Biography
Beginning his life in China, Blacher pursued musical studies in Irkutsk, Siberia, and Harbin before relocating to Berlin, where he trained under Koch while also examining musicology at the Berlin University. Nazi authorities grouped him with other “degenerate” artists whose modernist tendencies drew official rebuke, compelling him to earn a living through teaching posts at the Dresden Conservatory and the Hochschule für Musik in West Berlin. His scores stand out for their fresh rhythmic drive, exacting instrumentation, command of timbre, and tightly structured fabric, employing a free, dissonant counterpoint whose lines unfold through rhythmic development. To govern this flow he introduced a method of “variable meters” sequenced by mathematical progressions, a technique that proved especially effective in his ballet scores, widely regarded as his most accomplished works. Many of these compositions carry an undercurrent of irony and satire while deliberately turning away from the expansive gestures of nineteenth-century music; the approach has prompted comparisons with Stravinsky, whose example clearly shaped Blacher’s thinking. In addition, he supplied librettos for several of his own pieces and for works by fellow composers.