Friedrich Cerha was an Austrian composer, conductor, and academic teacher best known for completing Alban Berg’s unfinished Lulu, which was considered to be one of the greatest operatic achievements of the 20th century. Cerha started playing violin at age six and two years later he was composing. However his musical career was put on hold when he was drafted in the army in 1943 at 17 where he deserted twice. He returned to to Vienna in November 1945 where he went on to study violin and composit... moreFriedrich Cerha was an Austrian composer, conductor, and academic teacher best known for completing Alban Berg’s unfinished Lulu, which was considered to be one of the greatest operatic achievements of the 20th century. Cerha started playing violin at age six and two years later he was composing. However his musical career was put on hold when he was drafted in the army in 1943 at 17 where he deserted twice. He returned to to Vienna in November 1945 where he went on to study violin and composition at the Vienna Music Academy. Simultaneously, he studied musicology, German culture and language, and philosophy at the University of Vienna. Cerha founded Die Reihe in 1958 together with Kurt Schwertsik with the aim of spreading contemporary music in Austria. He also worked as an interpreter of the works of Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, and Anton Webern. On top of that he was a composer, conductor and taught at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna from 1959. Cerha was a recipient of numerous awards like the 1986 Grand Austrian State Prize for Music and the 1964 Theodor Körner Prize.
