05 The New Study Score Series Available autumn 2008
08 Jay Schwartz Subtle vocal power in Stuttgart
19 David Fennessy Another Bolero
27 Bohuslav Martinu Misery of refugees in Zurich
36 The Year 1909 History in the making
Leoš Janáček Staged the world over
newsletter 04/08 • autumn 2008
Contents
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= World Première
NEWS UE New Study Score Series — 5 COMPOSERS Rihm — 7 Halffter — 8 Schwartz — 8 Pärt — 9 Haas — 11 Cerha — 12 Staud — 12 Sotelo — 13 Baltakas — 13 Mahler — 14 Janáček — 15 MITO Settembre Musica — 17 Borisova - Ollas — 18 Wilson — 18 David Fennessy — 19 Luke Bedford — 19 Bennett — 20 Reich — 20 Furrer — 20 Boulez — 21 Kurtág — 21 Kagel — 22 Ligeti — 22 Stockhausen — 23 Feldman — 24 Denisow — 24 Berio — 25 Schnittke — 25 Weill / Brecht — 26 Milhaud — 26 Martinu — 27 Krenek — 28 Liebermann — 28 Zemlinsky — 29 Schreker — 29
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contents 04/2008
Dear Readers, Tansman — 30 Martin — 30 Kodály — 31 Bartók — 31 Szymanowski — 32 Wellesz — 32 Berg — 33 Webern — 34 Schönberg — 35 The Year 1909 — 36 Kalliwoda — 37 Liszt — 37
WORKLIST Baltakas — 46
When examining the programmes of the great opera houses, it is striking that the so-called “core repertoire” all emerged within a very defined historical period – interesting also that almost all these works fit the criteria for a traditional plotted opera – but does this define the genre widely enough? Pierre Boulez sees the traditional plotted opera as a historical relic: a contemporary music theatre work requires a contemporary dramaturgy and a conventional linear narrative does not deliver this. The public is also open to new forms of storytelling, as can be seen from the rhapsodic reaction to the world première of Georg Friedrich Haas’ Melancholia in Paris. The basic motto for opera should perhaps be as Billy Wilder's for film: you can do anything in opera, but thou shalt not bore.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — 48
The Editorial Team
ANNIVERSARIES — 38 - 39 WORLD PREMIÈRES — 40 - 41 NEW RELEASES — 42 - 43 NEW ON CD AND DVD — 44 - 45
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UNIVERSAL EDITION
The New Study Score Series The perfect companion to the music of the 20th and 21st century – a must for every music lover.
be added continuously to this collector’s library of the musical history of the 20th and 21st century.
This autumn, Universal Edition introduces a new study score standard. These completely redesigned scores offer an unparalleled insight into the music of the last hundred years. Great care has been taken to select the best available content for this journey through music history, and every score has been edited according to the latest quality standards.
Available in all good music shops from autumn 2008.
This premium selection of works from the first century of Universal Edition includes masterpieces by Béla Bartók, Leoš Janáček, Alban Berg, Zoltán Kodály, Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Arnold Schönberg, Franz Schreker, Anton Webern, Alexander Zemlinsky, Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Arvo Pärt, Wolfgang Rihm and Karlheinz Stockhausen. The new study score series combines historic masterpieces with first-class editorial content, prefaces, and a highly legible, clean notation, all in the trusted Universal Edition quality. Further titles will
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news
RIHM
Music for violins Wolfgang Rihm’s COLL’ ARCO carries the subtitle ‘Fourth Music for Violin and Orchestra’. The work, commissioned by the Gewandhaus Leipzig and the Lucerne Festival, will be premièred on 11 and 12 Sep by the Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly. The Swiss première takes place on 20 Sep in Lucerne. Carolin Widmann is the soloist.
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The musikfest berlin has also commissioned a new work by Rihm: Concerto ‘Séraphin’ is the latest chapter in the comprehensive and varied Séraphin body of work (première 17 Sep). Berlin is also host to the acclaimed choreography of Jagden und Formen by Sasha Waltz & Guests on 25 Nov.
The Sacrum Profanum festival in Krakow will also see a Rihm première when musikFabrik, led by Emilio Pomàrico, perform Seraphin-Sphäre on 18 Sep. Oliver Knussen also conducts a violin concerto, Gesungene Zeit (study score available soon), in Amsterdam (8 Sep). On 4 Oct the same work is part of a remarkable portrait series at the Philharmonie Essen, which is honouring its composerin-residence with no less than 17(!) concerts in the 2008–09 season. Chamber music is well represented (by Siegfried Mauser and Christoph Prégardien, for example), but also Ernster Gesang on 26 Oct with the Dortmund Philharmonic. Sebastian Weigle has chosen Das Lesen der Schrift for the opening of the Frankfurter Museumskonzerte on 14–15 Sep. Das Gehege will be revived by première conductor Kent Nagano at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich (4, 8, 11 Oct).
