Michael von Biel

Michael von Biel (born 30 June 1937) is a German composer, cellist, and graphic artist.

Life

Biel was born in Hamburg, the son of Werner von Biel and Ursula von Biel (née Lampert). After finishing school in Canterbury, England, he studied piano, theory, and composition in Toronto (1956–57), Vienna (1958–60), New York (1960, with Morton Feldman, amongst others), London (1961–62, with Cornelius Cardew), and Cologne (with Karlheinz Stockhausen). From 1961 to 1963 he attended the Darmstadt International Vacation/Holiday Courses for New Music. In 1964 he received a commission from the WDR for the electronic piece Fassung. From 1965 to 1966 he was Composer in Residence at the State University of New York in Buffalo. Since 1966 Michael von Biel has lived in Cologne, where he came into contact with artists of the Fluxus movement. From 1968 to 1969 he studied with Joseph Beuys at the Düsseldorf Kunstakademie. In the following years he created works in the visual realm especially.^[1] His Jagdstück (Hunting Piece, 1966) for brass, contrabass, tape, and amplified barbecues was premiered in 1968.^[2][3]

Compositions (selective list)

• Für Klavier no.1–3 (three piano pieces for Morton Feldman), for piano four-hands (1960–61)
• Book for Three, for violin and two pianos, or three pianos (1961–62)
• Doubles, 29 pieces for violin and piano (1961)
• String Quartet No. 1 (1962)
• String Quartet No. 2 (1963)
• Fassung, electronic music for four loudspeaker groups(1963–64)
• Quartett mit Begleitung, for string quartet and cello (1965)
• Deklination, for alto voice, piano, 3 percussionists, harp, cello, contrabass, and electronics (1965)
• Welt I and II, action scores (1965–66)
• The Plain of S'cairn, for five or more winds and five or more strings (1966)
• Jagdstück for brass, contrabass, tape, and amplified barbecues (1966)
• Composition for orchestra (1968)
• Deutsche Landschaften, for solo cello (1970)
• Cello Concerto (1971)
• Übungsstück, for solo cello with filtered feedback (1971)
• Preludes, for cello (1972)
• 13 traditionelle Stücke, for 2 guitars (1974–77)
• Pieces for two guitars (1976)
• Fragment, for two electric guitars (1981)
• Nineteen Pieces for piano, synthesizer, glockenspiel, percussion, and electric guitar (1985)
• Twenty-eight Pieces for Piano (1987–89)
• Acht Projekt (Aufsatzstück), for piano (1992)
• Pieces for piano (1992)

Sources

1. Wagner, Hans-Joachim (2001). "Biel, Michael von". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN 9780195170672.
2. "The Wire - August 2004 (Issue 246)". reader.exacteditions.com. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
3. "Jagdstück (Von Biel) – Huba de Graaff". Retrieved 13 June 2024.

Further reading

• Henck, Herbert. 1983. "Zur Arbeit von Michael von Biel. Eine Literatur- und Werkübersicht." Neuland Jahrbuch 3:100–103.
• Stockhausen, Karlheinz. 1971. "Elektronische Musikaus Studios in aller Welt". In his Texte zur Musik 1963–1970, vol. 3, edited by Dieter Schnebel, 242–89. DuMont Dokumente. Cologne: Verlag M. DuMont Schauberg.ISBN 3-7701-0493-5.

External links

• Feedback Studio survey of works