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Mysticism, Religionand MythologyCity, Country ... Music

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editorial

con tent

Dear Readers,

When sacred music is

mentioned, one often immediately thinks

of settings of the Mass, oratorios and

cantatas. In New Music, however, the

spectrum of the confrontation with this

genre has been considerably expanded.

Not only certain religions, but also

subjects from the areas of mysticism

and mythology have stimulated many

contemporary composers to

create pseudo-religious works or new

forms of sacred music.

You will become acquainted with

some of these in this issue.

More direct and perhaps more

unequivocal than this is the approach to

compositions dedicated to actual

existing egions or cities. We have

examined our catalogues, freely varying

the name of the well-known quiz game

“City, Country, River” for concepts of

“City, Country ... Music.”

Alfred Schnittke’s 75th birthday is

reflected in the new Sikorski Magazine,

as is the representation of recently

completed instrumental concertos of

New Music and the attempt of

avant-gardists to correlate the effect of

light with musical concepts. In addition,

a special article is dedicated to special

instrumentation practices for big bands

in the area of dance music.

We wish you many new

discoveries whilst reading.

Dagmar SikorskiDr. Axel Sikorski

World and National Premieres 2009/10

Cover

receive its world premiere on 29 October2009 in Munich by the Bavarian Radio Choirand Orchestra under Mariss Jansons, alsobelongs to the series of works which, in thebroadest sense, turn to a higher reality andthus to the wide area of mysticism. Kancheliuses Latin text quotations in a loose orderwhich is apparently arranged without any con-nection to each other and which can be inter-preted in a variety of ways. The phrase“Mortuos plango” (“I lament the dead”) turnsup, or the reference to one’s own personunder the motto “Ad se ipsum” (“to oneself”),“Ora et labora” (“pray and work”), a “Credo,qua verum” and a “Stabat mater dolorosa.”All these religious or worldly influenced textfragments appear like mottos which are sub-jected to a musically defined whole. At theworld premiere in Munich, “Dixi” („I havesaid“) will be contrasted with Beethoven’s 9thSymphony. The chamber work “Job’s Lament” for violinand piano by Lera Auerbach received itsworld premiere at the Verbier Festival on 26July 2009, performed by Dmitry Sitkovetskyand the composer herself at the piano. In thiswork, the composer and poetess LeraAuerbach has dedicated herself to the biblicalfigure of Job, who dogged by misfortune,begins to doubt his faith in God. Auerbachbased her work on her own poem entitled“Job’s Lament.”Lera Auerbach has already composed a“Russian Requiem”, which received itsLatvian premiere in Riga on 22 August 2009and its Estonian premiere on 23 August 2009in Tallinn with the Latvian State Choir and theEstonian National Symphony Orchestra. In thisvocal work, Auerbach connects Orthodoxliturgical texts and poems with poetry ofRussian poets including Pushkin, Mandelstamand Blok. The premiere of her Requiem forIcarus will take place in Washington with theNational Symphony Orchestra under thedirection of James Gaffigan on 18 February2010. This is the final movement of herSymphony No. 1 “Chimera.” Western art hastime and again been concerned with theIcarus myth. It tells of the high spirits of theboy Icarus, the son of Daedalus, who madeartificial wings and attached them to his bodywith wax. High up in the air, he felt akin toGod and flew ever higher up in the directionof the sun, where the wax began to melt andhe suddenly plunged into the sea. Since self-limitation and devotion to a higher power alsobelong to the essence of Christianity,Auerbach connects the idea of the commemo-ration of the dead with the ancient saga figu-re. “Oratorios do not necessarily have to besacred,” says the composer Moritz Eggertfrom Heidelberg. Four years ago, he himselfcomposed a so-called football oratorio entit-led “The Depth of the Space” for soloists,orchestra and choir. He had fun in aestheticallyapproaching the classical form of the ‘passion.’

“Now and then,” he writes, “I am removed –and I can thank Mozart enough for this – intothat peace that surpasses all critical and alsotheological reason.” The fact that, of allpeople, Johann Sebastian Bach is missingfrom Küng’s selection of outstanding compo-sers is surprising at first glance. There is sure-ly hardly another composer in whose work thecorrelation between music and religion is somarked as in Bach. Anyone who listens to orperforms Bach’s cantatas is in that moment areligious person, as the Dutch organist andharpsichordist Ton Koopman quoted theremark of a listener and went on to say, “weattempt to bring back religion with Bach’smusic.” The relationship to religious contents andmessages has continued to change during thecourse of the centuries and brought forth con-troversial opinions. Thus a direct descendantof Richard Wagner, Nike Wagner recentlyremarked, “Religion divides people – spiritua-lity is something completely different. Thatdoes not mean that one doesn’t have any fee-lings. But it does mean that one doesn’t insistupon them.” We have many works in our catalogues which,in the broadest sense, turn to the broad fieldof faith, to specific religions, but also to adjoi-ning areas ranging from mysticism to cabba-lism. In addition, composers’ interest in religi-on and mysticism, as the many upcoming pre-miere performances about which we arereporting here, seems to be growing strongeragain. Daniel Nazareth’s “Bara’a Symphony”centres on the myth of the creation of theearth and its creatures institutionalised by theworld religions. Lera Auerbach dedicates aRequiem to an ancient saga figure, thus com-bining mythology and Christian faith. The“Tetragrammaton” elevated to a subject byMoritz Eggert (Greek: „four-lettered”, tetra-gram), for example, connects the name ofGod (Yahweh, JVHH), the pentagram andother magical signs to a strong symbol repre-sented on many protective amulets. Giya Kancheli’s new work “Dixi” for mixedchoir and symphony orchestra, scheduled to

