Who or what are the most significant influences on your musical life and career as a composer?
As a child I listened our LP disc collection with classical and non-classical music containing symphonies of Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, Schönberg’s string quartets, Paganini’s violin concertos but also “new music” like The Beatles, Ekseption (a Dutch Band), James Last, Louis Armstrong and other great Jazz musicians etc. over and over again until I nearly knew the music by heart. Then I began playing the violin and writing my first little pieces at the age of 10.
Later I studied musicology, art history and ethnomusicology in the 1970s. So I got in close contact with music, music systems/structures and composers from the 11th to the 20th century with a later specialisation on the 14th and 20th century. I attended lectures and courses given by living composers. In 1984 I had my doctorate in musicology and information technology.
At the beginning this entire background had a certain influence on my compositions for “conventional” ensembles, such as string quartet, symphony orchestra, chamber music ensemble etc., on my electronic compositions and on my mixed compositions (conventional ensemble plus electronics). However, I developed my own style very soon, which is very often enriched with overt or hidden humor.
Concerning the most significant influence on my career as a composer was the premiere of the work “GUERNICA” for string orchestra, timpani and percussion (Op. 47) in the 70s. The title “GUERNICA” refers to the painting of the same name by Pablo Picasso. This was a real milestone for me as a young composer because of the overwhelming reaction of the audience.
What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?
Now and then it takes some time to have the next world premiere of a new work. Of course I do not wait for it but write the next pieces. That’s how I sometimes reduce the stress of waiting…
At present one of my – in my opinion – major works is still not premiered: “THE STARS – Symphonic Poem” for choir, large string orchestra, brass, e-bass, timpani and percussion. It is a full-length musical piece containing 7 movements where the longest is nearly half an hour. “THE STARS” is a kind of modern counterpart to Gustav Holst’s “The Planets”.
What are the special challenges/pleasures of working on a commissioned piece?
Most often there is a kind of time pressure when writing for a film production (i.e. Lippuner BIM). However, this is no problem for me.
Concerning commissioned pieces for a specific concert or ensemble (where I had only a few): I feel very honoured and I happily write tailor-made works.
What are the special challenges/pleasures of working with particular musicians, singers, ensembles or orchestras?
I always enjoy working with musicians, singers, ensembles, orchestras and conductors very much. They bring my music to life. Sometimes they are a little bit skeptical at the beginning of rehearsals, but that changes very rapidly once they perceive the work as a whole.
Robert Bokor is my favorit conductor. As a violinist he premiered my first violin concerto in 2008 and as a conductor he performed the world premiere of my Requiem composition. It is always a great pleasure to work with him and we can blindly trust each other. When I ask him to play a new composition, he agrees on the performance without having seen a single note of my new piece…
Of which works are you most proud?
Very difficult question – because there are so many. I am most probably the only contemporary Swiss composer to have written 8 violin concertos (The 8 Violin Concertos by Swiss Composer Christoph Schnell – YouTube). In 2008 I defined a new music genre which I called “MusicalOper” (MusicalOper). It is a “synthesis” of various genres like opera, musical, theatre, cabaret etc.. “Emergency 51” (“Notfall 51”) is the first (tragicomic) MusicalOper in music history (Notfall 51 – Emergency 51 online ansehen | Vimeo On Demand auf Vimeo). The experts were astonished and amazed by this new genre of musical theatre, and I was proud to have surprised them all (sheet music of “Emergency 51” available at UNIVERSAL EDITION Vienna: Schnell / Schnell: NOTFALL 51 – Lebst du noch oder stirbst du schon? – Eine tragikomische MusicalOper (2010) für Sopran, Mezzosopran, 3× Bariton, Bass, Männerstimme und Ensemble (10+ | Universal Edition).
