Born in 1966 in Zell am See in Austria, Clemens Gadenstätter studied Composition under Erich Urbanner and Helmut Lachenmann. In addition, he graduated in Performance Studies (flute) at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.
Gadenstätter’s musical undertaking explores the compositional resynthesis of perception, sensation and feeling. For him, this should bring together the trinity of listening, comprehension, and composition.
His recent work concerns the transformation of acoustically triggered, pre-formed feelings: (in the series E.P.O.S.: les premiers cris, les cris des lumières, les derniers cris for different ensemble arrangements; „HÖREN VERSTEHEN KOMPONIEREN“ [LISTENING COMPREHENSION COMPOSITION] – Essay); daily work and the banal (in Semantical Investigations 1 for violin and ensemble, Semantical Investigations 2 for small ensemble; as well as the essay, „Was heißt hier banal“ [What do we mean banal?]); the poly-modality of listening (platzen/bersten for cello and piano, häuten, schlitzen, reißen, String Quartet 1, 2, and 3, ES, minimal opera for voice, ensemble, and film; les derniers cris / E.P.O.S. 1; les cris des lumières / E.P.O.S. 2; les premiers cris / E.P.O.S. 3) as well as musical iconography (the series ICONOSONICS 1 – 3). At present, Gadenstätter has invigorated his engagement with other media: les cris des lumières for ensemble and light; and daily transformations for voices, instruments, electronics, video, space, and light, a work realized in collaboration with Anna Henckel-Donnersmark (film) and Lisa Spalt (text).
Gadenstätter’s work has been commissioned by:
WDR – Cologne (Witten Days for New Chamber Music), Salzburg Festspiele, Musikbiennale Berlin, Südwestrundfunk Baden-Baden (The Donaueschingen Festival 2001, 2005, 2012), Musikbiennale Salzburg, Steirischer Herbst, Neue Vokalsolisten Stuttgart, Konzerthaus Berlin, Musik der Jahrhunderte – Stuttgart, Wien Modern, ORF, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Recherche, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Contrechamps – Genf, Ensemble L’instant donné – Paris, Asamisimasa – Oslo, and others.
Orchestral Collaborations:
RSO Wien, SWR Orchester Freiburg und Baden Baden, Hilversum Kamerorkest, RSB Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique Luxembourg, …
Ensemble Collaborations:
Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, ASAMISIMASA – Oslo, Ensemble TALEA (NYC), L’Instant donné – Paris, Ensemble Recherche, Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin, Ensemble Ascolta Stuttgart, Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, Phase Contemporary Wien, Trio Accanto Freiburg …
Collaborations with soloists and directors:
Peter Eötvös, Peter Rundel, Arturo Tamayo, Beat Furrer, Pascal Rophé, Johannes Kalitzke, Antonio Politano, Teodoro Anzellotti, Ernst Kovacic, Marcus Weiss, Florian Müller and others
Prizes and grants:
Kompositionspreis der Erste Bank, Berliner Künstlerprogramm des DAAD, Würdigungspreis der Stadt Wien.
Since 1992, various collaborations with artists such as Joseph Santarromana (video installation), Rose Breuss, Toni Kay (media, conceptual, and video art), Lisa Spalt (author), Anna Henckel-Donnersmark (film, video, installation), and others.
Since 2003/04, Professor at the University of Music Graz for Music Theory and Analysis, as well as lecturer for Composition. In the summer semester of 2013, a guest professor for Composition at the University of Music and performing arts Carl-Maria von Weber, Dresden. 2017/18 guest professor for Composition at the Nordic Music High school, Oslo.
In 2014, Clemens Gadenstätter was a lecturer at the Darmstadt holiday course for new music; in 2013 and 2015, a lecturer at Impulse Academy Graz; as well as a lecturer at COURSE – Master class for Composition Kiew/Lviv in 2015 and 2017.
From 1995 to 2000, Gadenstätter published „ton“, the music journal of the IGNM-Sektion Österreich. Until 2002, he organized many events (most recently: SALON13: Six Evenings of Music, Literature, Film, Art, and Science in Echoraum, Vienna)
Discography
- Clemens Gadenstätter (ORF, Edition Zeitton 221 / schniTt, Versprachlichung, Musik für Orchesterensembles / RSO Wien, Klangforum Wien)
- Clemens Gadenstätter (DURIAN 015-2 / Streichtrio 2, Variationen und alte Themen / String Trio from Klangforum Wien, ensemble neue musik – Vienna)
- Clemens Gadenstätter: COMIC SENSE (Kairos / Comic Sense / Klangforum Wien, Florian Müller, Marc Foster)
- Clemens Gadenstätter: SONGBOOK (Col Legno Contemporary / Son gbook, akkor(d/t)anz / Florian Müller, Gerald Preinfalk, Lukas Schiske).
- Clemens Gadenstätter/Lisa Spalt: Tal para qual – Szene nach Francisco de Goya. Auf: Jürgen Ruck: Caprichos Goyescos 1/2 (Darbinghaus und Grimm; Nr. 2 in progress)
- Clemens Gadenstätter: Musik für Soloflöte. Auf: Beatrix Wagner: Spiegelungen (edition zeitklang 2011)
- Clemens Gadenstätter – PORTRAIT (Col Legno Contemporary 2012 / auf takt, fluchten, ballade 1 / RSO Wien; Pascal Rophé, Arturo Tamayo).
- Clemens Gadenstätter/Lisa Spalt: WEH – Madrigal 2. Auf: Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart: Madrigali
(Col Legno Contemporary 2013)
Forthcoming:
- Clemens Gadenstätter: 2 CD-Box (KAIROS 2017 / Semantical Investigations 1 und 2; Iconosonics 1, 2 und 3 / ensemble l’instant donné, Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien)
Selected Works: daily transformations for 6 vocalists and 6 musicians, electronics, and film/video (Text: Lisa Spalt, Film/Video: Anna Henckel-Donnersmark); les premiers cris / E.P.O.S. 3 for large ensemble; les derniers cris / E.P.O.S. 1 for ensemble; les cris des lumières / E.P.O.S. 2 for ensemble and light; reißen / paramyth 3 for string quartets; platzen/bersten / paramyth 4 for cello and piano; SAD SONGS for saxophone, electric guitar, drums, and piano; ES, minimal opera for voice, ensemble, and image (with Lisa Spalt); häuten / paramyth 1 for string quartet; schlitzen / paramyth 2 for string quartet; bodies / ICONOSONICS 2 for electric guitar and electric accordion; PICTURES OF AN EXHIBITION / ICONOSONICS 3 for 9 instruments; FLUCHTEN / AGORASONIE 1 for soloists and orchestra; FIGURE / ICONOSONICS 1 for clarinet, string trio, and piano; Semantical Investigations I for violin and ensemble; Semantical Investigations II for small ensemble; HEY & WEH, madrigal 1 und 2 for six voices; 4 Szenen nach Fransisco de Goya für Stimme und Gitarre in einer Person (2003/06), powered by emphasis (voice, combo, choirs, orchestra, electronics), Comic Sense (piano/keyboard and ensemble); Songbook #0-11 for saxophone, percussion, piano; Polyskopie for soloists and small orchestra; akkor(d/t)anz for piano; auf takt for orchestra; ballade 1 for voice and piano; Variationen und alte Themen for trombone, guitar, cello, and contrabass; Streichtrio 2 / Friktion for violine, viola und Violoncello; and others.
Assorted articles and essays on questions of compositional poetics: