Preface

Summary

Es gibt nur ein einziges Mittel.

Gehen Sie in sich.

Erforschen Sie den Grund, der Sie schreiben heißt …

gestehen Sie sich ein, ob Sie sterben müßten

wenn es Ihnen versagt würde zu schreiben.

[There is only one way. Go within yourself. Examine the source which drives you to write … admit to yourself whether you would die if you were forbidden to write.]

—Rainer Maria Rilke, Briefe an einen jungen Dichter

Anton Heiller died thirty years ago. Already his name is receding inexorably into the realm of music history. His organ works are played, his choral compositions sung, the scores of his music are readily available, some of his students still teach—but for the younger generation his name is relegated to history. In Austria, where he lived and worked throughout his whole life, he is known today primarily as a composer. In addition, music lovers around the world remember him as an organist of note who, thirty or forty years ago, shaped our concept of how to play the music of Bach. As we live in the era of LP recordings and CDs, and also have access to a number of private recordings on tape or cassette, we can still study his manner of playing and marvel at his improvisations.

The fact that Heiller once belonged to the avant-garde of church music, that he was very successful as a conductor (including the performance of great symphonic works), that he was a specialist in the interpretation of contemporary music and acted as an adviser for countless organ building projects, all these are things the younger and not-so-young generation is no longer aware of. A complete portrait that examines every facet of this musician does not exist as yet, and will be attempted here.

For a variety of reasons the lack of information on the activities of the young Anton Heiller and the amazing density of his achievements in the period between 1954 and 1960 awakened my interest and eventually gave my book a special impetus; the examination of his “early” and “early to middle” years has become something of a focal point.