In May 2009, half a century after his international breakthrough, the Swiss composer Klaus Huber added the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize to his already extensive list of honors, and was acclaimed by the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts as “one of the leading figures on the contemporary music stage”.

Born in Berne in 1924, Huber studied violin and composition in Zurich before moving to Berlin to take classes with Boris Blacher and lay the foundations for his later teaching work. His composition classes in Freiburg were attended by future talents of the stature of Wolfgang Rihm, whose music also features in this Fundación BBVA-NEOS Collection. From a formal standpoint, Huber’s work starts from the serialism of Webern but then veers off to more open paths, drawing equally on the most advanced musical vocabulary and traditional counterpoint techniques. Its contents, meantime, combine mysticism with religion, under the influence of the liberation theology movement. His political commitment flourished in the 1970s, as exemplified in this magnificent oratorio Erniedrigt – Geknechtet – Verlassen – Verachtet… (Abased – Fettered – Abandoned – Despised…), written between 1975 and 1983 and based principally on texts by Ernesto Cardenal. It is interpreted here by a prodigious vocal ensemble, accompanied by the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg under the baton of, among others, Spaniard Arturo Tamayo.

Performances by:
SWR

Composer:
Klaus Huber

Contents:

CD Audio

1. Vorspruch (03:42)
2. I Um der Unterdrückten willen (10:20)
3. II Armut, Hunger, Hunger… (12:49)
4. III Gefangen, gefoltert… (08:30)
5. IV Steht alle auf, auch die Toten!(11:13)
6. V Senfkorn (07:26)
7. VI Tagesanbruch (06:08)
8. VII Das Volk stirbt nie (07:37)

Total time: 67:58