Wolfgang Rihm Das Gehege Bavarian State Opera 2006
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rihm
HALFFTER
Madrigal quotes Juan del Enzina (1469– 1529) was an important figure in the Spanish renaissance, not only as rector of the cathedral in León, but also as a musician and poet. He was buried in the cathedral there, but it is unclear where exactly. ‘He lies in our memory’, says Cristóbal Halffter, who has honoured this great Spaniard with his Epitafio para el sepulcro de Juan del Enzina. In the work, Halffter quotes two madrigals by Enzina. The largely orchestrated work will be
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León Cathedral
premièred on 19 Sep in León cathedral, with Halffter himself conducting. Further Halffter performances take place at the Festival Musica in Strasbourg/F, with El juguete olvidado on 25 and 27 Sep, and in Madrid, where Fractal can be heard on 27 Oct. SCHWARTZ
Stuttgart voices In Witten this year, Jay Schwartz presented his concert installation Music for Autosonic Gongs X. Whatever the technical wizardry behind it, the results were powerful and overwhelming. The sounds had the whole building vibrating, humming, and throbbing with a huge range of frequencies, and had listeners asking whether the sounds they heard could really be produced by gongs alone …
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Schwartz’ next première is Music for Voices and Orchestra, which will be given its first performance in Stuttgart on 29 Nov. Matthias Pintscher conducts the SWR Vokalensemble and the SWR RSO Stuttgart. The Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart give their second performance of Music for Six Voices II at the Beethovenfest in Bonn on 6 Sep.
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halffter / schwartz
Cello Octet Conjunto Ibérico PÄRT
Heaven and earth The cello octet Conjunto WP Ibérico is one of the world’s most famous cello ensembles. Elias Arizcuren will be conducting – his last concert as artistic director of the ensemble – on 21 Oct at the Cello-Biennale in Amsterdam, with pieces by Kagel and Berio (both works commissioned for the ensemble). The concert will begin with a world première: O-Antiphonen. Arvo Pärt has arranged Sieben Magnificat-Antiphonen – his 1988 piece for a cappella chorus – for the eight cellos of the Conjunto Ibérico. This year, the Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam has the theme of ‘Heaven and Earth’. Pärt’s Lamentate for piano and orchestra can be heard at the opening concert on
6 Sep (c. Valerie Gergiev, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra; sol. Ralph van Raat). Ever since Pärt was the ‘featured composer’ at the MITO Settembre Musica festival in Turin in 2004, his works have been a regular part of programmes by Enzo Restagno, the festival’s director. This year the Italian première of Passacaglia for violin and string orchestra will take place on 12 Sep at the festival. An excerpt from Shakespeare’s Hamlet inspired the title of “These words …” for string orchestra (2008). The piece will be performed for the third time on 15 Nov, at Kronborg Castle in Helsingør: ‘Hamlet’s castle’. The programme also features Fratres for viola, string orchestra and percussion (première of this version) and Da Pacem Domine for choir and orchestra.
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pärt
Georg Friedrich Haas Melancholia Opéra National de Paris 2008 HAAS
Great sound tableaux The renowned Swiss newspaper, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, wrote of a ‘superior performance’ after the world première of Georg Friedrich Haas’ opera Melancholia at the Palais Garnier in Paris: ‘The chorus and solo parts are embedded in an instrumental sound, which has orchestral dimensions despite being played by just twenty-five musicians.’ The critic praised the ‘great sound tableaux’ and ‘dramatic highlights’. The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote of an ‘ingenious exploration of the soundscape’ and an ‘opera for singers, if not for classical opera lovers’. Melancholia can now be seen in further performances,
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including five in Norway (12–14 Sep in Stavanger, 1–5 Oct in Oslo), home to the librettist Jon Fosse. The Austrian première of Melancholia is set for 24/25 Oct at the steirischer herbst festival in Graz. Norway’s focus on Haas will be rounded off with a première of Natures mortes on 3 Nov in Oslo. An intensive cooperation links Haas to the Collegium Novum in Zurich, which is presenting a world première of a commissioned composition for 19 instruments and electronics on 20 Sep in Berne. Haas’ use of electronics enables him to compose with a greater complexity of harmonics as they provide points of reference that would otherwise be lost. The world première of a piece for two contrabass clarinets takes place at the same concert as well as the Swiss première of Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich ... . The concert is repeated in Zurich on 21 Sep.
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haas
CERHA
New for piano trio In his new piano trio 5 Sätze, Friedrich Cerha proves the versatility of form and timbre with which one can still write for this combination today. Parabola I, the first movement of the piece, was performed last November at the Vienna Musikverein, where eleven miniatures dedicated to our promotion manager Bálint András Varga, who retired at the end of 2007, were played in a private farewell concert. 5 Sätze will be premièred by the Vienna Piano Trio at the Vienna Modern Festival on 17 Nov.
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Johannes Maria Staud
performed by the Bamberg Symphonic. The soloists are Tamara Stefanovich and Florand Boffard (Bamberg, 27 Sep).
STAUD
Spouting fountains ‘He writes wild, dense music that shoots up like fountains then sinks again like drops or develops peacefully,’ wrote the Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper following the world première of Johannes Maria Staud’s Im Lichte this January under Jonathan Nott. The same conductor is now to lead the first German performance of this ‘music for two pianos and orchestra’
London’s Royal Academy of Music is also dedicating a portrait concert to Staud with a UK première of the piano trio Für Bálint András Varga (again on 24 Nov at the Wigmore Hall). The programme will also feature Towards a Brighter Hue, Sydenham Music and Peras performed by students from the Royal Academy (18 Nov).
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SOTELO
New languages The Warsaw Autumn festival is fast becoming one of the most interesting international festivals. Following the influence of Moorish-inspired music on the composition of Mauricio Sotelo, the festivals sees 3 Polish premières. Si despues de morir ... for voice, flute, synthesiser and orchestra (1999–2000) is a memorial lament for Sotelo's friend, the poet Jose Angel Valente; the Warsaw National Philharmonic will perform this work under Krzystof Urbanski on 19 Sep.
quartet b(ell tree) by Vykintas Baltakas at its première. The Arditti Quartet gives the French première – their sixth performance of the work – at the Musica Festival in Strasbourg on 26 Sep. This year’s ISCM World Music Days in Vilnius include 17 works by Lithuanian composers, including Baltakas. Peter Eötvös conducts the Lithuanian première of Poussla with the Gaida Ensemble and the Lithuanian State SO on 24 Oct.
Como llora el viento for guitar and orchestra, by contrast, showed a new side to Sotelo at its world première in January 2008: ‘the language is entirely different to any conceivable “new music”. I've struggled for a long time to be able to write in a language like this …’ Arturo Tamayo is set to conduct on 25 Sep. Tamayo also performs Chalan for percussion and orchestra on 24 Sep. BALTAKAS
Poetic cowbells ‘An unpretentious, very poetic work’, is how the Neue Zürcher Zeitung described the string
Vykintas Baltakas
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sotelo / baltakas
MAHLER
Purgatorio This year’s Italian music festival Sagra Musicale Umbra (Perugia) is to present works inspired by Dante Alighieri, his work and era in the broadest sense. Commissioned by the new artistic director of the festival, Alberto Batisti, Giuseppe Bruno has completed a transcription of the Allegretto from Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 10 for piano trio. This composition, titled Purgatorio in reference to Dante, is due to première on 14 Sep in Perugia with the Trio Petrarca. Rudolf Barshai’s reconstruction and orchestration of Mahler’s Symphony No. 10 can be heard for the first time in Norway on 4 Sep under Eivind Aadland with the Trondheim SO. The Staatskapelle Berlin will be guest performers at the Vienna
Musikverein from 28 Oct–2 Nov with works by Mahler. Under Daniel Barenboim, Thomas Quasthoff will be performing the Kindertotenlieder and Rückert-Lieder, and Pierre Boulez will conduct Symphonies No. 2, 3 and 4 (sol. Dorothea Röschmann, Petra Lang and Violeta Urmana). The line-up of brilliant Mahler performers is practically endless, so here follow a couple more highlights. The Berliner Philharmoniker will bring Rückert-Lieder to Tokyo (23–27 Nov) and Osaka (29 Nov) under Simon Rattle with Magdalena Kožená, and young conducting star Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar SO have been invited to present Symphony No. 2 on 11 Sep at the Lucerne Festival. Visit our website to find out more about the Mahler concerts and the 2010–2011 Mahler years: www.universaledition.com/mahler
Dante Alighieri by Domenico di Michelino
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JANÁČEK
