German composer York Hoeller has won a $200,000 Grawemeyer Award for his orchestra work Sphaeren, a 40-minute piece dedicated to his wife, Ursula, who died in 2006.

The Grawemeyer Awards are five annual $200,000 prizes given since 1985 at the University of Louisville in the fields of music, political science, psychology, education and religion.

Hoeller spent five years composing the orchestral work, which he says was inspired by nature and the elements of air, water, earth and fire from Greek philosophy.

Sphaeren (or Spheres ) debuted in 2008 with the West German Broadcasting Corp.'s symphony orchestra in Cologne, Germany.

It was one of 136 entries from around the world considered for the prize, which was announced Monday.

"The piece is magnificently scored, using a large orchestra to generate colours ranging from the most delicate to the most overwhelming," said Marc Satterwhite, a University of Louisville music professor who directs the award.

Hoeller is professor emeritus of music composition at the Cologne University of Music and a former director of the electronic studio at the WGB.

He is known for incorporating electronic sounds and modernist techniques into his works, which include the 1989 opera Der Meister und Margarita, inspired by the Russian novel of the same name.

A recording of Spheres will be released in 2010.