updated 12 September 2022
© Manu Theobald

Lisa Streich

Swedish composer born 19 April 1985 in Norra Råda.

Lisa Streich studied composition and organ in Berlin, Stockholm, Salzburg, Paris, and Cologne with Johannes Schöllhorn, Adriana Hölszky, and Mauro Lanza. She also participated in masterclasses with Chaya Czernowin, Hanspeter Kyburz, and Beat Furrer. Over 2011 to 2012, she completed the Cursus program for composition and computer music at IRCAM. She is currently a research fellow at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo under the supervision of Helmut Lachenmann.

Streich’s compositions use motorized instruments of her own invention. For example, small motors and thin strips of paper vibrate the strings of a cello in Pietà and Sai Ballare? and are used to pluck and stroke the piano strings in Laster and Safran. The idea came to her in her year at IRCAM, during which she observed the motorized sculptures in the Stravinsky Fountain designed by Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely. One of the ideas behind her approach is to challenge the conception of the machine as a brute force, by using machines in refined musical creations.

In general, Streich’s works deal in contrasts, imperfections, and irregularities. These contrasts are manifested in juxtapositions between, on the one hand, calm passages with fragile timbres, and, on the other, violent outbursts, such as the whip-like blows produced by the percussionists in Segel or the mounting volume that reaches almost the point of screaming in Rememory, a piece inspired by the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison. Sai Ballare? takes as its starting point the dance of two soldiers against the backdrop of the atrocious acts in Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Violence is a theme throughout the composer’s work, which explores “the idea of pain with almost physical harshness, as an existential human experience without any protective cover.”1 Streich gives attention as well to the banal and everyday, but balanced by a metaphysical dimension rooted in Christian thought. The latter inspires vocal works that use texts taken notably from the Old and New Testaments (as in …mit brennendem Öle) or contain themes related to verticality, the sky, or heaven (Himmel, Flügel, Segel, Vogel. Mehr Vogel (Als Engel)) and religion (Pietà, Crèche, Agnel, Stabat, Seraph). The idea of Christ-like sacrifice is also present, visually translated into instruments gently whipped by motors.

Streich has received commissions from the Lucerne Festival, the Kölner Philharmonie, the Swedish Radio Choir, and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, among others. Her works have been performed by the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Quatuor Diotima, ensemble recherche, Ensemble Musikfabrik, and Malmö Symphony Orchestra on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

Streich has received numerous outstanding prizes and fellowships, including a fellowship from the Cité des arts Paris, the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation Orchestra Prize, the Berlin Academy of Arts Busoni Composition Prize, the Bernd Alois Zimmermann Prize, the Villa Massimo’s Rome Prize, the Ernst von Siemens Foundation Composer Prize, the Lilla Christ Johnson Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, and the Heidelberg Women Artists’ Prize. In 2017–2018, she was artist-in-residence with the ensemble recherche in Freiburg. Two CD portraits are dedicated to her: one by WERGO from 2018 and one the following year by KAIROS. Her works are published by Ricordi.


1. “Zwingende Dramaturgie, unerbittliche Spannung,” Neue Musikzeitung, May 2022.


© Ircam-Centre Pompidou, 2022

Sources

Site de la compositrice, Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung, Analekta

