acid and is decomposed. Even the sound spectrum can be regarded as corrosive. On the other hand, the piece is very “traditionally” composed and does not require advanced instrumental techniques.