Mysticism,Religion and Mythology

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None other than the universallyinterested theologian Hans Künghas extensively occupied himselfwith the relationship betweenmusic and religion. Taking thethree great composers WolfgangAmadeus Mozart, Richard Wagnerand Anton Bruckner as examples,he has tried to show what rolereligiosity plays in the productionof each individual composer, andarrived at the conclusion that,among other things, religiousaspects tend to be more noticeableon the subjective level.

02 Mysticism, Religion and Mythology

03 Instrumental Concerts in New Music

04 Light transformed into SoundCity, Country ... Music

06 Mieczyslaw Weinberg

07 Alfred Schnittke’s 75th Birthday

World and National Premieres 2009/10

Mysticism,Religion and Mythology


Focus

26.07.2009 VerbierWorld premiere: Lera Auerbach:“Job’s Lament” for violin and piano

22.08.2009 Riga23.08.2009 TallinnEstonian premiere: Lera Auerbach:Russian Requiem for soloists, choir and orchestra

29.10.2009 MunichWorld Premiere: Giya Kancheli:“Dixi” for chair and orchestra

09.02.2010 TallinnEstonian premiere

13.11.2009 StuttgartWorld premiere: Milko Kelemen:“Daniel” for mixed choir

29.11.2009 TokyoJapanese premiere: Alfred Schnittke:“Nagasaki”: Oratorio

12.12.2009 StuttgartWorld Premiere: Moritz Eggert:“Tetragrammaton” for string orchestra

18.-25.01.2010 HannoverOriginal production: Daniel Nazareth: “Bara’a”: Symphony for choir and orchestra(Evolution Symphony)

18.02.2010 WashingtonWorld premiere: Lera Auerbach: “Requiem for Icarus” for orchestra

InstrumentalConcerts in New Music

Present-day composers have notforgotten the good-old

instrumental concerto. Several ofthem have written concertos for

rather unusual instruments suchas the double bass, tympani and

even the nose flute.n new music, composers generally treat soloinstruments and their greatly expanded

sonic possibilities in a quite experimentalway.The Azerbaijani composer Franghiz Ali-Zadeh composed a Double Concerto, aConcerto for Violoncello, Percussion andChamber Orchestra entitled “Deniz” (Sea),premiered by Ivan Monighetti on 19 October2009 in Bern. Ali-Zadeh has a very specialrelationship to Switzerland and to the cello asa solo instrument. In 1999 she was the firstwoman to be composer in residence at theInternational Music Festival in Lucerne. Inresponse to a commission from the CalousteGulbenkian Foundation, she wrote aConcerto for Violoncello and Orchestrathat was premiered in Lisbon by IvanMonighetti (violoncello) and the GulbenkianOrchestra under the direction of Muhai Tangin June 2002. Also in 2002, the 12 cellists ofthe Berlin Philharmonic celebrated their 30thanniversary with a cello festival at the BerlinPhilharmonie, for which Ali-Zadeh was com-missioned to compose “Schüschtar”(Metamorphoses for 12 Violoncellos).Similarly to Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, who summarisesseveral individual works in the “Silk Road”cycle, Moritz Eggert also has diverse cycles.Alongside the collection of highly virtuososolo piano pieces designated as“Hämmerklavier,” meanwhile consisting of 22pieces, the orchestral cycle “Number Nine” isdesigned as a 9-part cycle made up of inde-pendent pieces. They range from short andlonger purely orchestral pieces to concerto-like works including “Number Nine VI: ABigger Splash” for saxophone, jazz bass andorchestra.In his new piece “Number Nine VIII: TempWork” for soloist and orchestra, MoritzEggert is interested in a merger of temporaland linguistic levels. To achieve this, hemakes use of fragments from 60 years ofGerman history in extremely densely wovenmusical textures including original sounds,music theatre and performance elements. “Atotal overtaxing of all the senses,” Eggertcomments with a twinkle in his eye, “or therepresentation of how humans sense the pas-sage of time, which everyone senses as pas-sing by ‘too fast.’ If music can represent sucha time-space, then only in sweat-inducing‘temp work.’” Ulrich Leyendecker is also a composer ofmany instrumental concertos which are fre-quently performed. The concertmaster of theNDR Symphony Orchestra, Roland Greutter,gave the premiere of his Concerto for Violinand Orchestra several years ago in Hamburg.Now Leyendecker has completed a Concertofor Viola and Orchestra, which will be pre-miered by Wolfram Christ accompanied bythe Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saar-brücken Kaiserslautern under the direction ofChristoph Poppen on 19 March 2010 inKaiserslautern.

I

04.09.2009 Bonn World premiere: Moritz Eggert:„Number Nine VIII: Temp Work” forsoloist and orchestra

19.10.2009 Bern World premiere: Franghiz Ali-Zadeh: Concerto for violoncello, percussion and chamber orchestra

19.03.2010 KaiserslauternWorld premiere: Ulrich Leyendecker:Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra

W orld Premieres andNational Premieres



The player appears as a Jesus-like figure andthe sports reporter as a kind of evangelist.Football is for many people a replacement forreligion, says Eggert, and that is why the asso-ciative proximity to the sacred is not difficult.“But what’s important for me, above all, is theironical potential of such an artistic elevation.”Eggert recently completed a purely instru-mental work for string orchestra entitled“Tetragrammaton” which rather belongs tothe mystic, cabbalistic realm; it will receive itspremiere by the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestraon 12 December 2009 in Stuttgart. In accor-dance with the “occidental white-magical tra-dition,” the four letters of theTetragrammaton “symbolise the totality of thegodly unity on earth,” whereby the fournesssymbolises the earth and the creative humanbeing. “At the moment I am interested in cer-tain states of intoxication in my music, as theyplay a role in Sufi mysticism, for example; notfor esoteric reasons (I am absolutely anti-eso-teric) but because the ‘unspeakable’ in musicinterests me, certain moments of elevation,”says Eggert. The Croatian composer Milko Kelemenmakes a direct connection with the Bible andespecially to archangels in his latest work.“Daniel” for mixed choir was composed forthe renowned Stuttgart Bach Choir. The pre-miere of the work will take place on 13November 2009 in Stuttgart.

Daniel, Habakkuk (Dan 14, 37-38)Take the food that God has sent you. God,You do not abandon those who love You.

The Russian composer Alfred Schnittke com-posed an oratorio for Nagasaki, the city oncedestroyed by the American dropping of theatomic bomb. “Nagasaki” for choir and orche-stra, already recorded by the Swedish recordcompany BIS, will receive its Japanese pre-miere in Tokyo on 29 November 2009 perfor-med by the Yomiuri Nippon SymphonyOrchestra under the direction of GennadyRozhdestvensky. Alfred Schnittke composedhis oratorio “Nagasaki” in 1958 as a graduati-on work. The work was produced one yearlater by the Soviet Radio and TelevisionSymphony Orchestra conducted by AlgisZiuraitis for Moscow Radio. “Nagasaki” standsat the beginning of Schnittke’s production andcan also partially be assigned to the genre ofprogramme music. Poems dealing with war asa central theme by Russian and Japanesepoets serve as the basis of the work. Neither an oratorio nor a requiem, but a workrelated less to religious contents than to thecreation of the world and life in general, is“Bara’a” for soloists, choir and orchestra(Evolution Symphony) by Daniel Nazareth.The original production of the work is plannedwith the Hannover Brahms Choir, the NDRRadio Philharmonic Hannover and DanielNazareth conducting in January 2010 on NDRHannover. It is not without irony that the com-

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poser approaches the great questions ofhumanity concerning its origins and its ancho-ring in time and the universe. In the third partof his Evolution Symphony, Nazareth illumina-tes the creation myth from four different per-spectives: the Judeo-Christian tradition,Hinduism, the Maya myths and Greek mytho-logy.One of the most important works in contem-porary sacred music was written by SofiaGubaidulina. During the Bach Year 2000, theStuttgart International Bach Academy reque-sted a contribution from Gubaidulina on the“Passion” theme. Gubaidulina composed thelarge-scale St. John Passion, with which shefulfilled a long-harboured wish. This work,expanded by Gubaidulina during the ensuingyears, occupies a special place amongst themany religiously influenced works by this com-poser. Meanwhile it has been performed inmany countries of the world and is to be per-formed again in Helsinki on 31 January and 1 April 2010 by the Helsinki PhilharmonicOrchestra under the direction of LeifSegerstam.


