Photo: Sjakkelien Vollebregt · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl · credits
Tier 3 · vertical & regionalfull biography
Mauricio Kagel
Person · male · Argentina · Buenos Aires · born 1931 · died 2008 · recording since 1968
Argentine-German composer (1931-2008)
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Also known as Maurizio Kagel · 莫里西歐·卡格爾
Timeline
36 events▣ Album 26✦ Award 7◦ Birth 1★ Debut release 1† Death 1
1930s
1960s
· Debut release
Debut release: Match Für 3 Spieler / Musik Für Renaissance-Instrumente
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
1970s
1980s
· Album
Album: "Rrrrrrr..." 8 Orgelstücke / 10 Märsche um den Sieg zu verfehlen
Album
source: musicbrainz
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Biography
English biography614 words · 6 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1351353420
Biography
Mauricio Raúl Kagel (Spanish pronunciation: [mawˈɾisjo ˈkaɣel]; 24 December 1931 – 18 September 2008) was an Argentine-German composer and academic teacher.
Early life and education
Mauricio Raúl Kagel was born on 24 December 1931 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, into an Ashkenazi Jewish family that had fled Russia in the 1920s. He studied music, history of literature, and philosophy in Buenos Aires. In 1957 he moved to Cologne, West Germany, where he lived until his death.
As teacher
From 1960 to 1966 and from 1972 to 1976 Kagel taught at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse. He also taught from 1964–65 at the University at Buffalo as the visiting Slee Professor of music theory. At the Berlin Film and Television Academy, he was a guest lecturer from 1967 on. In 1968, Kagel was the director of the Scandinavian Courses for New Music in Gothenburg and from 1969–74 he served as the director of the Cologne Courses for New Music, succeeding Karlheinz Stockhausen. He was a professor for new music theatre at the Köln Hochschule from 1974–97.
Among his students were Moya Henderson, Kevin Volans, Maria de Alvear, Carola Bauckholt, Branimir Krstić, David Sawer, Rickard Scheffer, Juan Maria Solare, Norma Tyer, Gerald Barry, Martyn Harry, and Chao-Ming Tung. See: List of music students by teacher: K to M#Mauricio Kagel.
As composer
Some of his pieces give specific theatrical instructions to the performers, such as to adopt certain facial expressions while playing, to make their stage entrances in a particular way, or to physically interact with other performers. For this reason commentators at times related his work to the theatre of the absurd. He has been regarded by music historians as deploying a critical intelligence interrogating the position of music in society. He was also active in the fields of film and photography. In 1991 Kagel was invited by Walter Fink to be the second composer featured in the annual Komponistenporträt of the Rheingau Musik Festival. In 2000 he received the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize.
Music
Staatstheater (1970) remains, probably, Kagel's best-known work. He described it as a "ballet for non-dancers", although it is in many ways more like an opera; the devices it uses as musical instruments include chamber pots and enema equipment.
Similar is the radio play Ein Aufnahmezustand (1969) which is about the incidents surrounding the recording of a radio play. In Con voce (With Voice), a masked trio silently mimes playing instruments. Match (1964) is a "tennis game" for cellists with a percussionist as umpire, also the subject of one of Kagel's films and perhaps the best-known of his works of instrumental theatre.
Kagel also wrote a large number of more conventional orchestral and chamber pieces. Many of these make references to music of the past by, among others, Beethoven, Brahms, Bach and Liszt.
Films
Kagel also made films, with one of the best known being Ludwig van (1970), a critical interrogation of the uses of Beethoven's music made during the bicentenary of that composer's birth. In it, a reproduction of Beethoven's studio is seen, as part of a fictive visit of the Beethoven House in Bonn. Everything in it is papered with sheet music of Beethoven's pieces. The soundtrack of the film is a piano playing the music as it appears in each shot. Because the music has been wrapped around curves and edges, it is somewhat distorted, but Beethovenian motifs can still be heard. In other parts, the film contains parodies of radio or TV broadcasts connected with the "Beethoven Year 1770". Kagel later turned the film into a piece of sheet music itself which could be performed in a concert without the film—the score consists of close-ups of various areas of the studio, which are to be interpreted by the performing pianist.
