Distinguished as an oboist and as a conductor, the Swiss composer Heinz Holliger was a pupil of Sándor Veress. He later studied with Pierre Boulez in Basle, where he had his early career as an oboist, appearing, as his international career as a soloist developed, with his wife, the harpist Ursula Holliger; the duo inspired double concertos from Henze, Ligeti and Lutosławski.

Stage, Vocal and Instrumental Music

Holliger’s compositions show the early influence of Berg. His stage works include settings of texts by Samuel Beckett, and his choral and vocal works draw on a wide variety of texts, often having unusual instrumentation, including the use of tapes. His orchestral compositions explore similarly original material, while his chamber music finds some place for the oboe amid pieces varied in instrumentation and with the widest terms of reference.