Beloved firstborn Leoš Janáček’s first opera Šárka which he truly cherished, but never heard in his own lifetime – is gradually finding its way into the consciousness of opera directors. The piece is to be performed for the first time in concert in the Netherlands this autumn (Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, c. Hartmut Haenchen, Utrecht, 28 Nov). Aus einem Totenhaus is enjoying an upsurge of interest following the Boulez-Chéreau production, which was recently released on
DVD. The Teatro Massimo in Palermo will be hosting the production by the Welsh National Opera (16–22 Oct), directed by David Pountney. The new production of Jenufa in Cardiff (a joint project with the Grand Théâtre de Genève) stands out particularly amongst the many forthcoming productions. Katie Mitchell will direct at the Wales Millennium Centre, with Sian Edwards as conductor (from 8 Oct). Jenufa also comes into its own in the Prague version by Joannes Martin Dürr in Auckland and Wellington/NZ (director: Nikolaus Lehnhoff). Another Jenufa première is scheduled for Leipzig, where Axel Kober will be directing the music from 29 Nov. With Das schlaue Füchslein, Gérard Mortier is continuing his focus on Janáček at the Paris Opera. Leipzig’s André Engel will direct, working with conductor Dennis Russell Davies from 13 Oct. The Australian Opera is also showcasing Janáček: Die Sache Makropulos is set to première on 7 Oct under Richard Hickox. The New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra will perform a concert version of the same opera in Tokyo under Christian Arming on 20, 22 and 24 Nov.
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MITO SETTEMBRE MUSICA
Huge potential MITO Settembre Musica was born out of a desire for cooperation between two great Italian cities: Milan and Turin. It offers a range of events of the most disparate kinds to the huge potential audience. Entry is free to more than half of the 230 concerts taking place between 1–25 of Sep. For a month, MITO Settembre Musica defines the musical life of the whole region. Each year, artistic director Enzo Regstagno puts one composer at the centre of the programme, thus offering an Italian audience the opportunity to discover one of the great composers of our time. This year's featured composer is Harrison Birtwistle. Events therefore include the Italian première of Cortege, a ceremony for 14 musicians, as well as performances of Hoquetus David, Ut Hermeta solus and Earth Dances. Other important performances from the UE back catalogue include Arvo Pärt's Passacaglia for violin, vibraphone and string orchestra, Bela Bartok's Rumänische Volkstänze, extracts from Der holzgeschnitzte Prinz, Kurt Weill’s Kleine Dreigroschenmusik and Luciano Berio’s Les mots sont allés.
Alongside these, a complete performance of the collection of miniatures dedicated to Bálint András Varga will be performed on 15 Dec by the Viennese Piano Trio. The collection comprises specially composed works by Cristóbal Halffter, Harrison Birtwistle, Georg Friedrich Haas, Jay Schwartz, David Sawer, Johannes Maria Staud, Friedrich Cerha, Mauricio Sotelo, Arvo Pärt and György Kurtág. www.mitosettembremusica.it
Harrison Birtwistle
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MITO settembre musica
BORISOVA-OLLAS
Silence in Vienna
when Andrey Boreyko conducts the RSO Vienna. WILSON
‘Victoria Borisova-Ollas is a composer whose works are always about communication; about a dialogue with the listener. Art for art’s sake doesn’t interest her – she wants to move and emotionalise with her work’. This is how the Munich Philharmonic recently announced the orchestra piece Angelus. Her work The Kingdom of Silence (a commission by Gothenburg Art Sounds 2003) receives its Austrian première (and twelfth performance) in Vienna on 9 Oct,
US premiere at Carnegie On 17 Oct, the Con Tempo Quartet gives the US première of Ian Wilson’s In fretta, in vento in Carnegie Hall. This highly acclaimed ensemble will find much to explore in the short work, which also exists in a string orchestra version: “a fine example of the composer's keen ear and open-hearted imagination, moving from late-Romantic emotionalism to an ending which evokes liturgical viol fantasies” (Birmingham Post). A month later, on 22 Nov, the Badke Quartet will perform Wilson’s first quartet, Winter’s Edge, in Hertfordshire. Composed in 1992, the single-movement work takes as its theme the idea of redemption, specifically as depicted in the life of St Paul – the aspects of conflict, transformation, solitude and destiny all led to musical ideas that the composer then shaped into musical form. Winter’s Edge was commissioned by the Vanbrugh Quartet.