  • Solo (excluding voice)
    • elec NÄCKEN for violin and electronics (2008), 10 mn 23 s
    • elec EXISTENSER for piano and electronics (2009), 10 mn
    • elec ircam Ircam cursus PIETÀ for cello, motors and electronics (2012), 7 mn 20 s
    • FLEISCH for solo cello for 1 – 3 cellists (2017), 11 mn
    • MINERVA for baroque cello (2018), 8 mn
    • CRÈCHE for piano solo (2019), 2 mn 30 s
    • elec PRIMA for turning flutist and light (2019), 10 mn
    • FALTER for solo violin (2020), 8 mn, Ricordi
  • Chamber music
  • Instrumental ensemble music
    • elec LAKALLES for ensemble and electronics (2009), 9 mn
    • ÄLV ALV ALVA for ensemble (2012), 20 mn, Ricordi
    • PIETÀ for ensemble and pictures (2012), 9 mn
    • ALV for orchestra (2013), 8 mn, Ricordi
    • PAPIROSN for ensemble (2013), 14 mn
    • MARIA CALLAS for ensemble (2014), 3 mn
    • MJÖLK for ensemble and ferris wheel (2014), 20 mn
    • ARK for wind orchestra, 5 percussionists and double bass (2016), 12 mn
    • ZUCKER for motorized ensemble (2016), 15 mn
    • SEGEL for orchestra (2016-2017), 12 mn, Ricordi
    • MANTEL for string orchestra (2018), 20 mn, Ricordi
    • FRANCESCA for ensemble (2016-2019), 25 mn, Ricordi
    • HÄNDEKÜSSEN for baroque orchestra (2019), 12 mn, Ricordi
    • FLÜGEL for orchestra (2020), 13 mn, Ricordi
    • PERIPHERY for small orchestra (2020), 2 mn 30 s
    • HIMMEL for large ensemble (2021), 15 mn, Ricordi
    • elec ircam OFELIA for large ensemble, motorised piano and four loudspeakers (2022), 22 mn, Ricordi
  • Concertant music
    • GRATA for cello and ensemble (2011), 15 mn
    • AUGENLIDER for prepared guitar and orchestra (2015), 20 mn, Ricordi
    • PIETÀ for motorised violoncello and ensemble (2016), 7 mn
    • PIETÀ for solo motorised violoncello and motorized installation of piano, violoncello, violin and guitar (2018), 8 mn
    • LASTER for motorised piano and orchestra (2018-2019), 20 mn, Ricordi
    • JUBELHEMD for quartet and orchestra (2021), 18 mn, Ricordi
    • NEROLI for violin and orchestra (2021), 18 mn, Ricordi
  • Vocal music and instrument(s)
    • DER ZITRONENGELBE KLANG for baritone, soprano and tuba (2008), 8 mn
    • elec HALBWERTZEITEN UND HONIG for soprano, piano and piano-loudspeakers (2010), 12 mn
    • stage …MIT BRENNENDEM ÖLE pocketopera for 12 instruments, 5 women’s voices and 5 children’s voices (2011), 12 mn
    • FIKONTRÄDET for counter tenor and baroque ensemble (2016), 15 mn
    • LAUB for violin, guitar and choir (2018), 15 mn
    • PREDELLA for four choirs and ensemble (2018), 13 mn
    • PEONY’S SONG for 16 voices, whips and ensemble (2020), 20 mn, Ricordi
    • REMEMORY for 12 voices and baroque ensemble (2022), 14 mn, Ricordi
  • A cappella vocal music
    • elec ÄNGEN DANSAR for female choir and electronics (2009), 10 mn
    • elec WALLPAPERS for baritone and electronics (2010), 5 mn 30 s
    • elec AGNEL for 12-part choir, objects, choirboy and electronics (2013), 13 mn
    • STABAT for 32 voices in four choirs (2017), 27 mn, Ricordi
    • CIVIL SONG for 32 voices (2018), 14 mn, Ricordi
  • Electronic music / fixed media / mechanical musical instruments
  • Unspecified instrumentation
    • JOIE for Lauscher and Lauscher (2011), 7 mn
  • 2022
    • MATRIOSHKA for Paetzold, Pump, Melodica and Egg Slicer, 8 mn
    • elec ircam OFELIA for large ensemble, motorised piano and four loudspeakers, 22 mn, Ricordi
