7/4 Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 German avant-garde musician Hans Otte dies at 81 BERLIN - German avant-garde composer and pianist Hans Otte has died, his former employer said Wednesday. He was 81. Otte died on Tuesday after a long illness, Radio Bremen, whose music department he led from 1959 to 1984, said in a brief statement on its website. It did not specify the cause of death. Otte, born Dec. 3, 1926 in the eastern German town of Plauen, started playing the piano at age 5. He was trained in Germany, in Italy and at Yale University in the United States where, during a one-year scholarship in 1950, he studied composition under Paul Hindemith. He also was a student of pianist Walter Gieseking and organist Fernando Germani. Radio Bremen, which described Otte as an "outstanding innovative spirit," said he brought avant-garde composers John Cage and David Tudor to Germany in the 1970s. Otte initiated and organized the Pro Musica Nova festival in the northern city of Bremen starting in 1961, making a name for himself as a promoter of modern music. Otte's own output ranged from musical theatre to video productions, and included his minimalist piano work "Buch der Klaenge," or "Book of Sounds," first performed in 1982. Details of survivors and funeral arrangements were not immediately available. Copyright © 2007 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted December 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 http://www.artsjournal.com/postclassic/200...e_19262007.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.D. Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 Yes, I already read the Gann item some days ago. RIP. The only music of Otte's I've ever heard was The Book of Sounds, but I have the recording and enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 (edited) The third to die at the end of the year after Stockhausen and Genzmer. But I have to admit I'm not familiar with his work. Edited December 28, 2007 by mikeweil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted December 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2007 jah, Herbert Henck's ECM recording Das Buch Der Klange has been the main Otte recording here in "teh west" for a while... worth the bones sayz EDC ECM 1659 That's the one I used to hear on New Sounds, years ago...I should get a copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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