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 29 | 89.7th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 29 | 90.1th |
| Studio albums | 27 | 97.8th |
| Awards recorded | 9 | 98.7th |
| Timeline events | 36 | 97.7th |
| Recording span (years) | 40 | 80.2th |
| Genres | 4 | 84.7th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (29 release groups · 27 studio albums)
Albums · 27
Match Für 3 Spieler / Musik Für Renaissance-Instrumente
1968 · studio album
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Tracklist · 2 tracks · 43:04
AMatch Für 3 Spieler16:55BMusik Für Renaissance-Instrumente26:09Hallelujah / Für Stimmen (...Missa Est)
1969 · studio album
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Tracklist · 4 tracks · 57:13
AHallelujah28:29B1Für Stimmen (... Missa Est) - Dt 31 628:44B2Für Stimmen (... Missa Est) - AMNB3Für Stimmen (... Missa Est) - :! (Madrasha II)1970 · studio album
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Tracklist · 2 tracks · 37:20
ADer Schall: Seite 114:18BDer Schall: Seite 223:021972 · studio album
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Tracklist · 4 tracks · 1:18:35
Disc 1AAcustica: Teil 123:46BAcustica: Teil 219:53Disc 2CAcustica: Teil 317:44DAcustica: Teil 417:12"Rrrrrrr..." 8 Orgelstücke / 10 Märsche um den Sieg zu verfehlen
1985 · studio album
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Tracklist · 18 tracks · 35:19
1„Rrrrrrr...“ 8 Orgelstücke: Râga1:062„Rrrrrrr...“ 8 Orgelstücke: Rauschpfeife2:393„Rrrrrrr...“ 8 Orgelstücke: Repercussa1:124„Rrrrrrr...“ 8 Orgelstücke: Ragtime3:095„Rrrrrrr...“ 8 Orgelstücke: Rondeña1:586„Rrrrrrr...“ 8 Orgelstücke: Ripieno1:257„Rrrrrrr...“ 8 Orgelstücke: Rosalie1:258„Rrrrrrr...“ 8 Orgelstücke: Rossignol Enrhumés5:169Zehn Märsche um den Sieg zu verfehlen: Marsch 12:1710Zehn Märsche um den Sieg zu verfehlen: Marsch 21:5011Zehn Märsche um den Sieg zu verfehlen: Marsch 31:3512Zehn Märsche um den Sieg zu verfehlen: Marsch 41:1613Zehn Märsche um den Sieg zu verfehlen: Marsch 51:3914Zehn Märsche um den Sieg zu verfehlen: Marsch 61:1715Zehn Märsche um den Sieg zu verfehlen: Marsch 71:3216Zehn Märsche um den Sieg zu verfehlen: Marsch 81:3817Zehn Märsche um den Sieg zu verfehlen: Marsch 92:4518Zehn Märsche um den Sieg zu verfehlen: Marsch 101:20The Arditti String Quartet Edition: Mauricio Kagel 1
1991 · studio album
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Tracklist · 7 tracks · 1:03:44
1Streichquartett I11:082Pan5:053Streichquartett II10:174Streichquartett III: Andante9:555Streichquartett III: Andantino8:466Streichquartett III: Allegretto9:547Streichquartett III: Allegro8:391992 · studio album
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Tracklist · 11 tracks · 40:16
1Variété: Con moto4:352Variété: Grave7:383Variété: Giusto2:114Variété: Largo3:185Variété: Presto2:286Variété: Molto tranquilo2:107Variété: Moderato2:278Variété: Allegretto5:129Variété: Furioso2:2610Variété: Grazioso3:2511Variété: Largamente4:261993 · studio album
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Tracklist · 1 track · 37:31
1Exotica37:31Stücke der Windrose / Phantasiestück
1994 · studio album
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Tracklist · 6 tracks · 1:00:27
1Stücke der Windrose: Osten5:472Stücke der Windrose: Süden11:423Stücke der Windrose: Nordosten7:354Stücke der Windrose: Nordwesten7:095Stücke der Windrose: Südosten11:046Phantasiestück17:101995 · studio album
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Tracklist · 1 track · 41:15
1Nah Und Fern41:151898 / Music for Renaissance instruments
1999 · studio album
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Tracklist · 3 tracks · 1:14:00
11898: I.25:3121898: II.23:213Music for Renaissance Instruments25:082000 · studio album
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Tracklist · 3 tracks · 1:03:08
1Les Idées fixes: Rondo for Orchestra22:142Musik für Tasteninstrumente & Orchester24:263Opus 1.991: Concert Piece for Orchestra16:282000 · studio album
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Tracklist · 1 track · 41:10
1Playback Play (News from the Music Fair)41:10Heterophonie / Improvisation ajoutée
2001 · studio album
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Tracklist · 6 tracks · 49:25
