Biography

There's no one word to best describe the music of composer Rettward von Doernberg whose work has found a home in a number of genres. Refusing to limit himself to a single style, he constantly looks for new ways to express himself.

"Two roads diverged in a forest, and I–
I took the one less traveled by…"

In the spirit of Robert Frost’s poem "The Road Not Taken," Rettward von Doernberg has always preferred to forge his own path. After completing his studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he had learned from acclaimed film composers as well as Academy Award winners such as Hans Zimmer, Alan Silvestri and James Newton Howard, von Doernberg could have readily pursued a career in Hollywood. Instead, he moved to Berlin to live out his dream of writing a classical concerto for an ensemble of eight electric guitars and four electric basses.

"Back then, I was greatly influenced by both heavy metal and classical music" von Doernberg recalls, "My goal was to fuse the two genres. You might describe the result as something along the lines of Metallica meets Stravinsky."

"Cosmos – a concerto for eight electric guitars and four electric basses" made eMusic.com’s charts, placing among the website’s Top 100 Electronica Albums based on sales at its online store. Rhapsody.com rated von Doernberg as one of its Top 50 electronic artists.

"Each piece of music I compose has been inspired by a specific idea and each is a tribute to that idea. With "Cosmos", I wanted to prove that it was possible to compose a sophisticated piece of music just for electric guitars and basses. I wanted to showcase the raw energy of the electric guitar and, more importantly, the instrument’s potential to be both delicate and expressive."

The thirteen minute-long opus is both powerful and explosive, yet at the same time, undeniably delicate and magical. The ensemble’s tone color is at times so unusual that one is aware of what a unique experience it is to listen to twelve guitars and basses in overdrive.

A sci-fi enthusiast, von Doernberg set his concerto against the backdrop of the cosmos. "Science fiction, alien life forms and unknown, vast spaces have always spoken to me. At the same time, SID music had an undeniable impact on the piece."

"SID music" refers to the video-game sounds heard in Commodore 64 (C64) adventures back in the first days of home computers. These sounds of the early 1980s went on to influence an entire generation of young gamers. While C64 sound chip ("SID") could only produce three notes simultaneously, programming the chip proved otherwise flexible.

As von Doernberg puts it, "game composers such as Rob Hubbard, Martin Galway and Tim Follin managed to compose truly fantastic music despite the chip’s limitations. Who knows? The limitations may have even contributed to the music’s greatness. To this day, a huge remixing community continues to create new arrangements for these classic tunes. The C64 greatly influenced my music, and I think you can hear it in my tunes. Cosmos is a case in point."

"I think therefore I ambient."

So as to not focus exclusively on contemporary classical music Rettward von Doernberg started off in ambient music. His first release "Night Drive" has been heard on more than 30 radio stations and podcasts, including such names as Spacemusic, HRB1, Subsonic Temple Radio, Idyllic Music and Epiphany Radio.

"My ambient electronica practically writes itself. I like to do something relaxing to break up my routine of writing film scores and contemporary classical music."

Von Doernberg's love for wide-open spaces, symphonic accents, a good beat, catchy motifs and, of course, SID can really be heard in his ambient music.

"A film score is its soul and the gateway to the composer's viewing experience."

To this day, von Doernberg continues to compose film scores. These days, he has the luxury of only working on projects that truly touch him. "The script has to be good, the filmmaker has to be a good person, and the money has to pay the rent. I think I’m past working on student films," the composer says. His most recent project, the award-winning animated short Manic Moondays by Martin Schiffter, has been shown at film festivals around the world and televised a total of six times.

Coming attractions…

"I make a point of not laying out a stone path for myself,” von Doernberg remarks. "When I work on a piece of music, I never know what I’ll be doing next. I like to work intuitively on my music and play things by ear. I’m often surprised by the finished product, and I think that’s what I like best about my work."

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© 1999-2010 Rettward von Doernberg