Hans Erich Apostel

Born in Karlsruhe in 1901, died in Vienna in 1972; Hans Erich Apostel was an Austrian composer, pianist and teacher. After his training at the Karlsruher Konservatorium and a period as Kapellmeister at the Badisches Landestheater he went to Vienna in 1921 and studied with Arnold Schönberg and, from 1925 to 1935, with Alban Berg; from 1922 he taught piano and composition privately. As president of the Austrian section of the Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik he campaigned for contemporary music from 1947 to 1950; later he worked as an editor for Universal Edition. His output comprises orchestral, chamber and vocal music, among it numerous songs and choral works, and follows the twelve-note technique consistently. In 1937 he received the Emil-Hertzka-Preis, in 1948 the Preis der Stadt Wien and in 1957 the Großer Österreichischer Staatspreis. In 2010 the album Hans Erich Apostel and the String Quartet appeared on Cybele.