"A masterpiece and pioneering work of the avant-garde: with Fasce, Friedrich Cerha had opened new doors in 1959, moving away from a tonal art of motifs and melodies towards spacious sound surfaces - so finely patterned and grained that the ear would not tire of them." Der Standard, Christoph Irrgeher, 16/11/2023, on "Fasce"
"In the second part (...) Cerha creates a completely different mood, with bright colours in the woodwinds and buzzing violins. (...) The music seems to float for a few minutes. (...) Huge cheers, of course, highly deserved, also for the great piece." Hamburger Abendblatt, Daniel Dittus, 7 November 2022, on the "Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra"
"A narrative gesture, a varied dramaturgy and clear, uncluttered soundscapes were captivating in Friedrich Cerha's new version of his Mikrogramme." Der Standard, Stefan Ender, 20 November 2020 on the premiere of the new version of "Mikrogramme"
"Almost twenty minutes of immersion in a fascinating cosmos full of structural perfection and yet unbridled passion." nachrichten.at, Michael Wruss, 13/08/2016 on the world premiere of "Eine blassblaue Vision"
"It is an exploration of silence in which the listener has the feeling of being in a semi-dark, deserted forest, or even a vast landscape of the unconscious. The strings [...] whisper in refined transparency before the wind begins to whistle." Berliner Morgenpost, Rebecca Schmid, 18.01.2016 on "Bruckstück, geträumt"
"In the first movement [...] elegiac material unfolded from a glaring, primordial nucleus, inflating into threatening mountains of sound before exploding again. The middle movement offered bucolic idylls only delicately disturbed by biting brass, which ended in light string pads; martial material followed in the finale." Der Standard, Stefan Ender, 10.04.2016 on the premiere of "Drei Sätze für Orchester"
"Concise pieces with clear atmospheric contrasts, refined music with (after a cursory listening impression) the flair of the free Viennese atonality of 1910, but rhythmically more concise and with pinches of Stravinsky, Ravel, Mahler." hundertII - Konzertgänger in Berlin, Albrecht Selge, 14 November 2016 on the premiere of "Skizzen"
"Cerha has created [...] a rushing continuum of sound from which lines and tones are released. All of this creates a first-class aural theatre that reaches top form, especially in the second movement, when Cerha first exposes a voice and then turns it into an outsider." Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Markus Dieppold, 13.02.2012 on the premiere of "Zwei Szenen"
"Wonderful melodies buzz disembodied through the space and thus form a counterpart to the berserk energy of the outer parts - and incidentally show that Cerha is also one of the greats as an adagio composer, i.e. in the royal class of pitch organisation." Leipziger Volkszeitung, 04.05.2011 on the "Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra"
"Friedrich Cerha combines pulsating, rousing rhythms and opulent symphonic sensuality of sound in this work." Drehpunkt Kultur, Heidemarie Klabacher, 04.10.2009 on the premiere of the "Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra"
