Hans Wüthrich-Mathez (03/08/1937 - 20/03/2019), a Swiss composer. He was born in Aeschi in canton Bern. He studied music at the Bern Conservatory with piano under Sava Savoff and theory under Sandor Veress. He received his diploma in piano in 1962. From 1968 until 1972 he was instructed in composition under Klaus Huber. In 1973 he received his doctorate from the University of Zurich in German language and literature sciences, philosophy and musicology. From 1971 until 1985 he was lecturer in language sciences (phonetics and phonemics) at the universities of Zurich and Basel. Since the autumn of 1985 he lectures in music theory and composition at the ‘Musikhochschule Winterthur Zürich’ (Winterthur / Zurich School of Music).

Remembering Hans Wüthrich
Composing without a net
Each of his works was unique and daring. On 20 March 2019, the Swiss composer Hans Wüthrich died at the age of 81 in Arlesheim. Remote-controlled toy cars race across the stage, crash into each other and stop. Everyday scrap falls from above the stage, as do life-size dolls which immediately sink into the floor while orchestral sounds fade in for a split second. Life: an inflated instant in Wüthrich’s LEVE and HAPPY HOUR, theatre pieces in which he playfully and existentially explored relationships and brought them to the stage in a rare balance of laughter and terror.