Roland Neuwirth

Roland Neuwirth Collection:

Works

• Musical manuscripts and sketches, as well as typed manuscripts of the texts for the pieces of music by Neuwirth Extrem Schrammeln
• Scores and musical manuscripts for chamber music and orchestral works
• Original musical manuscripts and scores for major musical works (operas, operettas, musical theatre works) in collaboration with poets: “Und das bei uns” (text: Peter Ahorner); “Hunds. Kläfforette” (text: Neuwirth/Petschinka); ‘Moser oder Die Passion des Wohnzimmergottes’ (text: Franzobel); ‘Jedem das Seine’ (text: Silke Hassler/Peter Turrini)
• Manuscripts, sketches and materials for radio play and film music
• Lectures, essays and texts on the tradition and form of the "Wienerlied"

Correspondence

• Correspondence (correspondents include Julian Schutting, Silke Hassler/Peter Turrini, Peter Rühmkorf, Robert Menasse, Mathias Rüegg)

Collectibles

• Extensive collection of sheet music of traditional "Wienerlied" compositions
• Materials for teaching at Vienna's music universities
• Contracts and documents relating to artistic activities

Roland Neuwirth was born on October 31, 1950, in Vienna and grew up in Vienna-Hernals. As a teenager, he taught himself to play blues, rock, and jazz (guitar, double bass). Neuwirth worked as a typesetter for many years and continued to do so at a printing company in Vienna-Meidling until he finally made the switch to becoming a professional musician.

In the early 1970s, Neuwirth began to explore the tradition of Viennese song. From 1973 to 1977, he studied guitar with Luise Walker at Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien (Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts). In 1974, he founded the Neuwirth Schrammeln, which he renamed Neuwirth Extrem-Schrammeln in 1983. While the ensemble's beginnings were characterized by a fusion of Viennese songs and popular music styles such as blues and rock, Neuwirth later focused more and more on renewing the traditional compositional forms of Viennese folk music. His ensemble followed the original Schrammel instrumentation (contraguitar, 2 violins, button accordion, vocals).

Roland Neuwirth has shared his knowledge of traditional Viennese music and how to play the contraguitar as a lecturer at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna. His music has been preserved on numerous recordings and has been honored with awards and recognitions, including the City of Vienna Prize for Music (2017) and the Johann Nestroy Ring (1994).

Neuwirth's compositional oeuvre comprises more than 300 songs, music-dramatic, orchestral, and chamber music works. Apart from his decades-long presence with the Extrem-Schrammeln, he has performed in various constellations with musicians from the fields of rock, world, jazz, and classical music. In 2020, he recorded a version of Franz Schubert's song cycle “Winterreise” in the Viennese dialect on CD together with pianist Florian Krumböck. For the 200th anniversary of Johann Strauss' birth in 2025, he composed a waltz symphony, which was premiered by the Bruckner Orchestra Linz under the baton of Johannes Kalitzke.