Boris Blacher (06/01/1903 - 30/01/1975) was born in China (from Niu-chang) but returned to Germany, working as a composer and teacher in Berlin and later in Dresden, a career interrupted by the intervention of National Socialism, but resumed in 1945.
He was one of the central figures in Berlin musical life after the 2nd World War. Important as a composer of vivid stage and orchestral works and as a teacher. Music noted for its colourful French-inspired instrumentation and its irreverence towards Austro-German tradition. Experimented with 'variable metrics' in works like Piano Concerto No.2, where serial procedures are applied to metrical units. Many stageworks based on classic texts including ballets Hamlet, Lysistrata, Der Mohr von Venedig and Tristan. Paganini Variations is a repertoire piece in German orchestral world and has been recently recorded by Solti. Blacher's pupils included Klebe, Einem, Erbse, Burt, Reimann, Yun and Klaus Huber.