Paul Sacher (L) – Willy Burkhard (R). -Two leading lights in Swiss Music

Back to the Swiss Radio Archives tonight for a performance of Die Schwarze Spinne – Suite by Will Burkhard, performed by the Basel Radio Orchestra, conducted by Paul Sacher from a broadcast of May 16, 1955.

Composer and Professor Willy Burkhard published 98 works with Opus numbers, and left a large amount of unpublished works held as manuscripts by the Paul Sacher Foundation (de). He began to compose in late-Romantic style. His personal style developed from 1930, comparable to Paul Hindemith and Frank Martin. Late in life, he used some features of twelve-tone composition, but remained within tonality. He was interested to compose for voices, and regarded for renovated sacred music.[2]

Burkhard is known for sacred choral music, including oratorios Das Gesicht Jesajas (Isaiah‘s vision) and Das Jahr (The year), and the cantata Die Sintflut (The Flood). He composed an opera, Die Schwarze Spinne based on Gotthelf‘s novella The Black Spider. He wrote song settings for solo voice and choirs, chamber music and piano works. His orchestral music was often dedicated to Paul Sacher‘s Sinfonietta, including a Violin Concerto, and two symphonies.

Paul Sacher, a modest, thoughtful man, was surely the most bountiful and discriminating patron of music in the 20th century. In all, he comissioned over 200 works, including, apart from those listed above, scores by such composers as B. Bartók (String Quartet No. 6), Harrison Birtwistle, Benjamin Britten, Elliott Carter, Henri Dutilleux, Hans Werner Henze, Paul Hindemith, A. Honegger (many other works), Witold Lutoslawski (Sacher Variation, Double Concerto, Chain 2, etc.), Frank Martin (six works, including the Petite Symphonie Concertante), Bohuslav Martinů (many works including Doubleconcerto, Concerto da camera etc.), and Richard Strauss. P. Boulez‘s Messagesquisse was one of a number of pieces written in order to celebrate Sacher’s 70th birthday and which includes the Sacher hexachord (Eb=Es A C B=H E D=Re). Many of these works received their premieres under his direction.

Now you know – press play and enjoy.

And while you’re enjoying. . .