VOGEL, WLADIMIR

VOGEL, WLADIMIR (1896–1984), composer. Born in Moscow, Vogel studied piano and theory privately, and was influenced by Scriabin, whom he saw performing at a concert. During World War I he was interned in the Urals and later went to Berlin, where in the 1920s he studied with Thiessen and Busoni. In 1935 he settled in Switzerland and taught composition privately. After World War II he became an honorary member of the Academia Sta. Cecilia in Rome and an ordinary member of the Akademie der Kuenste in Berlin. He won several prizes, including the composer's prize of the Schweizerischer Tonkűnstlerverein. Vogel experimented a great deal with the use of "speaking choirs," being influenced by Communist agit-prop, melodrama, and Expressionist music. He wrote a number of dramatically impressive oratorios and cantatas using this technique, such as Wagadus Untergang durch die Eitelkeit (1930) and Thyl Claes, fils de Kolldraeger (1938–45). Starting with his Violin Concerto (1937) Vogel used 12-note technique. In some of his later works he was inspired by architectural, pictorial, and graphic images (Inspiré par Jean Arp, 1965; Graphique, 1976; Verstrebungen, 1977). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: NG2; M.Geering and P. Ronner (eds.), Wladimir Vogel (1896–1984): Verzeichnis der musikalischen Werke (1992). (Claude Abravanel / Yulia Kreinin (2nd ed.)