Werder was born in Berlin, Germany, as Felix Bischofswerder, the son of the composer Boaz Bischofswerder,[4] who was a member of Arnold Schoenberg's circle.[5] He studied Fine Arts and Architecture in London before arriving in Australia in 1940 on the HMT Dunera, along with his father, leaving Germany because of their Jewish heritage.[6] They were interned at a camp in Tatura, Victoria for the duration of World War II. In 1943, he wrote his first symphony. In 1946 his father died.
During the 1960s and early 1970s, Werder wrote seven operas, which were popularly received. His opera Private was commissioned for television by the ABC and was broadcast in 1969. He also wrote works for Deutsche Oper Berlin and Opera Australia among others.[7]
Werder was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1976.[1] He received the Stamitz Performance Prize (1984), the Australia Council Fellowship (1986), the Arts Guild of Germany Composition Prize (1988), the Stamitz Prize (1988), and an honorary doctorate in Music from the University of Melbourne.
He formed the performance ensemble Australia Felix, which toured Europe and included Bruce Clarke, Merlyn Quaife, Brian Brown, Alex Grieve, Judy Easton, Tony Conolan, Kevin Makin and Peter Clinch.[10] For many years, during the 1960s and 1970s, he wrote music criticism for the Melbourne newspaper The Age.
On 24 February 2012 a concert was held at the Iwaki Auditorium, Melbourne, to celebrate Werder's 90th birthday.[11] The concert included the premiere of three new works: "Ill-Tempered Clavier" (2009) and "Dice" (2010)", both performed by Michael Kieran Harvey; and "H Factor", a work that Werder said would be his final composition, performed by the Silo String Quartet.[5] Also, percussionist Eugene Ughetti performed "Quinney on the Roof" and "Recipe for Disaster"; Warren Burt presented a digital restoration of Werder's 4-speaker piece for analogue synthesizer "The Tempest", originally recorded and released in 1974.[12]
Werder died in Melbourne on 3 May 2012.[2] He was aged 90.
Whilst in the army in 1944, he married Mena Waten, the sister of the novelist Judah Waten. In 1976, aged 54, he married the widowed Vera Phillip, whose first husband had been on the Dunera with Werder. Her family were also refugees from Europe in the 1930s.[5]
The Don Banks Music Award was established in 1984 to publicly honour a senior artist of high distinction who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to music in Australia.[18] It was founded by the Australia Council in honour of Don Banks, Australian composer, performer and the first chair of its music board.
