“I was seen as a left-leaning artist, radical in my own way, expanding the idea of music towards what I called concrete instrumental music”

Awarded the 3rd Frontiers of Knowledge Award for Music and Opera, composer Helmut Lachenmann reflects in this interview on his revolutionary contribution to contemporary music through what he calls instrumental musique concrète. Lachenmann explains how his work explores new ways of producing sound, expanding the expressive possibilities of traditional instruments through extended techniques and unexpected sonic textures. He also addresses the relationship between aesthetics, experimentation, and active listening, advocating a conception of music that invites the discovery of the unheard. His testimony offers a profound look into the creative process of one of the most influential composers of the European avant-garde.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Contemporary Music category goes in this edition to German composer Helmut Lachenmann. His creative works, w

Awarded the 3rd Frontiers of Knowledge Award for Music and Opera, composer Helmut Lachenmann reflects in this interview on his revolutionary contribution to contemporary music through what he calls instrumental musique concrète. Lachenmann explains how his work explores new ways of producing sound, expanding the expressive possibilities of traditional instruments through extended techniques and unexpected sonic textures. He also addresses the relationship between aesthetics, experimentation, and active listening, advocating a conception of music that invites the discovery of the unheard. His testimony offers a profound look into the creative process of one of the most influential composers of the European avant-garde.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Contemporary Music category goes in this edition to German composer Helmut Lachenmann. His creative works, which are based on an intimate knowledge of the musical past, have enlarged the world of sounds during the last fifty years in a way unmatched by any other contemporary composer.