Thomas Larcher

Education, work as a pianist

Thomas Larcher completed his studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna under Heinz Medjimorec and Elisabeth Leonskaja (piano), and Erich Urbanner (composition). He became well known as a pianist whilst at university, focusing particularly in the area of contemporary music.

Larcher has performed under conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Dennis Russell Davies and Franz Welser-Möst, and worked closely with composers such as Heinz Holliger, Olga Neuwirth and Isabel Mundry. He is also active in the sphere of music festivals: he founded the “Sound Traces/Klangspuren” festival (which he ran from 1993 to 2004) and the “Music in the Giant/Musik im Riesen” festival, which he has been running since 2004.

Work as a composer

For some years now, Larcher has dedicated himself primarily to composing and is today considered one of the leading composers of contemporary classical music in Austria. His early works (including “Naunz”, “Cold Farmer” and “Kraken”) are scored almost exclusively for piano and chamber orchestra. In recent years, his oeuvre has also encompassed, alongside chamber music (String Quartets 2 and 3, “My Illness is the Medicine I Need”), more compositions for orchestra and ensemble, as well as works for soloist and orchestra (e.g. “Böse Zellen”, “Die Nacht der Verlorenen”).

Larcher has written numerous compositions for internationally renowned soloists and ensembles such as the London Sinfonietta, the Artemis Quartet, Heinrich Schiff, Matthias Goerne, Till Fellner, the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Vienna and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. He has been commissioned by the Lucerne Festival, London’s Southbank Centre and Wigmore Hall, and the Zaterdagsmatinee in Amsterdam.

Selected works

Thomas Larcher's works are published by Schott Music.

Orchestral works

Red and Green for big orchestra (2010)

Orchestral works with solo instrument

Still for viola and chamber orchestra (2002, revised 2004)

Hier, heute (Here, Today) for violoncello, orchestra and CD (2005)

Böse Zellen for piano and orchestra (2006, revised 2007)

Concerto for violin and orchestra (2008–2009)

Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra (2011)

Ensemble works

Nocturne – Insomnia (2008)

Chamber music

Cold Farmer, String Quartet No. 1 (1990)

Kraken for violin, cello and piano (1994–1997)

Vier Seiten for cello (1997)

IXXU, String Quartet No. 2 (1998–2004)

Mumien (Mummies) for cello and piano (2001)

Fasern for clarinet, cello and piano (2006)

Madhares, String Quartet No. 3 (2006–2007)

Sonata for violoncello (2007)

Piano

Klavierstück 1986 (Piano Piece 1986)

Naunz (1989)

Noodivihik (1992)

Antennen-Requiem für H. (Antennae Requiem for H.) (1999)

Smart Dust (2005)

What Becomes/Was wird (2009)

Poems, 12 pieces for pianists and other children (2009)

Vocal

My Illness Is the Medicine I Need for soprano, violin, cello and piano (2002)

Heute (Today) for soprano and orchestra (2005–2006)

Böhmen liegt am Meer for baritone, clarinet, violin, cello and piano (2008)

Die Nacht der Verlorenen for baritone and ensemble (2008)

Selected discography

CDs with music by Thomas Larcher

Naunz (ECM, 2001)

IXXU Thomas Larcher with Rosamunde Quartett, Christoph Poppen, Thomas Demenga, Andrea Lauren Brown (ECM, 2006) (Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik)

CDs with Thomas Larcher as interpreter

Arnold Schönberg, Franz Schubert: Piano Pieces/Klavierstücke (ECM, 1999)

Awards

Choc du Monde de la Musique

Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Record Critics Award), Quarterly Critics’ Choice 4/2006

Editor’s Choice (Gramophone (magazine))