Meinrad Schütter: Unjustly neglected
Ute Stoecklin's biography of Schütter was published in 2010. A revised version in English has now been published in England. We are taking this as an opportunity to make Torsten Möller's review from March 2011 publicly available here.
"What a piece of work! And who knows anything about it? I think it's something very special. And how different it is from the hustle and bustle that prevails today." In his letter to his colleague and contemporary Meinrad Schütter (1910-2006), Robert Suter captured the essentials in just a few words: On the one hand, his enthusiasm for the rich and unusual oeuvre of a composer who wrote many piano songs, numerous opulent orchestral works, a grand opera called Medea and in the form of a Large trade fair even turned to church music, which had become precarious in the 20th century. On the other hand, Suter's words also mention Schütter as an outsider. Ever since Carl Vogler, with almost unbearable arrogance, refused the young composer admission to the Tonkünstlerverein, Schütter had never really been able to gain a foothold in Swiss musical life. Was it because of his peculiar temperament, the latent unwieldiness of his works or conservative guardians of the Grail such as President Vogler?
The book, written by Ute Stoecklin, Meinrad Schütter's long-time companion, provides answers. Rich in biographical facts, equipped with numerous original documents and photographs, not least with many observations of his work and an impressive catalog raisonné, it succeeds in portraying Schütter from different angles. Perhaps the space that Stoecklin gave to many contemporary witnesses, including redundant hymns of praise, could have been better used for differentiated analyses of his work, perhaps an author with a sober and distanced external perspective would have done the book good - Stoecklin's merit remains untouched by such criticism: Her 230-page, thoroughly edited biography provides the basis for a more in-depth study of a composer who - as an accompanying CD of mainly chamber music proves - has been unjustly neglected.
Ute Stoecklin: Meinrad Schütter 1910-2006, Life's work in music or "The art of not letting yourself be disturbed", 230 p., with CD, Fr. 44.50, Müller & Schade, Bern 2010, ISBN 3-905760-06-4
English new edition
Meinrad Schütter - Maverick Swiss Composer, by Ute Stoecklin, translation by Chris Walton. 188 pages, 23.3 x 15.5 cm, 16 color and 33 b/w illustrations, hardcover, ISBN: 978-0-907689-70-6
