1. Friedrich Cerha's ensemble Die Reihe in Vienna was instrumental in spreading contemporary music in Austria.
11 Facts About Friedrich Cerha
1. 2.
Friedrich Cerha composed several operas, beginning with Baal, based on Brecht's play.
3.
Friedrich Cerha is best known for completing Alban Berg's opera Lulu by orchestrating its unfinished third act, which premiered in Paris in 1979.
4.
Friedrich Cerha played the violin at age six, instructed by Anton Pejhovsky, and began composing two years later.
5.
At 17, Friedrich Cerha was drafted as a Luftwaffenhelfer in 1943, and initially served in Achau, near Vienna.
6.
Friedrich Cerha deserted a second time and made his way to the west of Austria, where he lived in the mountains for several months to avoid capture by the Allied forces, until he was eventually able to return to Vienna in November 1945.
7.
At the Vienna Music Academy, Friedrich Cerha studied violin with Vasa Prihoda, composition with Alfred Uhl, and music pedagogy.
8.
In 1958 Friedrich Cerha founded the ensemble Die Reihe together with Kurt Schwertsik, which was instrumental in spreading contemporary music in Austria.
9.
Friedrich Cerha orchestrated sections of the third act using Berg's notes as a reference, beginning studies of the subject in 1962.
10.
Alongside his career as a composer and conductor, Friedrich Cerha taught at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna from 1959, where he was professor of composition, notation, and interpretation of new music from 1976 to 1988.
11.
Friedrich Cerha died in Vienna on 14 February 2023, at age 96.