Jacques Wildberger was born on 3 January, 1922, in Basel. Following studies of piano at the Basel Conservatory, he was introduced to serialist music by Wladimir Vogel (Ascona). Some of Wildberger’s early works were performed at the Darmstadt Summer Courses (1951-1952), Cologne WDR (1956), the Aix-en-Provence Festival (1958), and at Domaine Musical in Paris (1958). In 1953, his Tre Mutazioni for chambre orchestra was premiered at Donaueschingen; in this work, Wildberger sought to balance the influence of the Second Viennese School with that of composers such as Boulez and Blacher. At the same time, Vogel’s influence persisted, notably in Wildberger’s vocal music, e.g., Epitaph for Evariste Galois (1964), the score of which comprises notated gestures for soloists, speaker, speaking choir, tape, and orchestra; La Notte (1967), for mezzo-soprano, five instruments, and tape; and Die Stimme, die alte schwacher werdende Stimme [The voice, the old waning voice] (1973-1974) for soprano, cello, tape, and orchestra. From 1959 to 1966, Wildberger taught composition, analysis, and instrumentation at the Karlsruhe Hochschule, and subsquently, composition and analysis at the Basel Music Academy until 1987. Other works include Du holde Kunst, a “profane representation” for speaker, soprano, and orchestra (1987-1988), Kammerkonzert für Saiteninstrumente und Synthesizer [Chambre Concerto for String Instruments and Synthesiser] (1995-1996), and Commiato for string quartet (1997).

© Ircam-Centre Pompidou, 2000