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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8 MiniaturesComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Marianne Boettcher | Ulla LevensSeries: Edition Schott
Violin Library
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: violin (viola) soloProduct number: VLB 151Product TypeAs low as £10.50 -
Composer: John Cage | Claude Debussy | Morton Feldman | Sofia Gubaidulina | Josef Matthias Hauer | Barbara Heller | Paul Hindemith | György Ligeti | Conlon Nancarrow | Andreas F. Raseghi | Maurice Ravel | Joaquín Rodrigo | Enjott Schneider | Arnold Schoenberg | Erwin Schulhoff | Heinrich Sutermeister | Pēteris Vasks | André Volkonsky | Xiaogang Ye | Bernd Alois ZimmermannMedia Type: CDBrand: Wergo
Product number: WER 66002£3.99Not in stock, but can be ordered - usually despatched (or ready for collection) within 7 days -
17 Pieces for HarpComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Domenica ReetzSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: harpProduct number: ED 21020Product TypeAs low as £10.50 -
14 Pieces for Violin and HarpComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Marianne BoettcherSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: violin and harpProduct number: ED 21021Product TypeAs low as £13.99 -
14 Pieces for Flute or clarinet and PianoComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Lynn ElmsSeries: Edition Schott
Il Flauto traverso
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: flute (clarinet in Bb) and pianoProduct number: FTR 208Product TypeAs low as £14.50 -
25 Piano piecesComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Isolde Weiermueller-BackesSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 20374Product TypeAs low as £13.99 -
14 Pieces for Violin (Viola) and PianoComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Ulla LevensSeries: Edition Schott
Violin Library
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: violin (viola) and pianoProduct number: VLB 136Product TypeAs low as £15.50 -
Composer: Barbara HellerSeries: Edition Schott
Viola Library
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: violaProduct number: VAB 56Product TypeAs low as £11.50 -
Composer: Barbara HellerMedia Type: E-score PDFBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: organLanguage: German, EnglishProduct number: ED 9741 Q41351£2.99available for download immediately -
22 Organ Pieces from the 19th and 20th CenturyEditor: Barbara Heller | Lucia SchnellbacherMedia Type: Sheet musicSeries: Female Composers
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: organLanguage: German, EnglishProduct number: ED 9741£28.99In stock - usually despatched (or ready for collection) within 1 working day -
22 Organ Pieces from the 19th and 20th CenturyEditor: Barbara Heller | Lucia SchnellbacherSeries: Female Composers
Instrumentation: organProduct number: ED 9741 GP16870Starting at £1.99 -
(1993)Composer: Barbara HellerMedia Type: E-score PDFBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: flute and pianoLanguage: German, EnglishProduct number: ED 9947 Q41280£3.50available for download immediately -
Composer: Barbara HellerEditor: Heinz GirschweilerEdition: PartiturSeries: Edition Schott
Concertino
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: string orchestraProduct number: CON 264Product TypeAs low as £11.50 -
String Quartet No. 3Composer: Barbara HellerEdition: Score and partsSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: string quartetProduct number: ED 20775Product TypeAs low as £25.50 -
Composer: Barbara HellerEditor: Heinz GirschweilerMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Set of parts, 5 Violin 1, 5 Violin 2, 3 Viola, 3 Violoncello, 2 Double BassSeries: Edition Schott
Concertino
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: string orchestraProduct number: CON 264-70£70.99Not 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: organLanguage: German, EnglishProduct number: ED 9741 Q41350£1.99available for download immediately -
Composer: Barbara HellerEditor: Eva Rieger | Eva Rieger | Kaete WalterMedia Type: E-score PDFBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 7197 Q53413£1.99available for download immediately -
Composer: Barbara HellerEditor: Monika TwelsiekMedia Type: E-score PDFBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 9055 Q19933£1.99available for download immediately -
with Notes for Teaching by Monika ThieryComposer: Barbara HellerMedia Type: Sheet musicBrand: Breitkopf & Härtel
Instrumentation: pianoLanguage: German, EnglishProduct number: EB 8749£15.21Supplier out of stock, delivery time unknown -
from: Musical Flowers No. 2Composer: Barbara HellerArranger: Wolfgang BirtelMedia Type: E-score PDFBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: violin and pianoProduct number: ED 21561 Q18239£2.99available for download immediately -
from Musical Flowers No. 13Composer: Barbara HellerArranger: Wolfgang BirtelMedia Type: E-score PDFBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: violin and pianoProduct number: ED 21561 Q18238£2.99available for download immediately -
Composer: Barbara HellerSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: PianoProduct number: ED 8620Product TypeAs low as £11.50 -
Composer: Barbara HellerInterpreter: Deborah RichardsMedia Type: CDBrand: Wergo
Product number: WER 66102£14.99Not in stock, but can be ordered - usually despatched (or ready for collection) within 7 days -
Composer: Barbara HellerSeries: Edition Schott
Violin Library
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: violinProduct number: VLB 90Product TypeAs low as £10.50 -
Composer: Barbara HellerSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 20858Product TypeAs low as £10.50 -
Vol. 2: Nr. 38-76 | 76 Piano PiecesProduct TypeAs low as £13.99
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Vol. 1: Nr. 1-37 | 76 Piano PiecesProduct TypeAs low as £11.50
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14 Pieces for Cello soloComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Dorothea von Albrecht | Hertha Rosa-HerseniSeries: Edition Schott
Cello Library
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: celloProduct number: CB 199Product TypeAs low as £11.50 -
Composer: Barbara HellerMedia Type: E-score PDFBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 22276 Q41747£3.50available for download immediately -
Composer: Barbara HellerSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 8693Product TypeAs low as £12.99 -
13 PiecesEditor: Barbara Heller | Eva RiegerMedia Type: Sheet musicSeries: Female Composers
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: violin and pianoProduct number: ED 8132£33.99In stock - usually despatched (or ready for collection) within 1 working day -
13 PiecesEditor: Barbara Heller | Eva RiegerSeries: Female Composers
Instrumentation: violin and pianoProduct number: ED 8132 Q41358Starting at £2.99 -
Composer: Barbara HellerEditor: Tobias SchabenbergerMedia Type: Sheet musicBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 9917£18.99Not 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: sopranorecorder (tenorrecorder) and pianoProduct number: ED 23555D Q576300£2.99available for download immediately -
from: Waltzes for Every DayComposer: Barbara HellerEditor: Monika TwelsiekMedia Type: E-score PDFBrand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 9047 Q13217£1.99available for download immediately -
Composer: Barbara HellerSeries: Edition Schott
Brand: Schott Music
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 9918Product TypeAs low as £10.50