Zwölftonspiel (I) (1947)

Josef Matthias Hauer (1883–1959) — Zwölftonspiel (I) (1947) for organ

Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer (1883–1959) was born in Wiener Neustadt. He is known for independently developing his own system of 12-tone composition (1919/20) a few years before the more famous methods of Arnold Schoenberg. Hauer published various theoretical writings and compositions until 1938 when his music was labeled as “degenerate art” (Entartete Kunst) by the Nazi regime. Although he remained in Austria, he published nothing further during the war years for fear of attracting public attention, and even after the war, he did little in public—though he is believed to have left hundreds of pieces in manuscript. He wrote nearly a thousand of his “Zwölftonspiel” (12-tone game) pieces, though most have been lost. Hauer saw these works not as concert pieces but rather controlled meditations on the tones. For Hauer, working with the 12 tones was a spiritual experience akin to prayer, rather than a display of public musical technique.

Although some of his Zwölftonspiel pieces are without specified scoring and can be played on various instruments, in 1947 he wrote two of them explicitly for organ—his only organ works—which were published for the first time in 2021 in an edition by Wolfgang Kogert. Hauer would often ask friends and colleagues to supply him with 12-tone cycles for use in his music. The cycle upon which these organ pieces are based was given to Hauer by the harpsichordist Victor Sokolowski.

Published by Doblinger Musikverlag in “Zwei Zwölftonspiele”