“Rhythms thrown off balance, microtonal disruptions, melodic distortions – Arnulf Herrmann, born in 1968, is a master of shaping fractured and unstable textures. His music often unfolds through processes of transformation, in which previously established models are gradually altered in ways that can be clearly perceived and traced by the listener.
This is particularly striking in works that explore anxiety and extreme psychological states, such as the music-theatre work Wasser, premiered at the Munich Biennale in 2012, and the opera Der Mieter, based on the novel by Roland Topor. Yet laconic humour and grotesque sound worlds are equally at home in his music.
Both operas – as well as his orchestral and ensemble works more broadly – reveal Herrmann’s virtuosic command of orchestral writing and his ability to create vivid and highly differentiated instrumental textures. Another defining feature of Arnulf Herrmann’s work is the breadth of genres he engages with as a composer. His catalogue ranges from solo and chamber music to ensemble works, dance, orchestral music and opera. His assured use of contemporary technologies further reflects his ongoing search for new perspectives, tools and approaches within his compositional practice.” Markus Böggemann