Victoria Borisova-Ollas
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borisova-ollas / wilson
LUKE BEDFORD
Luke Bedford in Europe David Fennessy DAVID FENNESSY
Another Bolero David Fennessy was commissioned by RTÉ to write a new work for the hugely successful 2008 RTÉ Living Music Festival, which focused on the output of Arvo Pärt. His intriguingly titled This is how it feels (Another Bolero) was extremely well received and whilst the aesthetic is a far cry from Ravel’s infamous work, the construction is similarly based on motivic material which grinds relentlessly towards its inevitable conclusion. Harsh, mechanistic sounds create a nevertheless subtle and beautiful piece.
Luke Bedford’s ‘muscular and acerbic’ (The Guardian) 5 Abstracts are to receive a continental outing this Autumn, when Reinbert de Leeuw conducts the Asko|Schönberg Ensemble in the work’s Dutch première at the Amsterdam Muziekgebouw on 23 Oct. Both ensembles were long-term supporters of our UE composers long before they joined forces; their combined forces will now also be premièring Harrison Birtwistle’s Cortege in Amsterdam just one month earlier on 16 Sept. Three weeks earlier in Venice, Diego Masson will conduct players from the London Sinfonietta in Bedford’s eight-player Man Shoots Strangers from Skyscraper. Inspired by The Phantom of Liberty, the work borrows from the tangential style of Buñuel’s film, the music moving in ‘unexpected directions, sparked off by the smallest of triggers’. Finally, Chiaroscuro will be performed by the Fidelio Trio at the Wigmore Hall in London on 24 Nov.
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david fennessy / luke bedford
BENNETT
The Mines in Wexford Richard Rodney Bennett’s powerful opera The Mines of Sulphur opens this year’s Wexford Festival in the south of Ireland (17, 20, 23, 26, 29 Oct and 1 Nov). In a new production directed by Michael Barker-Cave and with Joe Vanek as designer and Stewart Robertson as conductor, this dark tale of morality, with its stunningly effective harmonic language, is bound to entrance the Wexford audience. Deservedly back in the repertoire thanks to a production at Glimmerglass and New York City Opera, this work is as fresh as ever. REICH
Fire and ice
by the Ictus Ensemble with music described as a “never-existing mixture of fire and ice”. More details at www.rosas.be
FURRER
Nomad of the cosmos Gaspra is an asteroid, around 5 km in diameter, which wanders the gravitational fields of our solar system; Beat Furrer named his 1989 work after this nomad of the cosmos. A continually shifting rhythmic raster overlays a system of imaginary sound events, the resultant sounds being born of the two different processes. Gaspra is performed by the Ensemble Recherche on the 3 Nov in Montevideo and 4 Nov in Buenos Aires.
The successful dance production Steve Reich Evening (2007) is entirely dedicated to Steve Reich, the pioneer of minimal music. For more than twenty years he has worked with the choreographer Anna Teresa de Keersmaeker and her dance ensemble ROSAS, who present this evening again in several countries – Belgium, Great Britain, France, USA, Germany – supported
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bennett / reich / furrer
Louvre Paris BOULEZ
Guest at the Louvre At the invitation of Paris’ Louvre, Pierre Boulez will present a series of modern classical works in the auditorium there this November. On 19 Nov he will conduct the Ensemble Intercontemporain with his own Improvisation I and II (with Christine Schäfer), Dérive 1 and Mémoriale. Pierre-Laurent Aimard is to perform the Troisième Sonate on 14 Nov while the programme on 21 Nov will feature Anthèmes 1 and 2 and Dialogue de l’ombre double. A month prior to this, Notations I–IV and Notation VII can be heard at the Vienna Konzerthaus on 26 Oct with Boulez conducting the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden/ Freiburg. At the Festival Musica in Strasbourg, a Conservatoire student
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will perform une page d’éphéméride for piano on 25 Sep. This piano piece is the first taster of a cycle which Boulez has been working on for some time. KURTÁG
Enchanting miniatures Gyorgy Kurtag's pieces, as some of their titles suggest, can be compared with flowers: they bloom for a few seconds, open their leaves, and then wilt on the spot. They are like the Passions in miniature. This description also applies to Az hit... for solo cello (1998) from Die Sprüche des Peter Bornemisza op 7. This little gem will be performed on tour by Friedrich Gauwerky, between 20 Sep–9 Nov in Cologne, Rudolstadt, Saalfeld, Tübingen, Biberach, Heilbronn, Küsten and Brussels.
