Hans Erich Apostel

(b Karlsruhe, 22 Jan 1901; d Vienna, 30 Nov 1972). Austrian composer of German birth. He moved to Vienna in 1921 and studied with Schoenberg and Berg, whom he followed in a long phase of atonal expressionism (e.g. in Kubiniana for piano, 1950) until in 1957 he became as absolute a serialist as Webern. His works include orchestral pieces but comprise mostly chamber music, sometimes with voice.

---

• Period: Modern (1910-1949)
• Country: Austria
• Born: January 22, 1901 in Karlsruhe, Germany
• Died: November 30, 1972 in Vienna, Austria

Biography

Apostel studied with Schoenberg and Berg. He was honored many times for his compositional work, including the Major Austrian State Prize in 1952 and the Major Monaco Composition Prize in 1968. He started out as a lyrically Romantic composer and progressed through atonal expressionism to absolute serialism. His Paralipomena dodekaphonika is an example of his later work. Apostel believed in a connection between music and the visual arts and often tried to translate images into music in his compositions. The initial notation for his pieces were frequently graphic in nature and these sketches contained all the elements necessary for a complete composition. ~ Lynn Vought, All Music Guide

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)