Rechberger's new book Scales and Modes around the world presents over 1,000 scales found in different cultures. It is a result of extensive research, listening and discussions with musicians, and is intended for everyone who is creative in the field of music.
Born in Linz, Austria, Herman Rechberger (b. 1947) studied the guitar and graphic art in Linz, Zurich and Brussels. He moved to Finland in 1970, continued his music studies at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and soon made a name for himself as a composer and performing artist.
Herman Rechberger (b. 1947) is a multi-instrumentalist and something of a Renaissance figure on the Finnish musical scene, colourfully and easily combining musical elements from different historical eras and geographical regions. His special interests are early music and the Orient, but he also feels a strong pull towards the musical education of children. He has been the receiver of several national and international awards and prizes.
An explorer of new musical territories, Rechberger has an extensive oeuvre that includes operas and multimedia works, choral, chamber and instrumental music, orchestral works and concertos. The orchestral Venezia (1985) is considered to be one of his main works. He has also written three symphonies (2001, 2002 and 2005) as well as a number of concertos, among them Golpe de corazón (Heart Beat Concerto) dating from 1992. Rechberger has also composed the oratorio-like ...nunc et semper (...now and forever) which was the first part of the operatic trilogy TheAge of Dreams performed at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in 2000 and 2001.
His orchestral works include Vierzehn! (Fourteen!) commissioned for the opening of the Bruckner Festival in Austria in 2003, the clarinet concerto Alovlar premiered in Finland in 2003 and Tobá Hanyé, a work chosen for the finals of the Zeitklang composition competition in St. Pölten, Austria. He has also composed a children's opera Das Opernschiff (The Opera Ship), which received the third prize at the composition competition organized by the Cologne Opera.