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The transference ofcolour energy, complementary and simultaneous colour contrasts and the representation of impressions of images with musical means –but also the phenomenon of “light” – play an essential role in New Music.Taking its point of departure from the pictorial arts, this confrontation has alsohad a direct effect on all artistic orientations of the 20th century and the presentday. The painter Robert Delaunay, one of the most important providers of ideas inthe artists’ group “Der Blaue Reiter,” had already attempted to reproduce thetension and relaxation of dissonant and complementary colours with the motif oflight-refracting windowpanes. But Franz Marc also experimented with so-calledcolour chords in his famous animal pictures. The fact that Paul Klee and theRussian avant-garde, including Wassily Kandinsky, took up these ideas of thethree protagonists of the “Blauer Reiter” and much more strongly expressed aconnection to music, was logical and consistent. How else would a title like “TheYellow Sound” for a stage composition by Kandinsky be conceivable? At the same time as the formation of the group “Der Blaue Reiter,” the Russiancomposer Alexander Skryabin experimented with colour-music in his work“Prometheus,” Op. 60 in 1911. He was convinced by the theory that visual perceptual qualities were directly transferable to acoustic stimuli, that hearingcolours was theoretically possible. For this purpose he conceived of a “clavier àlumières,” a colour keyboard which was used in his large-scale orchestral work.In so doing, he seized upon an idea that the French mathematician Louis-Betrand Castel had attempted two hundred years earlier: Castel assigned corre-sponding colours to each of the twelve tones of the chromatic scale. WithSkryabin’s colour keyboard, visual impressions, e.g. light projections, were produced by pressing the keys. In addition, the acoustic sounds of the piano alsosounded.A new work by Moritz Eggert has a title referring to light. The piece“Illumination” for symphony orchestra and jazz orchestra belongs to a largerwork complex entitled “Processional” in which different pieces for differentcombinations are connected in an optional open-air concept arising from anintensive occupation with various idioms of march and military music. In sodoing, Eggert feels very close to the ironical-pacifist approach pursued, forexample, by Mauricio Kagel in his “Ten Marches to Miss the Victory.” Several ofthese orchestral marches by Eggert have already been premiered at the “YoungEuro Classic” in Berlin. In “Illumination,” this sound material is now further deve-loped within the framework of a confrontation. The contrast between jazz bigband and classical orchestra is particularly stimulating here. A parallel to the2009 anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall is in no way unintentional, comments Eggert on his piece. “But a procession is also more than that – a para-de, a procession of lights into an ever uncertain future. To what extent art, towhat extent music can brighten such a future, to what extent human patterns ofbehaviour always follow the same beaten paths, to what extent the pathos resul-ting from the hymnal enhancement is still valid – these are questions that thispiece wishes to pose.”The young composer Jörn Arnecke, who hails from Hameln, has also hadrecourse to the subject of light refractions in minerals in a piece for clarinet,bassoon and orchestra entitled “Crystallisations,” premiered in June 2009 bythe Hamburg Philharmonic. He is now working on a piece, “Lichtbogen” (LightArch) for orchestra. Arnecke says that he is connecting, so to speak, “two elec-trodes which are under sufficiently high voltage. The light arch bridges over anarea. It contains an entire spectrum of colours. And the most important thing: itshines!”

W orld Premieres

23 August 2009 BerlinWorld premiere: Moritz Eggert: “Illumination (Finale from Processional)”

19 February 2010 Göttingen World premiere: Jörn Arnecke: “Light Arch” for orchestra

Light transformed into Sound

City, Country ..With pieces of music dedicated to a specific country, we naturally think of nationalhymns immediately. There are evenhymns especially composed for individual cities or regions.However, we do not wish to report onthese here, but rather on works fromthe area of serious music dedicatedto cities, countries or specific places,approaching their essence in a

completely individual way.

he Croatian composer Milko Kelemen, for example,recently completed a symphonic work entitled “AStuttgart Imagination,” premiered by the StuttgartChamber Orchestra on 3 October 2009 under the direc-tion of Michael Hofstetter in Stuttgart.Kelemen, one of the most important cultural mediatorsbetween East and West during the post-war period andfounder of the Zagreb Biennale in 1959, becameProfessor of Composition in at the Stuttgart MusicAcademy in 1973 and has lived in the Swabian metropo-lis ever since. In later years he also served for shortperiods as Professor of Composition at Yale Universityand at the universities of Montreal, Buenos Aires and Riode Janeiro.Stuttgart has “grown close to his heart,” as Kelemenmentions in connection with his work. He has insertedbrief notions between the musical sections which have todo with Stuttgart and are clearly articulated by the musi-cians. Thus the word “fountains,” then “Palace Garden”and the names Hegel, Schiller and Hölderlin, who wereall connected with the city, and finally the wine-produ-cing towns of Trollinger, Riesling und Silvaner. Rodion Shchedrin’s “Music for the City of Köthen” forchamber orchestra composed in 1984 also belongs tothe circle of “city and country” musical works. The coun-ty seat in the District of Halle lies on the northern edgeof Leipzig Bay and was especially known during thetwentieth century for the construction of conveyor beltsfor brown coal mining. From 1847 onwards, the Palacebuilt from 1597 until 1604 was the residence of thePrince of Anhalt-Köthen. In 1717 Johann Sebastian Bachbegan his tenure there as Court Chapel Master underthe Prince of Anhalt-Köthen. The ensemble used inShchedrin’s piece is orientated on baroque orchestralensembles, while the music itself is in Shchedrin’s unmi-stakeably individual style.Alfred Schnittke paid homage to the city of Liverpoolon the northwest coast of England in a work from hislater years. The harbour lies on the southern shore of theMersey River and is one of England’s most importantports. Commercial buildings of the 19th and 20th centu-ries dominate the city. The one-movement orchestralwork “For Liverpool” lasting barely a quarter of an hour,was composed in 1993 for the Royal LiverpoolPhilharmonic Orchestra. The inclusion of an electric gui-tar and an electric bass is unusual for the symphonic lite-rature – these instruments are a tribute to the Beatleswho were from Liverpool. A brief chorale-like sequenceintroduced at the beginning permeates the work, whichconsists of brief episodes.

