Helmut Lachenmann (b. 1935) is a German composer of contemporary classical music, one of the leading figures in the nowadays music field. Showing an early aptitude for music, he was already composing in his teens. He studied piano with Jürgen Uhde and composition and theory with Johann Nepomuk David at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart from 1955 to 1958 and was the first private student of the Italian composer Luigi Nono in Venice from 1958 to 1960. His more important works include his opera Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern (1990–96, after Hans Christian Andersen, Leonardo da Vinci and Gudrun Ensslin), the orchestral pieces Schwankungen am Rand (1974–75, for eight brass, two electric guitars, two pianos, four thunder sheets, and 34 strings), Accanto (1975–76, for clarinet, large orchestra and tape), and NUN (1997–99, for flute, trombone, male chorus, and large orchestra), the ensemble works Mouvement (- vor der Erstarrung) (1982–1984), ....zwei Gefühle…, Musik mit Leonardo (1992, after Leonardo da Vinci), and three string quartets (Gran Torso, 1971/1976/1988; Reigen seliger Geister, 1989; Grido, 2001), as well as other orchestral, ensemble and chamber works and six piano pieces.
Lachenmann has regularly lectured at the Darmstadt New Music Summer School since 1978. From 1976 to 1981, he taught music theory, ear training and composition at the Musikhochschule Hannover, and from 1981 to 1999, he taught composition at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart. He is also noted for his articles, essays and lectures, many of which appear in Musik als existentielle Erfahrung (Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden, 1996). Lachenmann has received many distinguished awards such as the Bach Prize of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg in 1972, the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 1997, and the 2010 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Contemporary Music Category.