1Heterophonie: I8:052Heterophonie: II7:413Heterophonie: III5:214Heterophonie: IV4:525Heterophonie: V8:076Improvisation ajoutée15:192003 · studio album
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Tracklist · 17 tracks · 57:34
1Rrrrrrr... Ragtime-Waltz3:382Rrrrrrr... Rondeña2:003Rrrrrrr... Rosalie1:274Rrrrrrr... Rossignols enrhumés4:365Rrrrrrr... Râga3:206Ludwig van I2:327Ludwig van II2:028Ludwig van III1:499Ludwig van IV2:0310Ludwig van V1:4411Ludwig van VI3:2212Ludwig van VII3:0713Ludwig van VIII3:1214Ludwig van IX3:1815Der Eid der Hippokrates4:0316Unguis Incarnatus Est6:2517MM 518:562003 · studio album
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Tracklist · 2 tracks · 44:37
1Transición II21:422Phonophonie22:552004 · studio album
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Tracklist · 18 tracks · 1:16:36
1Tantz-Schul: Part I: Entrée2:152Tantz-Schul: Part I: Folie d'Espagne3:083Tantz-Schul: Part I: Trionfo di Bacco2:504Tantz-Schul: Part I: Il dolzor2:455Tantz-Schul: Part I: Novelle fantastiche3:446Tantz-Schul: Part I: Sarabande3:237Tantz-Schul: Part I: Cogi3:578Tantz-Schul: Part I: Turco con tamburino6:099Tantz-Schul: Part II: Scaramuzza... e donna5:3210Tantz-Schul: Part II: Riguadon/Rigadon5:0411Tantz-Schul: Part II: Galiarda1:1512Tantz-Schul: Part II: Galiardo2:2613Tantz-Schul: Part II: Disegno furia, satyro, cicona4:4514Tantz-Schul: Part II: Fenochio3:3115Tantz-Schul: Part II: Scoptin/Scapin4:3516Tantz-Schul: Part II: Rackett- und Hexentanz3:3517Tantz-Schul: Part II: Statue & Figure5:4718Tantz-Schul: Part III: Finale11:552004 · studio album
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Tracklist · 3 tracks · 57:41
1Südwesten17:242Norden20:173Westen20:002004 · studio album
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Tracklist · 15 tracks · 54:07
1Rrrrrrrr…: I. Rrrrrrr…2:592Rrrrrrrr…: II. Requiem3:043Rrrrrrrr…: III. Resurrexit dominus1:304Rrrrrrrr…: IV. Rêverie2:425Rrrrrrrr…: V. Rex tremendae1:336Rrrrrrrr…: VI. Romance2:257Rrrrrrrr…: VII. Ring Shouts1:488Anagrama: I.2:199Anagrama: II.4:1010Anagrama: III.2:3711Anagrama: IV.6:0412Anagrama: V.4:2213Mitternachtsstük: I. Mitternachtsstük6:2614Mitternachtsstük: II. Mitternachtsstük aus Selene6:5315Mitternachtsstük: III. Nachtphaläne in der Selene5:152006 · studio album
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Tracklist · 13 tracks · 3:10:06
Disc 11Pandorasbox, bandoneonpiece12:132Tango alemán9:283Bestiarium: I10:354Bestiarium: II10:365Bestiarium: III13:39Disc 21Ein Aufnahmezustand: Speak Softly6:292Ein Aufnahmezustand: Lullaby3:033Ein Aufnahmezustand: Spinning Top9:124Ein Aufnahmezustand: Acoustic Lessons for Children1:185Ein Aufnahmezustand: Ethnophonation5:326Ein Aufnahmezustand: Excursus About the Love in the Christian Theology4:527Ein Aufnahmezustand: Onomatopoeia and Musical Pictures12:28Disc 31Ludwig Van1:30:41Duodramen / Szenario / Liturgien
2006 · studio album
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Tracklist · 8 tracks · 59:26
1Szenario12:482Duodramen: I. Allegro1:583Duodramen: II. Grave2:254Duodramen: III. Andantino3:505Duodramen: IV. Molto tranquillo4:026Duodramen: V. Andantino3:327Duodramen: VI. Allegretto7:508Liturgien23:012008 · studio album
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Tracklist · 15 tracks · 45:14
1Kantrimiusik: I3:422Kantrimiusik: 1. Intermedium1:133Kantrimiusik: II3:114Kantrimiusik: 2. Intermedium1:135Kantrimiusik: III5:526Kantrimiusik: 3. Intermedium1:137Kantrimiusik: IV3:258Kantrimiusik: 4. Intermedium1:519Kantrimiusik: V2:3410Kantrimiusik: 5. Intermedium2:5111Kantrimiusik: VI2:5712Kantrimiusik: 6. Intermedium2:1413Kantrimiusik: VII3:5214Kantrimiusik: 7. Intermedium1:5315Kantrimiusik: VIII7:13Das Konzert / Phantasiestück / Pan
2012 · studio album
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Tracklist · 4 tracks · 1:05:41
1Das Konzert25:282Phantasiestück (version for flute and piano)17:413Pan4:454Phantasiestück (version for flute, piano and ensemble)17:47Chorbuch / Les Inventions d'Adolphe Sax
2012 · studio album
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Tracklist · 17 tracks · 53:25