T

City, Country ..


. MusicFantastic Shostakovich-opera

found in MoscowIt occurs time and again that unknown documents, even entire manuscripts of

works begun or completed turn up inarchives. Parts of a comic opera

by Dmitri Shostakovich were recently discovered in Moscow,

the existence of which was completelyunknown previously.

The sketches for the stage work“Orango” were written in 1932.

The subject is based on material by theRussian science fiction author

Alexei Tolstoy and is about a fantasybeing – half ape, half human – which

resulted from experiments in Soviet labo-ratories. In the first act of the opera,

Orango is presented to the public, proving himself to be a convincing speaker who, however, repeatedly

interrupts his statements with ape-likeshrieks. If Shostakovich had completed

the work, Orango would have advancedto General Secretary of the Communist

Party by the end of the opera, accordingto the libretto. This bold sketch was

perhaps one reason why Shostakovich abandoned work on this opera and the

manuscript was forgotten. The manuscript material to “Orango” was

already found in the Moscow Shostakovicharchive in 2006 by the archivist OlgaDigonskaya. The same archivist also

recently located the complete libretto. The musicologist Gerard McBurney is

presently working on a reconstruction of a score for performance.

Prizes and Honours for Sofia Gubaidulina

The Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulinahas been awarded the

Great Federal Service Cross with Star.In addition, Yale University has

awarded her an honorary doctorate, an honour that Benjamin Franklin,

John F. Kennedy, Desmond Tutu, MartinLuther King, Paul McCartney,

Mstislav Rostropovich, Kurt Masur and Krzysztof Penderecki,

among others, have received before her. During the course of the music festival

Nuovi Eventi Musicali 2009” in Florence,she was presented with the

Premio Nuovi Eventi Musicali 2009. The ceremony was framed by the

Gubaidulina work “Seven Words” for violoncello, bayan and orchestra and

by Alfred Schnittke’s Epilogue for violoncello, piano and tape.

Sofia Gubaidulina received another awardon 21 July 2009 in Schwäbisch Gmünd.

This was the European Church MusicPrize 2009. Gubaidulina’s choral work

“Exult Before God” and her cello work“Sun Song” were performed at the

ceremonial presentation.Former recipients of this prize have

included Helmuth Rilling, Eric Ericson,Arvo Pärt and Krzysztof Penderecki.

On 23/24 October 2009 the NDR series “das neue werk” is

organising a Gubaidulina-Festival at the Rolf-Liebermann-Studio

at the broadcasting station, at which Gubaidulina will

also appear as interpreter.

In the case of Leningrad, we have had to expe-rience - more than once during the twentiethcentury - the fact that cities, especially inEastern Europe, have sometimes had tochange their names. Dmitri Shostakovich, forexample, composed his Symphony No. 7 in Cmajor (“Leningrad”) Op. 60 during the waryear of 1941; in it, his subject was the attackson this city.St. Petersburg’s name was changed toPetrograd in 1914 and to Leningrad in 1924;finally, in 1991, its name was changed back toSt. Petersburg. The invasion of the GermanArmy on 22 June 1941 in the Soviet Union wasa far-reaching event in the turbulent history ofSt. Petersburg/Leningrad. The first attacks onLeningrad took place already in early August;the blockade around the city was completedby 8 September. The siege lasted over 900days. The Soviet authorities succeeded in eva-cuating cultural institutions of the city duringthe first weeks, including exhibits from famousmuseums, the personnel of the opera houseand the Leningrad Philharmonic.Not only orchestral works but also chamberworks have been dedicated to certain places.For example, the Russian composer KatiaTchemberdji wrote a Trio for clarinet (viola),violoncello and piano named - after the placeof its world premiere - the “Lerchenborg”Trio. This medium-sized Danish city on theisland of Zealand organises an annual musicfestival at which compositions of internationalavant-garde composers were premieredduring the 1990s. The city also has a castleand numerous historic sights, including amonument to Hans Christian Andersen.Another Trio for clarinet, violin and piano byTchemberdji is entitled “Heidelberg” Trio.The shocking terrorist attacks in New York andWashington on 11 September 2001 stimulatedthe Russian-American composer LeraAuerbach to compose her Sonata for Violinand Piano No. 2 “11 September.” The eventsof that horrible day shocked her very deeply,Auerbach says.“ I started to write this piece onSept 12th. Everything else had to wait. Since Iwas a child I knew that the only way to dealwith pain is by transforming it into a work ofart, into music, thus elevating from thedestructive forces that can be attached topainful experiences. Like the Phoenix, whodies in order to be born, this piece was bornfrom death. All the different emotions I expe-rienced at that time, from shock to sorrow,from mourning in hope, from anger todespair, from reminiscence to questioning,were embodied into its material.” The oratorio “Nagasaki” by Alfred Schnittke,in memory of the dropping of the atomicbomb and only premiered in 2006, which was

