Hauschka

As Hauschka, the award-winning composer and producer Volker Bertelmann explores experimental avenues in his work without restraint. Across numerous projects he updates the prepared piano—a method originating in the late 19th century that places objects between strings or on hammers—for contemporary audiences. His output references the pioneers of this approach, among them Erik Satie and John Cage, while also recalling early keyboard compositions by Philip Glass, Terry Riley, and Steve Reich, and at times evoking the flowing patterns of gamelan. Initial releases such as 2005’s The Prepared Piano centered on the instrument’s singular timbre, yet his scope broadened thereafter. House and techno informed 2011’s Salon des Amateurs, hip-hop rhythms and rapid player-piano lines shaped 2017’s What If, and purely acoustic piano yielded the tranquil pieces of 2019’s A Different Forest. Although Bertelmann’s profile as a composer under his own name rose through endeavors that included his Oscar-winning minimalist score for 2022’s All Quiet on the Western Front, the 2023 album Philanthropy underscored the continuing inventive reach of his Hauschka material.

Volker Bertelmann’s early years in the village of Ferndorf, spent within a large family, laid the groundwork for the eclectic palette later associated with Hauschka. Piano lessons began at age nine through performances at local church services; during adolescence he joined rock groups while continuing classical study. After relocating to Cologne for training in medicine and business economics, he turned to television composition and ultimately committed to music as a full-time pursuit. In 1992 Bertelmann and his cousin launched the hip-hop duo God’s Favorite Dog, which issued an album together with the singles “Love and Pain” and “Sway” before parting ways in 1995.

A period away from music followed, yet composition resumed once he settled in Düsseldorf. Reconnecting with classical foundations and adopting the name of composer Vincenz Hauschka for the project, he pursued prepared-piano experiments and joined Karaoke Kalk, the label behind 2004’s Substantial and the subsequent year’s The Prepared Piano. The What a Day EP surfaced in 2006; Room to Expand and the remix set Versions of the Prepared Piano appeared in 2007. Signing with FatCat’s 130701 imprint, Bertelmann issued 2008’s Ferndorf—an homage to his birthplace scored for string duo that elevated his visibility—while the 2009 EP Snowflakes and Car Wrecks extended the ensemble format and the limited-edition Small Pieces sold exclusively at concerts. Around the same time, opportunities to score independent German films became regular.

Two further albums expanded Hauschka’s range: the 2010 collaboration Foreign Landscapes with San Francisco’s Magik Magik Orchestra and 2011’s Salon des Amateurs, a propulsive tribute to house and techno featuring members of Calexico and Múm alongside violinist Hilary Hahn and former Kronos Quartet cellist Jeffrey Zeigler. A remix collection soon followed, incorporating reworkings by Michael Mayer and Matthew Herbert. Dance-music explorations continued on the 2011 Youyoume EP, while the Pan Tone EP paired Bertelmann with Hildur Guðnadóttir on ocean-color-inspired pieces.

Reuniting with Hahn, he recorded 2012’s Silfra, a set of improvisations drawn from Iceland’s Silfra rift and released on Deutsche Grammophon; that year also brought the score for Doris Dörrie’s film Glück. On 2014’s Abandoned City Bertelmann returned to solo piano for the first time in nearly a decade, employing abandoned settlements worldwide as metaphors for the “sense of hope and sadness” he associates with composition. 2015 yielded the outtakes-and-remixes collection A NDO C Y as well as the live album 2.11.14, and included a residency at the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra that produced three new works, one of them a collaboration with Múm.

Additional dance scores followed, among them Swan of Tuonela, created with Finnish circus performer Ville Walo. Film work encompassed 2015’s The Boy and the 2016 releases In Dubious Battle and Lion, the last of these a joint effort with Dustin O’Halloran that received Golden Globe, Academy Award, and BAFTA nominations. Hauschka’s eighth album, What If, appeared in 2017; conceived around speculations on future life, it incorporated a Roland Jupiter synth, an Eventide H3000 Harmonizer, and player piano alongside prepared piano to produce a sound influenced by science-fiction and hip-hop.

Under his own name, 2018 scoring assignments included Adrift, The Current War (another reunion with O’Halloran), and BAFTA-nominated music for Edward Berger’s Patrick Melrose, plus dance pieces staged by the Royal Swedish Ballet and Germany’s Bundeskunsthalle Bonn. For Hauschka’s 2019 Sony Classical debut A Different Forest, unadorned piano conveyed the enduring, restorative qualities of nature and the duty to safeguard it; that same year he assembled a sample library documenting his signature prepared-piano sounds.

Entering the 2020s Bertelmann remained in high demand as a composer. Scores for 2020 productions such as Summerland joined further collaborations with O’Halloran on The Old Guard, A Christmas Carol, and Ammonite. The 2021 Upstream soundtrack adopted a darker, more experimental stance that integrated prepared piano, cello, sound effects, and synthesizer, together with contributions from poet Robert MacFarlane. In 2022 he composed for War Sailor and for Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front, the latter earning the Oscar for Best Original Score and the BAFTA Award for Best Original Music. October 2023 brought the first Hauschka album in four years; recorded largely alone in his studio, Philanthropy featured cellist Laura Wiek, violinist Karina Buschinger, and Múm drummer Samuli Kosminen across tracks that ranged from playful to somber. Later that year Bertelmann again partnered with Berger, this time on the score for the thriller Conclave.