Heinrich Sutermeister 100

12 August 2010 marks the centenary of the birth of the distinguished Swiss composer Heinrich Sutermeister who was born in the Swiss canton Schaffhausen on 12 August 1910 and died in Vaux-sur Morges on 16 March 1995. Following initial philological studies in Basel (musicology with Karl Neff and German literature) and a study sojourn in Paris, he studied music at the Akademie der Tonkünste in Munich from 1932 to 1934 as a pupil of Walter Courvoisier (harmony and counterpoint), Hugo Röhr (conducting) and also with Carl Orff. He worked briefly as a repetiteur at the theatre in Berne before establishing himself as a full-time composer based in his retreat in Vaux-sur- Morges.
 
His output includes full scale operas, which have been performed widely at major opera houses (several of these works were specifically composed for TV and radio), ballet music, numerous orchestral works and also vocal and chamber music. During the next season, the Schleswig-Holstein Landestheater will present a new production of Raskolnikoff on 26 February 2011. 
 
Those of our readers with an interest in both music and philately will already be aware that on 23 July the Swiss Post Office issued a special stamp commemorating the centenary of Sutermeister's birth. The stamp is available at the price of 1.40 CHF

• Heinrich Sutermeister - Profile
  
• Sutermeister Stamp on the Swiss Post Website