mentioned in the previous article, also has todo with destruction and horror.A so-called “Prague” Piano Concerto waswritten by Dmitri Kabalevsky. The Russiancomposer wrote his Concerto No. 4 for Pianoand Orchestra in 1979 for a competition, quo-ting many examples of Czechoslovak folkmusic in it. Among the songs quoted andtransformed are an almost literal quotation of“Vyletela holubenka” (“The Little Dove FlewOut”), the Moravian song „´”U starei” and, inthe finale, the Slovak song “Pride Ty Suhajko.” Sergei Prokofiev’s so-called “UralRhapsody,” Op. 128 of 1951 is not dedicatedto a city but to a mountain range. The UralMountains function more or less as the naturalboundary between Europe and Asia, exten-ding 2500 kilometres from Kara Lake in a sout-herly direction. The northern Ural Mountainsreach an altitude of 1894 metres. They con-stantly decrease in altitude towards the south.Split in several chains, with decreasing forestsand increasing steppe-like landscape, the cha-racter of the Ural Mountains also changes inthis direction. There is extensive iron-oremining in the central Ural Mountains.

03.10.200 StuttgartWorld premiere: Milko Kelemen:“A Stuttgart Imagination” for string orchestra

Rodion Shchedrin:Music for the City of Köthen for chamber orchestra(1984)

Alfred Schnittke:For Liverpool for orchestra (1993)

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975):Symphony No. 7 in C Major “Leningrad,” Op. 60 (1941)

Katia Tchemberdji: Trio for Clarinet (Viola), Violoncello and Piano“Lerchenborg” Trio (1994)Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano “Heidelberg” Trio(1991)

Lera Auerbach:Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 “11 September” (2001)

Alfred Schnittke:“Nagasaki:” Oratorio for mezzo soprano, choir andorchestra (1958)

Sergei Prokofiev:Ural Rhapsody for orchestra, Op. 128 (1951)

Dmitri Kabalevsky:Concerto No. 4 for Piano and Chamber Orchestra“Prague” (1979)

Mentioned works

NEWS

SIKORSKI magazine|5

Special

.. Music.


World Premiere of a ProkofievMarch in a NewInstrumentationJan Müller-Wieland recently made an adaptation of Beethoven’s “Egmont”Overture for exactly the same instrumentalcombination as the one used by IgorStravinsky for his melodrama “The Soldier’sTale.” Otfried Büsing also stuck to a definitecombination when he adapted the March,Op. 99 by Sergei Prokofiev for orchestra.He orientated himself on the ensemble ofProkofiev’s twentieth-century classic “Peter and the Wolf.”The Rhenish Philharmonic of Koblenz underthe direction of Wolfram Christ presentedthe world premiere of the March, Op. 99 inJune during the course of the festivalHachenburg Spring.

“Concerto 2000” by Milko KelemenThe Orchestra of the Stuttgart MusicAcademy under the direction of Per Borin willgive the world premiere of the new versionof Kelemen’s orchestral work “Concerto 2000” on 7 November 2009.

World Premiere of ThreePoems by Alfred SchnittkeThe tenor Sviatoslav Martyntschuk and thepianist Marina Savova will give the world premiere of Alfred Schnittke’s Three Poemsof Viktor Schnittke for tenor and piano in Hamburg on 12 October 2009.

Number Nine VII – New Part of the Eggert Cycle

The latest work from Moritz Eggert’s workcycle for orchestra is called “Number Nine VII: Mass.” Peter Rundel and the Bavarian RadioSymphony Orchestra will perform the worldpremiere in Munich on 5 February 2010.

Khachaturian’s Songs

The complete production of AramKhachaturian is gigantic in terms of the sheernumber of works alone. The most frequentlyperformed works of the Armenian composerare the ballets “Gayaneh” (containing “Sabre Dance”) and “Spartacus,”but also the instrumental concertos andchamber music. The composer’s over seventysongs are far too little known; these includethe songs translated by Boris Pasternak fromthe film music to “Othello” and “The Girlfrom the Ural Mountains” based on a poemby Grigory Slavin.

