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HK Gruber

Composer, Chansonnier, Conductor

  • Composer, conductor and chansonnier, HK Gruber was born in Vienna in 1943 and sang with the Vienna Boys’ Choir as a child, going on to study at the Vienna Hochschule für Musik. In 1961 he began playing double bass with Ensemble die reihe and from 1969 to 1998 in the Radio Symphonieorchester Wien. Gruber first began performing as a singer/actor with the ‘MOB art and tone ART’ ensemble which he co-founded in 1968 with fellow Viennese composers Kurt Schwertsik and Otto Zykan. Composing in his own highly individual style, his music is performed internationally by the world’s leading artists and orchestras. Gruber was awarded Austria’s most prestigious cultural prize the 2002 Greater Austria State Prize, and in 2009 was announced as an Honorary Member of the Wiener Konzerthaus, following a great tradition of musicians to also receive this accolade, including Igor Stravinsky, Pierre Boulez, Leonard Bernstein and Claudio Abbado. Gruber is an Honorary Lifetime Trustee of the Kurt Weill Foundation. 

  • Der Komponist, Dirigent und Chansonnier HK Gruber wurde 1943 in Wien geboren und sang im Kindesalter bei den Wiener Sängerknaben bevor er an der Wiener Hochschule für Musik studierte. Ab 1961 spiele er als Kontrabassist im Ensemble die reihe und von 1969 bis 1998 im Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien. Gruber begann seine Karriere als Sänger und Schauspieler mit dem MOB Art & Tone ART Ensemble, das er 1968 mit seinen Wiener Komponistenkollegen Kurt Schwertsik und Otto Zykan gründete. Er pflegt einen höchst individuellen Kompositionsstil und seine Musik wird weltweit von führenden Künstlern und Orchestern aufgeführt. Gruber wurde mit Österreichs renommiertestem Kulturpreis bedacht, dem Großen Österreichischen Staatspreis von 2002. 2009 wurde er zum Ehrenmitglied des Wiener Konzerthauses ernannt, wodurch er sich in eine großartige Reihe bedeutender Musiker einreiht, denen ebenfalls diese Ehre zu Teil wurde, wie zum Beispiel Igor Strawinski, Pierre Boulez, Leonard Bernstein oder Claudio Abbado. Gruber ist ein lebenslanges Ehrenmitglied des Vorstandes der Kurt Weill Foundation.

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  • Gruber’s compositions have been written for and performed by the foremost orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Berliner Philharmoniker and at Lucerne Festival, Carnegie Hall and BBC Proms. Gruber is particularly noted for his concertos, including Aerial for trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger, which has received over 60 performances, the Cello Concerto written for Yo-Yo Ma and premiered at Tanglewood in 1989, his percussion concertos Rough Music and Into the Open premiered by Colin Currie in 2015, and his Piano Concerto for Emanuel Ax which was co-commissioned by New York Philharmonic, Berliner Philharmoniker, Royal Concertgebouw and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic. His orchestral scores include Dancing in the Dark, premiered by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle in 2003, and his operas include Geschichten aus dem Wiener Wald (Tales from the Vienna Woods), premiered at the Bregenz Festival in 2014. Gruber’s most recent orchestral work, Short Stories from the Vienna Woods, was co-commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Leipzig Gewandhausorchester and premiered in 2022.  
     
    An active conductor with many major international orchestras, highlights of Gruber’s conducting career include engagements with the Vienna Philharmonic, Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic and he was Composer/Conductor with the BBC Philharmonic from 2009-2015.  
     
    Gruber has performed extensively as chansonnier, most notably in Frankenstein!!, his most popular work which he premiered with Sir Simon Rattle and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in 1978 and has received more than 600 performances around the world. He has also performed and recorded as chansonnier in the works of Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler as well as Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon and Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King
     
    Highlights of the 2023/24 season include conducting the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra in an all-Gruber portrait concert at the Vienna Konzerthaus, and a portrait weekend with the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Mainz including concerts conducted by Gruber, a Weill-Eisler song evening and an open workshop.  Gruber returns to the Ensemble Modern for a new programme of works by Hindemith, Korngold, Schonberg and Weill, performing in Frankfurt, Houston and at Carnegie Hall. As Chansonnier, he performs a Weill-Eisler song evening with Kirill Gerstein at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and appears with the Munich Chamber Orchestra in Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon.  
     
