Breier, Albert

Born in 1961 in Paderborn. Early piano lessons and first attempts at composition. 1979–1987: Study years in Cologne, Hamburg, Lübeck, and Vienna: composition, piano, philosophy, musicology. In 1984, he participated in the Darmstadt Summer Courses, where he was influenced by the music of Morton Feldman. Since 1993, he has moved to Berlin, performing as a pianist and releasing CDs. He has studied classical Chinese landscape painting in depth, particularly its temporal structure. Relatedly, he has explored broader cultural theory. He has continued his studies of 15th-century vocal polyphony, which he had begun in Cologne, particularly the music of Johannes Ockeghem. He has studied the musical traditions of Russia and Georgia, and has composed numerous chamber music works. Since 1998, he has developed and practically tested a new method of notation. The book "The Time of Seeing and the Space of Hearing: An Essay on Chinese Painting and European Music" was published in 2002. He works as an essayist and reviewer; gives lectures. Vocal music, especially for a cappella choir, and orchestral works. In 2013, he received a scholarship from the German Academy Villa Massimo at the Casa Baldi. In 2014, he published two books: "Number and Morality. A Draft" and "Walter Zimmermann. Nomad in Time." Currently working on orchestral and chamber music, as well as on book projects on German poetry of the first half of the 20th century and on Leoš Janáček.