Barbara Heller
Country of origin:
Germany
Birthday:
November 6, 1936
About Barbara Heller
"Music is a sensory experience to which I bring structure.""For me, composing means applying my own filter to the constant flow of internal and external sounds. Listening to, imagining and inventing music is like building bridges between the physical and the metaphysical world."
Barbara Heller was born in 1936 in Ludwigshafen, where her father was an art restorer and conservator. She studied music in Mannheim and Munich and taught piano at the Mannheim Academy of Music from 1958 to 1962. Heller studied composition under Hans Vogt (Mannheim) and Harald Genzmer (Munich), won a scholarship to study film music in Sienna in 1963 and was awarded several scholarships at the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik (International summer courses for new music) in Darmstadt, where she has lived as a freelance composer and pianist since 1963. From 1970 to 1975 she documented and archived the estate of the composer Hermann Heiß from Darmstadt; she was an active member of the board of the Institut für Neue Musik und Musikerziehung Darmstadt (Institute for New Music and Musical Education) from 1986 to 1993. In 1978 Barbara Heller became a founder member of the international working group "Women in Music", serving on its board of directors until 1981, when she took over archive management there. Since 1976 she has dedicated considerable energy to previously neglected works by female composers. Research, teaching and editorial work have taken up a great deal of her time and she has frequently been invited to share the results of her work with the public in lectures and radio broadcasts. She has edited works by Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn and other contemporary female composers, performing these pieces herself and appearing as a soloist with a number of chamber ensembles.
In 1989 Barbara Heller decided to stop performing as a pianist and concentrate entirely on her work as a composer. Since then she has written more piano music, chamber music and songs. She also enjoys collaborating with other composers and performers from time to time, engaging in experiments and investigating other art forms: this has involved working with painters and actors, composing film music, composing with tape recordings and sound installations produced with other artists. Recent compositions include two string quartets and her bassoon quartet, as well as arrangements and adaptations of her earlier works for various combinations of instruments (most of them commissioned by performing musicians). Barbara Heller"s music is increasingly characterised by openness and a love of experimentation, often moving away from conventional musical notation to challenge performers to explore improvisation in creative and imaginative ways. She continues to receive invitations to present her music in concerts in Germany and abroad.
In 2005 Barbara Heller was awarded the Aloysia Assenbaum Memorial Prize by the GEDOK association of female artists in Heidelberg. The German edition of "Encounters with Barbara Heller" (ed. Ulla Levens) was published by Wolke in Hofheim in 2006. Barbara Heller often seeks refuge in Nature, in the Odenwald forest or on the island of La Gomera, as an escape from the sometimes hectic pace of her travels and busy city life. Being close to Nature is a source of inner strength, bringing fresh awareness of her personal sound cosmos. Reflection and quiet self-assurance, inner and outer peace, have become increasingly important. This feeling infuses her most recent works. Her approach has changed over the last fifteen years, relying on sparser sounds and breaking melodies up into minute components – sometimes reduced to just a few notes or even a single interval. She puts her trust in space and time, purging her writing of all extraneous effects to refine it into "a quest for the essence of music". The results can even sound archaic as the music becomes increasingly meditative in its focus on stillness – possibly positing an alternative to the hectic pace of everyday life. Barbara Heller has so far produced works of great stylistic range and continues to develop as a musician, with plenty of plans for the future…
Her style has evolved constantly, yet her music remains alive as it evokes the eternal flux of existence.
