Gerhard Stäbler was born in Wilhelmsdorf, near Ravensburg, on July 20, 1949. In 1968 he enrolled in the composition programme at the Nordwestdeutsche Musikakademie in Detmold. Two years later Stäbler continued his education at the Folkwang-Hochschule in Essen.

Among his teachers were Nicolaus A. Huber (composition) and Gerd Zacher (organ). After his apprenticeship Stäbler himself became a teacher not only at the Essen Hochschule (1982-94) but also through numerous guest appointments at international universities, e.g. at Northwestern University in Chicago or at McGill University in Montréal. One of Stäbler's main aims is to avoid a limitation to the musical sphere. He founded Aktive Musik (1986), an organization which tries to undermine the institutional mechanisms of music presentation. In his works, Stäbler also reflects the world outside the concert hall. Apart from his interdisciplinary intentions, he incorporates extra-musical elements like smells or even temperature into the performance space. Thus, the listeners' imagination is always stimulated and opened for unexpected perceptual possibilities.

More information

Composer's Homepage

Recordings

Karas
DE UK

Falling, Falling
DE UK

Im unaufhörlichen Wirbel
US DE UK FR

!? - Musical essay about the bounds of the possibility

for piano, organ, cembalo, electronic musical instrument, accordion or keyboard instrument
by Gerhard Stäbler

Extremly fast repetitions to plumb the physical abilities of the interpreter.