Gerhard Habl
*5 August 1948
Works by Gerhard Habl
Biography
Born in Vienna in 1948, he started piano lessons at age 7 and later studied compositions with Prof. Emmy Zopf (back then Conservatory of the City of Vienna, pupil of Eugen d’Albert). After his school leaving examination (1966) and military service he pursued his musical education further with Prof. Werkner (back then College for Music and Performing Arts) and conductor Norbert Strolz; at the same time, he studied Law and gained his doctorate in 1971. He pursued a career as a Judge, which culminated in a promotion to the Supreme Court of Austria in 1997.
His first Period of composition until 1974 was followed by a time of “musical abstinence” and a career in Law, the second Period of composition started in 2005. While he has two places of residence in Vienna and Lower Austria, he mostly works in his “House of composition” in Grünau in the Pielachtal. In 2012 he presented a CD (Label Gramola), followed by concerts in the Wiener Musikverein and Konzerthaus (Vienna) as well as other countries. First experiences as organiser of classical concerts, founder and artistic director of the “PCC- Pielachtaler Classic Concerts” in 2017.
Member of INÖK (community of interests Lower Austrian composers) and of "Austrian Composers Association".
Award of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art by the Austrian Federal President Van der Bellen (2024).
About the music
My music is not restricted to a particular style, underlying tendency to fuse a free tonality with the different currents of the 20. Century to create a tonal language capable of expressing topics comprehensibly. Some compositions are imbued with symbolism.