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boulez / kurtág
KAGEL
Exotic instruments Originality, imagination and, above all, humour are the main features of Mauricio Kagel’s oeuvre. With his playful, often ironic way of using sound and composition, he has given new music a comic touch. In September, the Argentine composer, who has been living in Germany since 1957, will be the focus of a five-day composer portrait presented by Frankfurt's Alte Oper with soloists from the Ensemble Modern. Along with An Tasten and Metapiece, Ulrich Roman Murtfeld will perform the film music MM 51 on 30 Sep. On 22 Sep the programme will include Morceau de concours for 2 trumpets and Exotica for 6 singing instrumentalists, each with at least 10 non-European instruments. In this piece, accomplished western musicians ‘struggle in vain’ with exotic instruments. LIGETI
Merely states of being ...
Mauricio Kagel
1961, he was attempting to renew the sonic manifestation of the musical form: ‘In this musical form there are no events, merely states of being; no contours or figures, just the unpopulated imaginary musical space; and the sound colours, which are the real bearers of the form, become values in their own right.’ This autumn, you can hear this work in Dublin (21 Sep), London (24 Sep/21 Oct) and Prague (23/24 Oct).
When Gyorgy Ligeti wrote his orchestral work Atmosphères in
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kagel / ligeti
STOCKHAUSEN
Homage in formidable style The coming months will see the musical world pay homage in formidable style to the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, who would have celebrated his 80th birthday on the 22 August. Several festivals are exploring his work in interesting ways. At the musikfest berlin an ordinary concert stage is insufficient for the exceptional piece Gruppen for three orchestras. Therefore, Hangar 2 of Berlin's Tempelhof airport becomes a performance space for the two-day event with the Berlin Philharmonic under Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding and Michael Boder (20/21 Sep). On 17 Sep, musikFabrik, conducted by Emilio Pomàrico, interpret Kreuzspiel in Berlin. This work can also be heard at the Sacrum
Profanum festival in Krakow – when Ensemble Modern play under Ilan Volkov on 15 Sep – where Kontra-Punkte, Stimmung, Adieu and Zeitmasse will all be performed over a three day period. Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart will then be touring the Parisian version of Stimmung in eight European cities from 26 Sep–29 Nov. Along with Gruppen, Kreuzspiel and Kontra-Punkte, the Vienna Modern festival has scheduled the relatively rarely played Parisian version of Stop (1969) for 18 musicians in 6 groups. Stockhausen composed Stop in 1964 in a seven-hour course as part of the Kölner Kurse für Neue Musik in response to an enquiry about ‘the precise details of the process of producing a work’: as he composed, he explained every decision as he went along. More concerts and information online: www.universaledition.com/ stockhausen
Airport Tempelhof Berlin
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Mark Rothko Triptychon (1966) for Rothko Chapel FELDMAN
Rothko Chapel across Europe
(in the sixth century AD). Woven with silk, gold, silver and rare stones, the carpet depicted a garden akin to Paradise … DENISOW
The beguiling sound of Morton Feldman’s seminal work Rothko Chapel can be heard in many cities during the coming months: on 5 Oct ChorWerk Ruhr gives a performance in Essen/D; on 25 and 26 Oct Stichting Leids Projektkoor performs the work in Utrecht and Leiden/ NL respectively; and finally Les Cris de Paris fittingly showcases the work in a gallery – the auditorium of the Louvre in Paris – on 28 Nov. Also in autumn comes a high-profile rendition of Spring of Chosroes for violin (Carolin Widman) and piano (Steffen Schleiermacher); they will play the work on 15 Oct at the Gewandhaus, Leipzig/D. The Spring of Chosroes was a sumptuous carpet reputed to have been made for the Sassanian King Chosroes I
Russian musical traditions Edison Denisow is part of the generation of Soviet composers that engaged particularly fruitfully with the techniques of the second Viennese school and its successors. In his orchestral piece Peinture he expands upon the usual instrumental effects as a sign of conscious connection with the contemporary music of Western Europe, but also retains unmistakeable echoes of the Russian musical tradition. Hans Drewans takes the piece to Tokyo on 13/14 Sep, conducting the NHK Symphony Orchestra.
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feldman / denisow
BERIO
Four orchestral miniatures Quatre Dédicaces – which includes Fanfara, Entrata, Festum and Encore – is the title chosen by Pierre Boulez for a group of four orchestral miniatures by Luciano Berio. A few years before Berio’s death, in response to a suggestion of his assistant Paul Roberts, he discussed with UE the possibility of issuing the four pieces as a small ‘album’ and thus make them more available for concert programming.
