Hans Otte

Who was Hans Otte?

Hans Otte born Hans Günther Franz Otte was a German composer, pianist, radio promoter, and author of many pieces of musical theatre, sound installations, poems, drawings, and art videos. From 1959 to 1984 he served as music director for Radio Bremen. From the early 1960s onwards, Otte frequently presented contemporary experimental American composers in his Bremen radio festival pro musica nova, among them in those days completely unknown people like John Cage, David Tudor, Terry Riley, and Lamonte Young. From 1959 on, Otte lived and worked in Bremen, Germany. His catalogue of works contains more than 100 works.

Hans Otte had studied in Germany, Italy, and at Yale University in the United States. His teachers included the composer Paul Hindemith and the pianist Walter Gieseking.

Some of Otte's works, especially his extended suites for solo piano, are characterized by very minimal means but are nevertheless quite subtle and sophisticated in their architecture and expression. Das Buch der Klänge and Stundenbuch are his best known works in this vein, and Otte often performed them himself. His last public recital was given in Amsterdam in 1999.