NEWS

6|SIKORSKI magazine

Discovery:MieczyslawWeinberg

Interest in MieczyslawWeinberg’s music is

constantly on the ups-wing. When he died in1996 at almost the age

of eighty, only a fewworks from his large compositional legacy

were known. Much has changed since then and the upco-ming premiere of his one-act opera “LadyMagnesia” based on Bernard Shaw’s play“Passion, Poison and Petrification” inLiverpool on 18 November is only the peak ofmany individual activities centring round thiscomposer.Mieczyslaw Weinberg was born in Warsaw in1919 and studied piano there before movingto the Soviet Union in 1939, where he becamea composition pupil of Vassily Solotaryov. Hisfamily, who remained in Poland, was murde-red by the National Socialists. When he wasmistakenly accused of propagating the ideaof the founding of a Jewish republic in Crimeain 1953 and then arrested, DmitriShostakovich successfully interceded in hisbehalf and he was released. Similarly to thatof Shostakovich, Weinberg’s catalogue ofworks primarily consists of a large number oforchestral compositions, including 22 sym-phonies, chamber music and especially balletsand operas. Weinberg contributed 60 compo-sitions to the genre of film music alone. The British label Chandos has already begunissuing a Weinberg CD Edition planned overmany years. The record company cpo is plan-ning to issue three CDs with chamber musicof Weinberg with the participation of the pia-nist Elisaveta Blumina. The first CD withWeinberg’s solo piano works, recorded at theBavarian Radio, will be issued in 2009. Thesecond CD is to contain four of Weinberg’sworks for winds – including the Sonata forBassoon Solo published by Sikorski - and willbe recorded in December 2009 at theSiemens Villa in Berlin by Wenzel Fuchs, soloclarinettist of the Berlin Philharmonic, MathiasBaier, solo bassoonist of the StaatskapelleBerlin, Elisaveta Blumina and others. The first doctoral dissertation on Weinberg’s

production has been submitted this year at KielUniversity. The author is Verena Mogl. In addi-tion, David Fanning is working on a biographyto be published in 2009. A Weinberg Societywas founded in Moscow two years ago, withthe aim of increasing the attention given to hisworks in Russian musical life. At the 2010 Bregenz Festival (21.7.-22.8.2010)there will be a focus on Weinberg with 3 orche-stral concerts, chamber music (string quartetswith the Quatour Danel), productions of theoperas “The Portrait” and “The Passenger” (inGerman), a symposium and exhibition. The producer David Pountney will produceWeinberg’s opera “The Portrait” in autumn2012 in Nancy and probably also in England. The first international Weinberg Festival willtake place in November 2009 inLiverpool/Manchester. This festival will includethe premiere of the concertante version of theopera “Lady Magnesia” on 18 November 2009at Hope University in Liverpool with theEnsemble 10/10 under Clark Rundell, and aperformance of the Requiem on 21 November2009 with the Royal Liverpool PhilharmonicOrchestra under Thomas Sanderling. The pro-gramme organisers have stated the following inthe programme announcement: “Weinberg isregarded as the third great Soviet composer,alongside Prokofiev and Shostakovich; his dra-matic, passionate music is recognisably fromthe same stable.”The grotesque story of the opera “LadyMagnesia” is based on a comedy by BernardShaw. The jealous Sir George Fitztollemachedecides to murder his wife, whose heart appe-ars to belong to the lackey Adolphus Bastable.A nocturnal meeting of the married couple,however, changes the situation. Adolphusbecomes the victim of poisoning by the head ofthe house. By taking a supposed antidote con-sisting of plaster, the secret lover is finally petri-fied in death as a statue of himself. Sir and LadyFitztollemache reverently set up Adolphus’sstatue, which then stretches out its arms overthe Fitztollemaches more or less in a gesture ofblessing.The role of Lady Magnesia will be sung byEmma Morwood in Liverpool.

World Premieres18.11.2009 LiverpoolWorld premiere: Mieczyslaw Weinberg: Opera “Lady Magnesia”

PORTRAIT


Alfred Schnittke’s 75th Birthday

A little later, another interpretation appeared on theSwedish BIS label with the Cape Town PhilharmonicOrchestra under the direction of Owain ArwellHughes. It was on this CD that BIS also first issuedthe Concerto grosso No. 1 in the alternative versi-on for flute, oboe and orchestra expressly appro-ved by Schnittke, recorded by Sharon Bezaly,Christopher Cowie and the Cape Town PhilharmonicOrchestra under Owain Arwell Hughes. The new BISCD is to be part of a CD box with all nine symphoniesof Schnittke.The fourth and final CD in the publication series offilm music of Alfred Schnittke in suite adaptations byFrank Strobel was issued in May 2009 on theCapriccio label as a co-production withDeutschlandRadio Berlin. This contains the suites“Sport, Sport, Sport” and “The Adventures of aDentist.” The Radio Sym ph o ny Orchestra Berlin performs under the direction of Frank Strobel. At the beginning of the Schnittke year 2009, theHamburg Music Seminar resident in Altona, also theheadquarters of the German Alfred SchnittkeSociety, renamed itself the “Alfred SchnittkeInternational Academy”. The bronze bust of the com-poser created by Milan Knobloch was also solemnlyunveiled in May here. Arvo Pärt had purchased thisas a gift for the Academy. The German Alfred Schnittke Society will be publi-shing a volume of writings on the occasion of thecomposer’s 75th birthday with high-quality essaysand analyses of Schnittke’ oeuvre.During the course of its emphasis on Schnittkeduring the 2008/09 season, the Munich Philharmonicperformed the Faust Cantata “Seid nüchtern undwachet” on 5/6/7 June 2009. The British premiere ofthe oratorio “Nagasaki” was given on 24 August2009 at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall withthe London Symphony Chorus and the LondonSymphony Orchestra under the direction of ValeryGergiev. The mezzo soprano part was sung by ElenaZhidkova.The world premiere of Alfred Schnittke’s Drei Liedervon Viktor Schnittke, Alfred Schnittke’s brotherwho died in 1994, was given in Hamburg on 12October 2009 by the Ukrainian tenor SviatoslavMartyntschuk and the pianist Marina Savova. On the occasion of the jubilee this year, JohnNeumeier will again present his magnificent danceproduction “A Streetcar named Desire”, which firstcreated a sensation in the 1980s in Stuttgart and