    Gruber’s discography encompasses a wide range of repertoire including his own music on the BIS and Chandos labels, music by Brett Dean for BIS and works by Kurt Schwertsik with the BBC Philharmonic for Chandos. His recording of von Einem’s Der Prozess with the Vienna Radio Symphony was awarded the prestigious Diapason d'Or and Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik in 2019. His most recent release of Weill Symphonies with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra on BIS has received wide-spread critical acclaim, with the New York Times describing Gruber as “a standard-setting interpreter of Weill’s music”.

    The works of HK Gruber are published by Boosey & Hawkes.

    2023/24 season / 637 words. Not to be altered without permission from Intermusica Artists' Management.


  • Grubers Werke sind von den renommiertesten Orchestern beauftragt und gespielt worden, darunter die Wiener Philharmoniker, das New York Philharmonic und die Berliner Philharmoniker, und wurden u.a. am Lucerne Festival, in der Carnegie Hall, und bei den BBC Proms aufgeführt. Er ist besonders bekannt für seine Instrumentalkonzerte, darunter: Aerial für den Trompeter Håkan Hardenberger, das über sechzig Aufführungen erfahren hat; zwei Konzerte für den Geiger Ernst Kovacic; das Cellokonzert für Yo-Yo Ma, welches dieser 1989 in Tanglewood erstaufführte; Busking für Trompete, Akkordeon, Banjo und Streichorchester, uraufgeführt von Hardenberger im Jahr 2008; sowie die Schlagzeugkonzerte Rough Music und into the open..., uraufgeführt von Colin Currie im Jahre 2015. Zu seinen Orchesterkompositionen gehört auch Dancing in the Dark, welches die Wiener Philharmoniker 2003 unter Sir Simon Rattle uraufführten. Zu Grubers jüngsten Werken zählt die Oper Geschichten aus dem Wiener Wald, die bei den Bregenzer Festspielen 2014 ihre Premiere erfahren hat, sowie ein neues Klavierkonzert für Emanuel Ax, ein gemeinschaftlicher Auftrag des New York Philharmonic, der Berliner Philharmoniker, des Concertgebouw-Orchesters und des Königlichen Philharmonischen Orchesters Stockholm.


    Als aktiver Dirigent tritt Gruber mit vielen großen internationalen Orchestern auf. Zu den Höhepunkten seiner Dirigentenkarriere zählen Engagements bei den Wiener Philharmonikern, dem Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, dem Philharmonia Orchestra London, sowie beim Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Königlichen Philharmonischen Orchester Stockholm, Cleveland Orchestra, und Los Angeles Philharmonic. Er hatte zudem von 2009 bis 2015 die Position des Composer/Conductor beim BBC Philharmonic Orchestra inne.


    Gruber tritt häufig als Chansonnier in Erscheinung, besonders beachtenswert in Frankenstein!!, seinem populärsten Werk, das seit seiner Weltpremiere 1978 mit Gruber, Sir Simon Rattle und dem Royal Liverpool Philharmonic mehr als 600 Aufführungen auf der ganzen Welt erfahren hat. Darüber hinaus hat er als Chansonnier Werke von Kurt Weill und Hanns Eisler, sowie Schönbergs Pierrot Lunaire und Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King aufgeführt und im Studio aufgenommen.


