Rudolf Wagner-Régeny

Born in Romania, Rudolf Wagner-Régeny became a German citizen in 1930 * His teachers included Siegfried Ochs and Franz Schreker * In 1929 he meets Caspar Neher who wrote the texts for his best-known operas * Works between 1930-45 as a freelance composer and teacher * After 1945 opts for East instead of West Germany * After becoming director of the music college at Rostock, he is appointed as a professor at the music college in East Berlin in 1950 where he works until 1968 * Opera has a prominent role within his output * In their transparency and austerity, his stage works follow the music theatre of Brecht and Weill * From the 1940s onwards, he integrated dodecaphony into his musical language; a synthesis is reached in Das Bergwerk zu Falun (The Mines of Falun, 1958-60) * His music displays a Humanist ethos, as when he said about Prometheus: "With Prometheus, I said yes to life."

Works by Rudolf Wagner-Régeny include:
Genesis (1955) cantata for alto, mixed chorus and small orchestra
Die Fabel vom seligen Schlächtermeister (The Fable of the Blessed Butcher) opera (1964)
Das Bergwerk zu Falun (The Mines of Falun) opera (1961)