“REQUIEM X” (to be read as “Requiem ten” – because of its 10 movements) had its world premiere in Italy and Switzerland in 2018. During the composition of my Requiem I was working on the film “Requiem X – The Movie” which premiered one year later, in 2019 (REQUIEM X – The Movie online ansehen | Vimeo On Demand auf Vimeo). So I became probably the only composer who as filmed his own Requiem himself.
The 8 violin concertos, MusicalOper “Emergency 51”, “REQUIEM X” just to name a few, but there are many other works I am really proud of, for example my 10 string quartets, my first orchestral work “GUERNICA” etc.
How would you characterise your compositional language?
To put it in a simple and very abbreviated form: My compositional language bases on “triple E”: E_xpression, E_motion and E_nergy.
· “Expression”: What do I want to say or express with a particular passage or with this composition as a whole?
· “Emotion”: What feeling do I want to evoke in the musicians and/or in the audience (excitement, boredom, dreams, well-being, etc.)?
· ”Energy”: What kind of and what level of energy is contained in a particular musical passage (lyrical, dramatic, relaxing, etc.)?
Then I “choose” intuitively the appropriate “material”, “structure”, “systems”, “colour”, “patterns”, etc.. So “triple E” is a completely different approach to compositional language than the usual categories like “tonal – atonal”, musical elements like “melody – harmony” and chord structures or narrow-minded style descriptions like “New Classic”, “Jazz”, “Pop” etc. which I am not interested in.
How do you work?
I work with “triple E” (see above). However, I’ve been composing since I was a little boy. As far as we know: As any composer in music history the early works are fairly short and simple. And I was no exception. To this day I have written around 300 works. Of course every composer having composed such an amount of music has got some kind of routine.
Beyond the technical level of composing – craftsmanship encompassing knowledge of music history and musical systems, notational details, profound knowledge of musical instruments, compositional routine, etc. – composing is a kind of “magical process” that is difficult to explain and seems to defy precise description.
As a musician, what is your definition of success?
Recently a member of the audience said after the concert featuring several of my compositions: “Honestly the most entertained I’ve been by new music probably ever”.
In my opinion that’s the best success a composer can imagine.
What advice would you give to young/aspiring composers?
Compose! Compose! Compose! Write as many pieces as you can – compose day and night! Be extremely careful when choosing a teacher – if you want one – and never let you impress too much what other people say about your music (including your teacher!). Focus on your work and do not criticise yourself – others will do it for you for sure. Just be yourself and don’t let them get you down.
What do you feel needs to be done to grow classical music’s audiences?
I think the real “problem” is not the audience itself, but rather overly cautious, anxious, one-dimensionally thinking producers, music directors, conductors and other decision makers in music industry. A manager of an Italian concert agency wrote in an email to me: “People usually are very ‘cold’ expecting contemporary music program but in your case it was a great success and a great like from everybody”.
Simply skip the old concertos and symphonies for a while and play new and understandable/ feelable, contemporary classical works. I am quite sure that the emerging modern audience will be grateful and excited.
What’s the one thing in the music industry we’re not talking about but you think we should be?
As usual the music industry wants to make money. There’s nothing wrong with that. But fact is: The value of a contemporary composer has steadily declined over time (comparing composers of the 19th, 20th and 21st century). And now AI seems to make it even worse. However, do not forget: the human creativity of a real composer will never be replaced by “intelligent” machines. And it is human composers of new contemporary classical music who will contribute to develop new styles and expression.
Please do not act with fear on uncertainty and doubt!
What is your present state of mind?
I am extremely excited to have a concert with London Metropolitan Orchestra at Cadogan Hall London on the 13th September this year featuring the world premiere of my Piano Concerto No. 3. For Tickets: https://cadoganhall.com/whats-on/london-metropolitan-orchestra-christoph-schnell-piano-concerto-no-3-world-premiere/
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
As a composer: a happy and excited ensemble and a happy and excited audience.
What next – where would you like to be in 10 years?
I hope I will still be in a good and healthy condition to continue composing until I pass away.
What do you enjoy doing most?
Creating new ideas and introducing them in new compositions.
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