    In einem der großen Highlights der Saison 2018/19 dirigiert Gruber das Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien in einer Konzertaufführung von Gottfried von Einem's Oper Der Prozess an den Salzburger Festspielen. Das Konzert markiert den 100. Geburtstag von Einem, bei dem Gruber einst Komposition studierte. Des Weiteren erfährt Frankenstein!! in seiner 40. Saison mehrfache Aufführung unter Gruber, darunter mit den Wiener Symphonikern, dem Mozarteum Orchester, dem Münchener Kammerorchester, dem Schwedischen Kammerorchester und dem Avanti! Kammerorchester. Grubers Musik wird zudem von vielen führenden Orchestern aufgeführt, darunter Aerial von Håkan Hardenberger und dem Boston Symphony unter Nelsons, Charivari vom Hongkong Philharmonic unter Christian Schumann und Busking vom Scottish Chamber Orchestra unter Storgårds.


    In Grubers jüngsten CD-Aufnahmen dirigiert er das Schwedische Kammerorchester in Werken von Brett Dean für das Label BIS, sowie das BBC Philharmonic in Werken seines österreichischen Komponistenkollegen Kurt Schwertsik für das Label Chandos. Gruber hat zudem eine Reihe seiner eigenen Werke für Chandos und BIS eingespielt.

    Die Werke von HK Gruber erscheinen bei Boosey & Hawkes.

    HK Gruber wird von Intermusica vertreten.

    Saison 2018/19 / 646 Worte. Keine Änderungen ohne Genehmigung.

Performances

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Livestreams & Broadcasts

Swedish Chamber Orchestra | April 2021
Weill: Der Silbersee: I.1a: Overture
Weill: Symphony No.1 'Berliner Sinfonie'
Weill: Symphony No.2
Weill: Der Silbersee: I.3: "Der Bäkker bäckt ums Morgenrot"
Weill: Der Silbersee: Lied des Lotterieverkäufers
HK Gruber (conductor&chansonnier)
Click here to watch on YouTube


Boston Symphony Orchestra | January 2022
HK Gruber: Short Stories from the Vienna Woods
Click here to listen on Classical Radio Boston

Conducting Programmes

Gruber has conducted many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, New World Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchester, Baltimore Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and was Composer/Conductor with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra 2009-2015.


Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France / Anne Sofie von Otter
Weill Kleine Dreigroschenmusik
Weill Songs
Weill Seven Deadly Sins


Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Antheil A Jazz Symphony
Gruber Rough Music
Bernstein On the Waterfront: Suite
Stravinsky The Firebird Suite (1919)


Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Antheil A Jazz Symphony
Cerha Five pieces from Wiener Kaleidoskop
Stravinsky Violin Concerto in D Major
Gruber Frankenstein!!
Bernstein Prelude, Fugue & Riffs


Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Stravinsky Feu d'artifice, op.4
Hindemith Ragtime (wohltemperiert)
Antheil A Jazz Symphony
Stravinsky Tango
Bernstein Prelude, Fugue & Riffs
Strauss, J. II Perpetuum Mobile
Gruber Charivari
Stravinsky Scherzo à la Russe
Weill Filmscene from 'Royal Palace'
Weill Overture to 'Silbersee'
Weill Berlin im Licht; Live, Love and Laughter; Lied der Jenny; Speak Low


BBC Philharmonic
HK Gruber Northwind Pictures
Schwertsik Nachtmusiken Op.104
Stravinsky Oedipus Rex (soloists: Ian Bostridge, Angelika Kirchschlager)


BBC Philharmonic
MacMillan The Sacrifice: Three Interludes
Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
HK Gruber Dancing in the Dark
Bernstein Overture and Dances from On the Town


Strasbourg Philharmonic
Gruber Charivari
Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
Adams Slonimsky's Earbox
Stravinsky Le Chant du rossignol


Bamberg Symphony Orchestra
Stravinsky Feu d’artifice, Op.4
Weill Schlaraffenland-Song
Weill Lied des Lotterieverkäufers
Weill Overture to Der Silbersee
Weill Der Bäkker bäckt ums Morgenrot
Weill The Pimp’s Ballad
Weill Speak Low
Gershwin Cuban Overture
Debussy Feux d’artifice
Gershwin I Got Rhythm
Gershwin Shall We Dance
Bernstein Somewhere from West Side Story
Bernstein Overture to Candide