The project did not materialised in Berio’s lifetime, and the performance of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on 31 Jan 2008 was the first occasion in which the four pieces were performed together. While each miniature was written for a specific occasion, three of them are related to large theatre works on which Berio was working at the same time: Encore and Entrata were integrated in La vera storia, Fanfara in Un re in ascolto. The next performance takes place on 5 Sep in Lucerne, once more under Pierre Boulez. SCHNITTKE
Imitated style and irony
Luciano Berio
The years that Alfred Schnittke spent in Vienna (1946–1948) left a hint of Mozart and Schubert about his work, in turn the foundation of his orchestral work (K)ein Sommernachtstraum. The piece begins with a tone reminiscent of Mozart’s minuets, followed by an ambiguous passage with imitated style and ironic interruptions, creating an ominous atmosphere. It can be heard on 14 and 16 Nov at the Vienna Musikverein with the Vienna Symphonic under Vladimir Fedosejev.
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berio / schnittke
BRECHT / WEILL
Global success Kurt Weill’s early works include a series of instrumental pieces in which one can hear the influence of the writing of Arnold Schönberg. This series includes his Concerto for Violin and Wind Instruments (1925), which will be presented in Riga by the Riga Sinfonietta (26 Sep). In his collaborations with Bertold Brecht (1927-1934) Weill moved away from existing musical schools and developed his own very specific style of composing,
resulting in global successes like The Threepenny Opera and Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. ‘Schönberg was shocked by the experience of The Threepenny Opera. He found it deeply suspect that this success strengthened Weill in his intention of developing an accessible musical language for a wider audience ...’, wrote Oxwald Beaujean in Die Zeit. The Threepenny Opera sees new productions in the coming months in both Regensburg/D and Stockholm/S. MILHAUD
No melodic
Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht The Threepenny Opera film poster 1929
instruments When Darius Milhaud composed his Concerto for percussion and small orchestra between 1929–30, he must have been the first to create a piece of this genre. Timpanist Theo Coutelier had asked the composer to write a concerto for a percussionist and Milhaud subsequently became the first to write seriously for solo percussion. There are no melodic instruments among the 19 percussion instruments – only the timpani have a specific pitch. The Junge Sinfoniker Bielefeld will tour Germany with this piece between 7–13 Sep.
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weill / milhaud
Bohuslav Martinu The Greek Passion Bregenz Festival 1999 MARTINU
The world is a mystery The history of Bohuslav Martinu’s Greek Passion (1957) is itself full of drama. The rejection by Covent Garden of the original work led Martinu to create the Zurich version, which was first performed in 1961, two years after his death. The original version was reconstructed in 1999 and premiered as the London version at the Bregenz Festival in 1999. In 1961, the New York Times wrote ‘above all, it is the music that makes this opera memorable. Honesty and sincerity of expression do not necessarily create works of art; but in this instance they play an important part in doing so ... although the harmonies, rhythms and melodies are “conventional”, the way Marti-
nu employs them is often imaginative and creative …’. The biblical story is disconcertingly familiar, portraying the misery of refugees, the remorselessness of the propertied classes and abuse of authority by the establishment. The piece has every chance of becoming a great, popular opera that will enrich the repertoire of any stage company. The Zurich Opera House has realised this and is presenting a new staging of the Zurich version by Nicolas Brieger under conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen. The singers include Emily Magee, Roberto Saccà, Alfred Muff, Pavel Daniluk and Rudolf Schasching. Première on 9 Nov, with performances until the end of the year: 12, 15, 21, 23, 27, 29 Nov and 3 Dec.
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martinu
LIEBERMANN
A daring world of sounds Furioso for orchestra premiered in 1947 in Darmstadt and brought Rolf Liebermann to an international audience for the first time. The piece is twelve-tone, but Liebermann knew how to avoid abstract constructivism with a vital temperament. After the world première, Hans Heinz Stuckenschmidt wrote: ‘It is music with an extremely strong, dramatic impact, fastpaced and full of pathos … a daring, hard world of sounds.’ The Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, under Christoph Poppen, will bring it to Saarbrücken, St. Gallen, Basle, Geneva, Zurich and Berne between 28 Sep–4 Oct.
fairytale opera – not without its satirical barbs – which tells of a good but weak king and a powerobsessed queen. The moral of the story being: External symbols of violence cannot give people power over life. The music is light and lyrical, veering towards forms of dance music in some of its stylistic imitations. The work will be presented as a ballet in an arrangement by Rainer Schottstädt (2002) in Cologne (17 Oct). The one-act burlesque Schwergewicht oder Die Ehre der Nation is set to première under James Conlon at the Julliard School of Music in New York from 12 Nov.
