Münchener Biennale

Dieter Schnebel was born in 1930 in Lahr, Germany. He studied music, musicology, theology, and philosophy in Freiburg and Tübingen. He worked as a pastor and teacher in Kaiserslautern, Frankfurt, and Munich. In 1976 the Berlin College of Arts (now called the Berlin University of the Arts) set up a chair in experimental music and musicology especially for him, which he held until he retired and was conferred emeritus status in 1995. There he realized with the group Die Maulwerker his open work concept, where musicians are challenged to use their instruments and voices in an unconventional manner and to stage happenings in spaces. The cycles "Maulwerke"; "Körper-Sprache"; "Schulmusik"; "Laut-Gesten-Laute"; Museumsstücke"; "Schau-Stücke"; and "Bachmann-Gedichte" were developed during composition processes that lasted several years. Schnebel unfolded novel concepts of the relationship between traditional and new music, even experimental music, in the cycles "Re-Visionen" (1972-1992) and "Tradition" (1975-1995), as well as in the chamber music works in the "Psycho-Logia" series with references to Greek mythology. His key works include the opera "Majakowskis Tod" (1989/1997); the large-scale vocal work "Ekstasis" (1996/1997/2001); and the monumental "Sinfonie X" (1987/1992/2004). Schnebel has been a member of the Berlin Academy of the Arts since 1991 and a member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts since 1996.