Essen Philharmonic
HK Gruber Charivari
J. Strauss II Perpetuum mobile
Milhaud Le Boeuf sur le Toit
Antheil A Jazz Symphony
Shostakovich Suite for Jazz Orchestra No.2
Gershwin Piano Concerto in F major

Composing Highlights

Gruber has been commissioned at the highest level, including recent projects for the Vienna Philharmonic, Lucerne Festival, BBC Proms, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, London Sinfonietta. In summer 2014 Gruber’s opera Tales from the Vienna Woods (Geschichten aus dem Wiener Wald) was premiered to great acclaim at the Bregenzer Festspiele, with performances following at Theater an der Wien in Spring 2015 and Komische Oper in May 2016. Also in October 2016 the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra perform trumpet concerto Aerial and into the open... receives its US premiere in December 2016 with the New World Symphony conducted by Gruber; elsewhere in recent seasons Gruber’s music has been performed by orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, NDR Sinfonieorchester, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and many more.


Piano Concerto (2015-2017) 20'
Concerto for piano and symphony orchestra, soloist Emanuel Ax 


Geschichten aus dem Wiener Wald (2011-2014) 140'
Opera in three acts


Northwind Pictures (2011) 25’
symphonic poem for orchestra


into the open...(2010) 24’
symphony for solo percussion and orchestra, soloist Colin Currie


Busking (2007) 30’
Trumpet concerto with strings, accordion and banjo (soloist Hakan Hardenberger)


Dancing in the Dark (2002) 24’ 
Concert piece for large orchestra


Aerial (1999) 25’
Trumpet concerto (soloist Hakan Hardenberger)


Frankenstein!! (1977) 28’
With HK Gruber as Chansonnier (baritone) with symphony orchestra or ensemble


The works of HK Gruber are published by Boosey & Hawkes

Frankenstein!!

Frankenstein!! is Gruber’s best-known work, a “pan-demonium for chansonnier and orchestra after children’s rhymes by H.C. Artmann”. Premiered in 1978 by Sir Simon Rattle, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and HK Gruber as chansonnier, Frankenstein!! is Gruber’s most “naughtily notorious” work and has been performed by major orchestras around the world including the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra and many more. It is a concert piece, music theatre, witty, fun and ironic with an irrepressible strain of Viennese black humour.


Frankenstein!! can be performed in two ways, with Gruber taking on the dual role of conductor and chansonnier, or the work can be directed by another conductor, with Gruber as soloist (German or English).


“With its extremes of gentleness and savagery, its delirious tangos and bossa novas, and Mr. Gruber’s surprisingly bitter toy-saxophone riffs, the surreal 30-minute work captures the energy of a Weimar cabaret gone terribly weird and wrong, which is one way of looking at the story of the 20th century.”
New York Times, December 2011


Frankenstein!! (1977) 28’
For Chansonnier & symphony orchestra or ensemble
Published by Boosey & Hawkes 


Orchestral version
Ensemble version

Gruber’s scores are prodigiously multi-layered... For Gruber, cabaret, jazz, pop and even rock are as vital to serious composition as the unspurned devices of the serial composers…

The Times

conducted by HK Gruber, a standard-setting interpreter of Weill’s music… The second symphony unfurls with an ease that becomes more disturbing as, from behind the wit and tunefulness, emerge flashes of heartbroken nostalgia and martial terror.

New York Times

one of the world's leading authorities on Weill's music

The Guardian

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Intermusica represents HK Gruber worldwide

Catherine Gibbs
Associate Director
+44 20 7608 9946
cgibbs@intermusica.com

Lucy Evans
Assistant Artist Manager
+44 20 7608 9940
levans@intermusica.com

If you have any queries, please fill in the form below, and we will be in touch soon

All artists

Chansonnier

HK Gruber

Counter-tenor

Tim Mead

Harpsichord

Richard Egarr

Piano accompanist

Roger Vignoles