1Chorbuch: Chorbuch 71:482Chorbuch: Chorbuch 101:493Chorbuch: Chorbuch 131:034Chorbuch: Chorbuch 141:195Chorbuch: Chorbuch 151:446Chorbuch: Chorbuch 171:547Chorbuch: Chorbuch 191:438Chorbuch: Chorbuch 211:149Chorbuch: Chorbuch 242:2110Chorbuch: Chorbuch 281:2111Chorbuch: Chorbuch 312:1612Chorbuch: Chorbuch 321:0613Chorbuch: Chorbuch 382:1014Chorbuch: Chorbuch 392:0615Chorbuch: Chorbuch 402:0116Chorbuch: Chorbuch 413:1517Les Inventions d'Adolphe Sax24:152014 · studio album
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Tracklist · 6 tracks · 1:18:55
1Trio I in Three Movements for Violin, Cello and Piano: I. Largo - Andantino -Andantino - Adagio8:402Trio I in Three Movements for Violin, Cello and Piano: II. Allegretto - Larghetto, Grave. Allegretto. Feroce. Presto8:113Trio I in Three Movements for Violin, Cello and Piano: III. Andantino. Adagio - Allegretto - Presto - Waltz, molto rubato12:184Trio II in One Movement, for Violin, Cello and Piano20:275Trio III in Two Movements for Piano, Violin and Cello: I. Moderato amabile - Largo - Allegro - Allegro vivace - Andantino12:216Trio III in Two Movements for Piano, Violin and Cello: II. Moderato cantabile - Moderato - Larghetto - Fliessend - Vivace16:582023 · studio album
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Tracklist · 3 tracks · 1:13:45
1I. Movement25:312II. Movement23:063Music for Renaissance (Instrumental)25:08Zwei Akte / Rrrrrrr... 5 Jazzstücke / Blue's Blue
— · studio album
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Tracklist · 7 tracks · 1:05:54
1Zwei Akte, For Saxophone & Harp28:532Jazzstücke (5), For Clarinet, Violin & Piano (From -Rrrr...-)- Rackett1:103Jazzstücke (5), For Clarinet, Violin & Piano (From -Rrrr...-)- Rrrrrrr-Bop2:074Jazzstücke (5), For Clarinet, Violin & Piano (From -Rrrr...-)- Reeds1:165Jazzstücke (5), For Clarinet, Violin & Piano (From -Rrrr...-)- Old-New1:256Jazzstücke (5), For Clarinet, Violin & Piano (From -Rrrr...-)- Riff2:277Blue's Blue, An Ethnomusicological Reconstruction For 4 Players28:36
Album · 2
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Exotica / TactilSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 2 tracks · 1:09:091Exotica49:39 2Tactil19:30 | Compilation | 1994 | |
| 2022 | Música electrónica latinoamericanaSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 10 tracks · 1:19:561Divertimento7:05 2Interpolaciones9:12 3Diálogos I6:22 4Diálogos II5:59 5Prisma5:21 6Phantasie 1967 [Para órgano y obligati]9:31 7Antithese 1962 composición [Para sonidos electrónicos y públicos]9:32 8Montage 1967 [Para diversas fuentes sonoras]9:11 9Pandorasbox [Pieza para bandoneón 1960]10:16 10Metapiéce (Mimetics)7:27 | Compilation | 2022 |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Mauricio Kagel head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 29 | 89.7th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 29 | 90.1th |
| Studio albums | 27 | 97.8th |
| Awards recorded | 9 | 98.7th |
| Timeline events | 36 | 97.7th |
| Recording span (years) | 40 | 80.2th |
| Genres | 4 | 84.7th |
Awards & honours
| Year | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Grimme-Preis | won | |
| 1971 | Grimme-Preis | won | |
| 1993 | Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia | won | |
| 1998 | Erasmus Prize | won | |
| 1999 | Maurice Ravel Prize | won | |
| 2000 | Ernst von Siemens Music Prize | won | |
| 2005 | Rolf Schock Prize in Musical Arts | won | |
| — | Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany | won | |
| — | honorary doctor of the University of Siegen | won |
Where this record comes from
portrait—Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mauricio_Kagel_%281985%29.jpgaliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/9f185094-f3d7-4e33-9f60-4588d4c63cb3discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/9f185094-f3d7-4e33-9f60-4588d4c63cb3core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q178293genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q178293seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauricio_Kagelbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauricio_Kagel
Why this artist is in the database
- List of composers by name
Tier rule: notable long tail (listeners 0, 29 language versions)
Image: Sjakkelien Vollebregt · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl · Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata: Q178293 · MusicBrainz: 9f185094-f3d7-4e33-9f60-4588d4c63cb3
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