www.barbaraheller.de
Dr. Anne Stegat, 2011
Translation: Julia Rushworth
© 2011 SCHOTT MUSIC GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz
Worklist
Products
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Arriba! - Sturmwind - Seifenblasen - LalaiComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Katharina DesernoEdition: Score and partsSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: violin, cello and pianoProduct number: ED 23322Product TypeAs low as £14.50 -
Composer: Barbara HellerMedia Type: Sheet musicBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 8616£13.99Not in stock, but can be ordered - usually despatched (or ready for collection) within 7 days -
Composer: Barbara HellerMedia Type: E-score PDFBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: clarinet and pianoLanguage: German, EnglishProduct number: ED 23147 Q53189£3.50available for download immediately -
Duet for Viola and PianoComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Peter GeifmannSeries: Edition Schott
Viola Library
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: viola and pianoProduct number: VAB 88Product TypeAs low as £8.50 -
Duet for Violoncello and PianoComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Katharina DesernoSeries: Edition Schott
Cello Library
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: cello and pianoProduct number: CB 265Product TypeAs low as £10.50 -
Composer: Barbara HellerEditor: Eva Rieger | Kaete WalterMedia Type: E-score PDFBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 7197 Q53414£2.99available for download immediately -
for Solo RecorderComposer: Barbara HellerInterpreter: Johannes FischerMedia Type: CDBrand: Wergo
Product number: ALC 51082£12.99Not in stock, but can be ordered - usually despatched (or ready for collection) within 7 days -
for Elke Mascha BlankenburgComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Irith GabrielySeries: Edition Schott
Clarinet Library
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: clarinet in Bb and organProduct number: KLB 99Product TypeAs low as £8.50 -
for Elke Mascha BlankenburgComposer: Barbara HellerSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: organProduct number: ED 21848Product TypeAs low as £7.99 -
Composer: Barbara HellerSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 22945Product TypeAs low as £5.50 -
18 Pieces for Clarinet and PianoEditor: Barbara Heller | Sabine PfeiferMedia Type: Sheet musicSeries: Female Composers
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: clarinet and pianoLanguage: German, EnglishProduct number: ED 23147£27.50Not in stock, but can be ordered - usually despatched (or ready for collection) within 7 days -
Wie eine Taube. LiederzyklusComposer: Barbara HellerSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: soprano and pianoProduct number: ED 9246Product TypeAs low as £13.99 -
A collection of new pieces for pianoMedia Type: Sheet musicBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoLanguage: EnglishProduct number: ED 21470£12.99Not in stock, but can be ordered - usually despatched (or ready for collection) within 7 days -
9 DuetsComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Elisabeth WeinzierlEdition: Performing scoreSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: flute and clarinet in BbProduct number: ED 22017Product TypeAs low as £11.50 -
9 DuetsComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Irith GabrielyEdition: Performing scoreSeries: Edition Schott
Clarinet Library
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: 2 clarinets in BbProduct number: KLB 92Product TypeAs low as £11.99 -
10 Duets for Violin and VioloncelloComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Katharina DesernoEdition: Performing scoreSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: violin and celloProduct number: ED 21839Product TypeAs low as £11.50 -
9 DuetsComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Ulla LevensEdition: Performing scoreSeries: Edition Schott
Violin Library
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: 2 violinsProduct number: VLB 187Product TypeAs low as £13.99 -
9 DuetsComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Ulla LevensEdition: Performing scoreSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: violin and violaProduct number: ED 21825Product TypeAs low as £11.50 -
QuartetComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Christian Muench-CordellierEdition: Score and partsSeries: Edition Schott
Bassoon Library
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: 4 bassoonsProduct number: FAG 33Product TypeAs low as £19.50 -
from: Musical FlowersComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Monika TwelsiekMedia Type: E-score PDFBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 9048 Q12341£1.99available for download immediately -
14 PiecesEditor: Barbara Heller | Eva RiegerMedia Type: Sheet musicSeries: Female Composers
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: cello and pianoProduct number: ED 8628£28.99Not in stock, but can be ordered - usually despatched (or ready for collection) within 7 days -
Piano pieces on Black KeysComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Peter GeisselbrechtBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 22605Product TypeAs low as £15.50 -
13 Pieces for Flute and PianoEditor: Barbara Heller | Elisabeth WeinzierlSeries: Female Composers
Instrumentation: flute and pianoProduct number: ED 9947 Q41271Starting at £3.99 -
13 Pieces for Flute and PianoEditor: Barbara Heller | Elisabeth WeinzierlMedia Type: Sheet musicSeries: Female Composers
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: flute and pianoLanguage: German, EnglishProduct number: ED 9947£28.99In stock - usually despatched (or ready for collection) within 1 working day -
