Stillness as Vanishing Point
On Hans Ulrich Lehmann’s Recent Creation
Michelle Ziegler
Although rarely present on public view, Hans Ulrich Lehmann has produced a remarkable compositional oeuvre, in which many original musical strategies are brought into play. The work has known a recent flowering due, in part, to the reduction of Lehmann’s countless administrative, political and pedagogical obligations – especially his departure from the post of headmaster of the Zürich Musikhochschule in 1998, which set free his compositional energy. Michelle Ziegler offers here a sketch of the important moments of Lehmann’s creative period during the last years and analyses new works such as Silences (2007/8), the Voyages aux îles des vestiges (2008/09) or the Book of Songs (1998).