    • REMEMORY for 12 voices and baroque ensemble, 14 mn, Ricordi
  • 2021
    • HIMMEL for large ensemble, 15 mn, Ricordi
    • JUBELHEMD for quartet and orchestra, 18 mn, Ricordi
    • NEROLI for violin and orchestra, 18 mn, Ricordi
  • 2020
  • 2019
    • CRÈCHE for piano solo, 2 mn 30 s
    • FRANCESCA for ensemble, 25 mn, Ricordi
    • HÄNDEKÜSSEN for baroque orchestra, 12 mn, Ricordi
    • LASTER for motorised piano and orchestra, 20 mn, Ricordi
    • elec PRIMA for turning flutist and light, 10 mn
  • 2018
    • CIVIL SONG for 32 voices, 14 mn, Ricordi
    • LAUB for violin, guitar and choir, 15 mn
    • MANTEL for string orchestra, 20 mn, Ricordi
    • MINERVA for baroque cello, 8 mn
    • PIETÀ for solo motorised violoncello and motorized installation of piano, violoncello, violin and guitar, 8 mn
    • PREDELLA for four choirs and ensemble, 13 mn
  • 2017
    • FLEISCH for solo cello for 1 – 3 cellists, 11 mn
    • SAFRAN for violin and motorised piano, 14 mn
    • SEGEL for orchestra, 12 mn, Ricordi
    • STABAT for 32 voices in four choirs, 27 mn, Ricordi
  • 2016
    • ARK for wind orchestra, 5 percussionists and double bass, 12 mn
    • FIKONTRÄDET for counter tenor and baroque ensemble, 15 mn
    • PIETÀ for motorised violoncello and ensemble, 7 mn
    • ZUCKER for motorized ensemble, 15 mn
  • 2015
  • 2014
  • 2013
    • elec AGNEL for 12-part choir, objects, choirboy and electronics, 13 mn
    • ALV for orchestra, 8 mn, Ricordi
    • PAPIROSN for ensemble, 14 mn
    • SAI BALLARE? for violin, piano and motorised violoncello or piano trio, 8 mn
    • SERAPH for cello and organ, 15 mn
  • 2012
    • ASCHE for cello and clarinet, 15 mn
    • MADONNA DEL PRATO for saxophone quartet, 9 mn
    • elec ircam Ircam cursus PIETÀ for cello, motors and electronics, 7 mn 20 s
    • PIETÀ for ensemble and pictures, 9 mn
    • PLAY TIME for bicyle and percussion trio, 10 mn
    • ÄLV ALV ALVA for ensemble, 20 mn, Ricordi
  • 2011
    • ASKARGOT for string quartet, 8 mn
    • GRATA for cello and ensemble, 15 mn
    • JOIE for Lauscher and Lauscher, 7 mn
    • stage …MIT BRENNENDEM ÖLE pocketopera for 12 instruments, 5 women’s voices and 5 children’s voices, 12 mn
  • 2010
  • 2009
    • elec EXISTENSER for piano and electronics, 10 mn
    • elec LAKALLES for ensemble and electronics, 9 mn
    • elec ÄNGEN DANSAR for female choir and electronics, 10 mn
  • 2008
  • 2007

Liens Internet

(liens vérifiés en septembre 2022).

Discographie

  • Lisa STREICH, (ENGEL, …) NOCH TASTEND, dans « Insights to-morrow », 1 CD GENUIN, 2020, GEN 20639.
  • Lisa STREICH, Augenlider ; Sai Ballare? ; Älv Alv Alva ; “Der Zarte Faden Den Die Schönheit Spinnt” ; Zucker, dans « Augenlider », 1 CD Kairos, 2019, 0018002KAI.
  • Lisa STREICH, Laster, dans « Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik 2019 », 2 CD WDR3, 2019.
  • Lisa STREICH, Segel ; Pietà ; Agnel ; Asche ; Stabat, dans « Pietà », 1 CD Wergo, 2018, WER 6425 2.
  • Lisa STREICH, Grata, dans « Back to the Future - 10 Years of ensemble 20/21 & David Smeyers at the Forum neuer Musik », 2 CD Neos, 2018, NEOS 11810-11.
  • Lisa STREICH, Papirosn, dans « Aksiom », 1 CD LAWO, 2016, LWC1115.
  • Lisa STREICH, Seraph, dans « Seraph » avec des œuvres de Chaya Czernowin, Younghi Pagh-Paan et René Mense, 1 CD Querstand, 2014.