Easy Recital Pieces for PianoComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Veronika NuenemannBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 22606Product TypeAs low as £10.50 -
Composer: Barbara HellerBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: piano (4 hands)Product number: ED 20847Product TypeAs low as £10.50 -
Composer: Barbara HellerSeries: Original Music for Recorder
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: Alto recorderProduct number: OFB 195Product TypeAs low as £8.50 -
50 StudiesComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Irina SchwertfegerSeries: Essential Exercises
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 22874Product TypeAs low as £15.50 -
Composer: Barbara HellerInterpreter: Katharina Deserno | Gesa Luecker | Susanne StoodtOrchestra/ensemble: Verdi QuartettMedia Type: CDBrand: Wergo
Product number: WER 51232£14.99Not in stock, but can be ordered - usually despatched (or ready for collection) within 7 days -
Composer: Barbara HellerEditor: Julien SingerBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: recorder solo or other Melodieinstruments (flute, oboe, clarinet)Product number: ED 9484Product TypeAs low as £15.50 -
Composer: Barbara HellerMedia Type: E-score PDFEdition: Separate editionBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 21439 Q10605£2.99available for download immediately -
Composer: Barbara HellerMedia Type: Sheet musicBrand: Breitkopf & Härtel
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: EB 8665£17.55Supplier out of stock, delivery time unknown -
Composer: Barbara HellerMedia Type: Sheet musicBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 8618£10.99Not in stock, but can be ordered - usually despatched (or ready for collection) within 7 days -
from: Flying Bird – Fliegender Vogel (No. 5)Composer: Barbara HellerMedia Type: E-score PDFBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 23422 Q575150£1.99available for download immediately -
Composer: Barbara HellerSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 8617Product TypeAs low as £9.50 -
18 Pieces for Clarinet and PianoEditor: Barbara Heller | Sabine PfeiferSeries: Female Composers
Instrumentation: clarinet and pianoProduct number: ED 23147 Q53366Starting at £2.99 -
String Quartet No. 2Composer: Barbara HellerEdition: Score and partsSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: string quartetProduct number: ED 20774Product TypeAs low as £25.50 -
Composer: Barbara HellerMedia Type: E-score PDFBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: clarinet and pianoLanguage: German, EnglishProduct number: ED 23147 Q53190£2.99available for download immediately -
A lullaby to awaken you?Composer: Barbara HellerSeries: Edition Schott
Violin Library
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: violin and pianoProduct number: VLB 149Product TypeAs low as £10.50 -
Lullaby to awaken you?Composer: Barbara HellerEditor: Christian Muench-CordellierEdition: Score and partsSeries: Edition Schott
Bassoon Library
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: 4 bassoonsProduct number: FAG 34Product TypeAs low as £12.99 -
A lullaby to awaken you?Composer: Barbara HellerArranger: Tina TernesEdition: PartiturSeries: Edition Schott
Concertino
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: orchestraProduct number: CON 262Product TypeAs low as £11.99 -
A lullaby to awaken you?Composer: Barbara HellerEditor: Marianne BoettcherSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: violin and harpProduct number: ED 20806Product TypeAs low as £10.50 -
Schlaflied zum Wachwerden?Composer: Barbara HellerArranger: Siegfried SchwabEdition: Score and partsSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: speaker, flute, viola, guitar and percussionProduct number: ED 8619Product TypeAs low as £16.50 -
A lullaby to awaken you?Composer: Barbara HellerSeries: Cello Library
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: cello and pianoProduct number: CB 155Product TypeAs low as £9.99 -
Lullaby to awaken you?Composer: Barbara HellerMedia Type: E-score PDFBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: cello and pianoProduct number: ED 22354 Q45620£3.99available for download immediately -
Schlaflied zum Wachwerden?Composer: Barbara HellerMedia Type: E-score PDFBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: violin and pianoProduct number: ED 8132 Q41370£3.99available for download immediately -
A lullaby to awaken you?Composer: Barbara HellerArranger: Tina TernesMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Set of string parts (supplementary), 2 violin 1, 2 violin 2, 1 viola, 1 violoncello, 1 double bassSeries: Concertino
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: orchestraProduct number: CON 262-60£18.99Not in stock, but can be ordered - usually despatched (or ready for collection) within 7 days -
A lullaby to awaken you?Composer: Barbara HellerArranger: Tina TernesMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Set of parts, each flute I, flute II, oboe I, oboe II, clarinet I, clarinet II, bassoon I, bassoon II, horn I, horn II, trumpet I, trumpet II, trombone I, trombone II, 4 violin I, 4 violin II, 2 viola, 2 cello, 2 double bass, timpani, percussionSeries: Concertino
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: orchestraProduct number: CON 262-50£70.99Not in stock, but can be ordered - usually despatched (or ready for collection) within 7 days -
Duo für Trompete und KlavierComposer: Barbara HellerMedia Type: Sheet musicSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: trumpet in Bb and pianoProduct number: TR 34£15.50In preparation, not yet available -
5 MiniaturesComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Julien SingerSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: oboe (flute, treble recorder) or other wind instruments soloProduct number: ED 21054Product TypeAs low as £8.50