Ländle-Power

Nigsch premiere at the Musikverein

Visibly happy: Marcus Nigsch with the score.

(Bild: Wiener SYmphoniker)

A great success: today, the cello concerto by Vorarlberg composer Marcus Nigsch receives its world premiere in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein by Kian Soltani, who also comes from Vorarlberg, and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

Krone: Mr. Nigsch, you cannot be pigeonholed and you are successful beyond the borders. On January 24, your latest work will also be performed in Bregenz. As a young musician, you had considerable success in the field of pop music and stormed the charts. What prompted you to take up composition studies with Herbert Willi?
Marcus Nigsch: Well, it was a long and painful process. It gradually became clear to me that I would rather work creatively than as a performer. And then I had the feeling that it was increasingly more about success and sales figures than about artistic quality. I then studied baroque music in Zurich and learned to write fugues. Finally, I went to Herbert Willi at what was then the Landeskonservatorium in Feldkirch.

A considerable number of students emerged from Herbert Willi's class, but they differed in their way of composing. It seems that he does not impose his style on anyone. What has he awakened in you?
Nigsch: I now have a friendship with Herbert Willi. When we meet, we talk about ideology and philosophy. Back when I was teaching, I mainly learned the craft from him. And yes, he helps his students to find their very own expression.

It's been a while since you graduated and you are very successful, both in concert music and in film music. Is this range something like your trademark?
Nigsch: Above all, it's necessary if you want to make a living from composing, unless you teach. But I am also happy to be so broadly positioned, to be able to wander through the universe of music. Music is the most universal language that mankind has. It has an infinite number of colors, an infinite number of vibrations, and they all interest me.

If one studies your website, it becomes clear that you work very extensively with electronic means.
Nigsch: That is essential for film music.

Does the current cello concerto "Versus", which we will soon be hearing in Bregenz, also feature electronic instruments?
Nigsch: No, only the classical orchestral instruments: But of course my experience with electronics flows into the composition. The work would sound different without them. For example, a passage in the third movement comes across as if in a trance, minimalist and very diffuse. And by the way, there are still traces of my earlier experiences with pop music.

So it's not new music that the audience has to be afraid of?
Nigsch: It's my concern, and that of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra too, that our music appeals to people, that it moves them. I don't want to write music that only a handful of people listen to in concert.

Did you work on the piece together with Kian Soltani, who plays the solo cello?
Nigsch: Yes, I lived with him for a few days in Vienna, a real men's flat share (smiles). I had my own room to compose in and we came together again and again to try out what I had written.

And you were also present at the rehearsals?
Nigsch: It's important for me to hear sounds that previously only existed on paper. And I'm already looking forward to accompanying the provincial tour and being at the concerts in Graz, Salzburg and finally in Bregenz.

You have a family, a son of primary school age. On the other hand, composing is a highly concentrated activity. How do you manage the balancing act?
Nigsch: I try to be with my son as much as possible, partly because I grew up without a father myself. I'm good at composing at night and sometimes get up at three or four in the morning to work. If you are given a few creative hours a day by God, you can be happy. And I often get on my racing bike and ride to Appenzell or the Great Walser Valley. It clears my head again and new things can happen.