A Hermann Hesse song cycle
Competition for Composers aged 30 or younger
Within the framework of the research project A history of the song cycle, the Basel Academy of Music FHNW, Klassik is holding a competition for young composers of any nationality, aged 30 or younger as of 1 January 2027, their task being to compose a song cycle for voice and piano to texts by Hermann Hesse (1877–1962). The writer and Nobel Laureate Hermann Hesse was born in Calw in Germany but spent the greater part of his life in Switzerland, variously in Basel, Bern and Montagnola. His poems have long attracted composers, most notably Othmar Schoeck and Richard Strauss. Numerous festivities are planned for the 150th anniversary of his birth in 2027.
The work submitted must be a coherent cycle comprising between three and six songs of between 12 and 20 minutes in length and must set texts by Hesse (either poems or prose), either in the original German or in translation into any other language. They may be composed for any voice type but must be for one singer with piano. The songs may be linked musically, or not; their texts may communicate a narrative, or not; however, they may not be a bouquet of individual songs but must constitute a clear cycle that benefits from being performed complete.
Scores must be submitted electronically to chris.walton@fhnw.ch by 31 December 2026. The jury will choose up to three cycles. First performances are planned for autumn 2027: at the Othmar Schoeck Festival in Brunnen, at the Hans Erni Museum in Lucerne, and at the Basel Music Academy on the occasion of an international conference on the history of the song cycle in late October 2027. All the composers will be invited to attend their premiere, and there will be a cash prize for each.
Participants must confirm that the work submitted has not yet been performed in public or broadcast in any form; the composers whose scores are chosen by the jury must also assign the right of first performance to the Basel Academy of Music. All other rights, including copyright, naturally remain with the composer.
The jury will comprise Karin Wetzel, Jan Schultsz and Chris Walton of the Basel Academy of Music, Edward Rushton of the Lucerne School of Music, and Cheryl Frances-Hoad.
Please direct any enquiries to Chris Walton at chris.walton@fhnw.ch.
