Heinz-Klaus Metzger

Heinz-Klaus Metzger (Constanza, 6 February 1932) is a German writer on music and music theorist, an important figure in the criticism and thought surrounding post-war avant-garde. His name is linked to the defence of serial and electronic music, as well as to philosophical reflection on new art.

His training began at the Staatliche Musikhochschule in Freiburg, between 1949 and 1952. He then studied composition with Max Deutsch in Paris and musicology in Tübingen, between 1952 and 1954. In 1956 he obtained his diploma at the Akademie für Tonkunst in Darmstadt, where the summer courses left a lasting mark on him. From the outset he was drawn to the music of Webern, from which he became a staunch advocate of serialism and electronic music.

As an author, he worked within the Hegelian and Marxist philosophical traditions, and his style was influenced by Adorno, who soon recognised his talent. Since 1978, together with Rainer Riehn, he has co-edited the series Musik-Konzepte, and he has prepared editions of Adorno's work. His articles address twelve-tone music, Webern, Varèse, Cage, Hans-Joachim Hespos and the theoretical, aesthetic and philosophical problems of the avant-garde.

Among his writings are essays on John Cage, Schoenberg, Scelsi, Krenek, Mahler and Schnebel, as well as compilations of texts, lectures and radio scripts published in 1980. His legacy lies above all in having placed post-war German music criticism in dialogue with philosophy and with the most radical currents of twentieth-century composition.