Wolfgang Florey, born in Salzburg in 1945, studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Vienna Academy of Music, and the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre. In 1961, he initiated a series of church music concerts in his hometown of Salzburg, which he also directed until 1965. In Hamburg in 1968, he and colleagues founded the group Hinz&Kunst, which initially focused on ‘free improvisation’ but soon began to explore the possibilities of collective composition. New forms of music mediation and the abolition of the division of labor between composer and performer were also tried out. The ensemble soon developed a lively international concert activity, appeared at numerous festivals, and received the German Record Prize in 1976 and the Jury Prize of the International Composers' Seminar in Boswil (Switzerland) in 1979. Hans Werner Henze wrote several works for Hinz&Kunst and invited the ensemble to his Cantiere internazionale d'arte in Montepulciano, Tuscany. From 1968 onwards, Florey was also involved in student politics and in 1972 was elected secretary of the culture project area in the Association of German Students . After completing his studies, he was offered a teaching position at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre in the subjects of violoncello, methodology and didactics of instrumental teaching. From 1980 onwards, Florey worked continuously for the small Viennese Theater Gruppe 80 and in 1983 became musical director of the newly founded ensemble of the Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen, with which he remained associated until 1991. Since then, Florey has worked as a freelance composer. He has written nearly a hundred stage scores and music for over forty radio plays. In addition, and in the years that followed, he wrote numerous compositions for the concert hall and a series of music-theater works. Like many of his generation, his artistic development is caught between the conflicting forces of music and politics. That is why he feels particularly committed to the spoken word and the performing arts.

www.florey.de

Prärie (1993)

Libretto by Bertold Brecht after Hamsun
Chamber Opera for six singers and small orchestra

World premiere: 21 November 1993, Volkstheater Rostock 

Perusal score

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