Helmut Lachenmann (b. 1935) first studied piano with Jürgen Uhde, theory and composition with Johann Nepomuk David in Stuttgart. He continued in Venice, studying under Luigi Nono, an artist who would be a determining influence on his aesthetic progression. Lachenmann returned to Germany in 1961 and in 1962 his first works were premiered at the Venice Biennale and the Darmstadt Summer Music Course. Beginning in 1959, he began a systematic exploration of different instrumental playing modes. Lachenmann made the noises of instrumental performance and its energetic quality the very project of his oeuvre, like developing a language. He worked to create a new musical horizon—concrete instrumental music, or Klangrealismus—that unites sound and noise.
