Alexander Blechinger on Foundational Rules of Music, his Atomblitz-Ouvertüre and Harmonia Classica

The Austrian tonal composer Alexander Blechinger sits down with Jan-Ove Tuv to explain how he achieves the illusion of visual effects in musical works such as his Atomblitz-Ouvertüre:

In 1982 Blechinger founded Harmonia Classica, an organization devoted to performance of contemporary tonal music and competitions for composers. He talks about their success in a country where the state unilaterally favors modernist culture.

Chapter markers:
01:10 Blechinger’s interest in music
06:19 How he got into Classical music
13:00 Studying composition
15:35 What is counterpoint and harmony?
19:55 Baroque: the root of our music
21:43 Renaissance and Gothic music
23:36 Renaissance vs Baroque music
26:18 Finding a composition teacher
31:40 The Atomblitz-ouvertüre
39:12 How Blechinger crafts a story (Atomblitz-ouvertüre)
53:20 Harmonia Classica, an organization for “beautiful new music”
56:09 The Harmonia Classica competition
1:00:52 Making “stories of the heart”
1:10:18 Better conditions for classical music
1:15:31 The problem of cultural politics

This episode was filmed and edited by Bork Nerdrum.
The centerpiece was “Loving couple” by Odd Nerdrum.