Sigrid Neef: The Operas ofSergei Prokofiev (Prokofiev

Studies, Volume 7) The fascinating series of Prokofiev Studies comprises seven volumes

published by Verlag Ernst Kuhn in Berlin. In the latest

volume, the musicologist Sigrid Neefoccupies herself with the composer’s

operatic production. Precisely in this partof Prokofiev’s oeuvre,

the author finds much relevant information concerning the repeatedly

questioned independence of the composer’s thinking and

judgement under Stalin’s dictatorship due to his return to the Soviet Union.

“The inclusion of documents hithertounknown,” she announces, “such as the

exact representation and appreciation of all the

completed operas in their process ofcreation, plot and content, as well as in

the wide-ranging history of their interpre-tation, will provide surprises for the wider

public, interpreters and critics alike.”

Echo-Classic Prizes forGubaidulina and

Shostakovich RecordingsAmong the winners of the

Echo-Classic Prize 2009 is the violinistAnne-Sophie Mutter, designated as

“Instrumentalist of the Year,” who recorded Sofia Gubaidulina’s second

violin concerto “In tempus praesens” for Deutsche Grammophon/UniversalMusic. Another prize in the category

“Concert Recording of the Year” went tothe cellist Sol Gabetta and the Munich

Philharmonic under Marc Albrecht fortheir interpretation of Dmitri

Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 2.

Not only in Sweden an Event:Allan Pettersson’s

100th Birthday In the year 2011 the Swedish

symphonist Allan Pettersson would havebeen 100 years old.

The international Allan Pettersson Societyhas published a German-English

information brochure to commemoratethis event. The day of the jubilee on 19

September 2011 will provide an opportunity to come to terms with

Pettersson’s extensive oeuvre more intensively.

Although Allan Pettersson only becamepublicly known as a composer

relatively late, he is today considered one of the most important symphonists

of the late twentieth century. There are hardly precedents for his music– it is rugged and jam-packed with motifs

but also notable for its expansive, arch-like melodies. Some passages andthemes may be reminiscent of the late

Mahler. But Pettersson created a singularoeuvre with his unconditional

expressiveness and an essentially post-romantic musical language.

NEWS

later also in Hamburg. Alongside the “Visionsfugitives” of Sergei Prokofiev, he primarilyused the legendary world premiere recordingof Schnittke’s 1st Symphony from Gorki. Therevival of this ballet production is planned for14 November 2009.The London Philharmonic Orchestra underthe direction of Vladimir Jurowski is organi-sing an extensive Schnittke Festival under themotto “Between Two Worlds” in cooperationwith the London Sinfonietta and the RoyalCollege of Music at the end of November2009 at London’s Southbank Centre. TheConcerto grosso No. 1, a cross-sectionthrough the opera “Historia von D. JohannFausten,” the Viola Concerto “Monologue,”the 2nd Cello Concerto, “The YellowSound” and many other works are planned.Amongst the musicians participating areLeonidas Kavakos, John Tomlinson, BorisPetrushansky and Alexander Ivashkin. In addi-tion, a symposium will take place atGoldsmith’s College in London on 21November and at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on22 November. Both events will be accompa-nied by a Schnittke exhibition.The Academy of Music and Theatre inHannover will be organising an internationalsymposium on the occasion of Schnittke’sbirthday from 27 to 29 November 2009,reflecting the oeuvre of Schnittke under theaspect of post-modernism and comparingSchnittke’s reception in Eastern and WesternEurope.The Japanese Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra isplanning the Japanese premiere of the orato-rio “Nagasaki” under the direction ofGennadi Rozhdestvensky on 29/30 Novemberin Tokyo. Yuri Bashmet can be heard all over Europeduring the 2009/10 season in a series ofchamber concerts each including a work bySchnittke (e.g. the String Trio) with interpre-ter friends (Gidon Kremer, Oleg Maisenbergand others). In addition, he will appear as aconductor of symphonic concerts with variousorchestras likewise containing one to twoworks of Alfred Schnittke. These concerts willtake place in Cologne, Eindhoven, Londonand Paris.

The musical world commemorated the 10th anniversary of the death of Alfred Schnittke in August last year. On 24 November 2009, the great Russian-German composer who died in 1998 wouldhave been 75 years old. In January 2009, the ECMlabel issued a recording of Alfred Schnittke’s 9th Symphony with the DresdenPhilharmonic under Dennis Russ Davies.

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