KRENEK
One-act burlesques Ernst Krenek composed the oneact work Das geheime Königreich in 1928, one year after the sensational success of Johnny spielt auf. It forms a triptych with the short operas Der Diktator and Das Schwergewicht oder Die Ehre der Nation. Das Königreich is a romantic
Ernst Krenek Das geheime Königreich Köln 2002
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liebermann / krenek
As part of the Orchestra Philharmonique de Liège’s ‘destination Vienne’ season, the 6 Gesänge for medium voice and orchestra are performed in Belgium on 21 (Liège) and 22 (Mons) Oct, with FrançoisXavier Roth conducting.
James Conlon ZEMLINSKY
Destination
SCHREKER
Vienna
Joy and splendour
Alexander Zemlinsky’s A florentine Tragedy comes to Athens for six performances at the Greek National Opera this November, opening on 23 Nov. James Conlon is in his element this autumn when he performs Zemlinsky’s Die Seejungfrau in Hamburg with the NDR SO (30 Nov, 1 Dec). Conlon’s enthusiasm for Zemlinsky’s music apparently goes back to hearing the Seejungfrau one night on his car radio – there was no looking back. 35 year-old Xian Zhang, associate conductor of the New York Philharmonic, is giving her interpretation of the Seejungfrau in Hannover (9/10 Oct) and Peenemünde/D (11 Oct), with the NDR Radiophilharmonie.
‘Dancing joy and passionate splendour from Vienna’ is how the Philadelphia Orchestra announces its performances of Franz Schreker’s Prelude to a Drama “Die Gezeichneten” . Conducted by James Conlon on 31 Oct and 1 Nov, the programme also includes Alexander Zemlinsky’s scenes from Der Zwerg. This summer, Conlon also conducted Schreker’s Chamber Symphony at the Ravinia Festival in the USA. In Basle/CH, Gabriel Feltz and the Basle Symphony Orchestra present a concert titled ‘Approaching Lulu’, with Nachtstück as well as works by Schönberg and Berg (27 Nov).
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zemlinsky / schreker
TANSMAN
Rich diversity Alexandre Tansman (1897–1986) was a French composer of Polish origin. His life covers contrasting periods, from his youth in Poland to the French period between the wars; from his American exile to his mature years back in France. His works reflect romantic and folkloristic influences, but also jazz and his Jewish roots. UE publishes The Emperor’s New Clothes (orchestra, 1959), Musique de cour (guitar and orchestra, 1960), Isaïe le prophète (choir and
orchestra, 1949), and others. A full list is available at www.universaledition.com/ tansman
MARTIN
Peace on earth Commissioned by Radio Geneva, Frank Martin composed the oratorio In terra pax in the summer of 1944 for five soloists, two mixed choirs and orchestra. It was broadcast immediately after the end of the Second World War, on 7 May 1945. Based on texts from the Bible, it expresses a transition from the deepest despair towards hope of a bright future. The Ensemble Orchestral de Paris and the BBC National Chorus of Wales will perform it under Thierry Fischer on 16 Sep in Paris. In the 6 Monologen aus Jedermann for baritone and orchestra, Martin emphasises the psychological development that everyone goes through when faced with the reality of death. Sakari Oramo will conduct the Yleisradio company with Thomas Quasthoff on 1 Oct in Helsinki. Elsewhere, the concert version of the magical comedy Der Sturm can be heard at the ZaterdagMatinee on 11 Oct in Amsterdam.
Alexandre Tansman
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tansman / martin
KODÁLY
Clean fingernails Zoltán Kodály spent seven years of his childhood in the Hungarian market town of Galánta, and the gypsy music he heard there served as inspiration for the Dances from Galanta, although as the New York Times wrote, ‘If this is peasant music, the dirt under its fingernails has been removed’. Performances of the Dances this autumn include the Munich RSO (16/17 Oct), the Frankfurt Museumsgesellschaft (16/17 Nov) and concerts by the Schwäbisches Jugend-Sinfonieorchester and the Landesjugendorchester Hamburg.
York Philharmonic at the Lucerne Festival (3 Sep), and Alexander Anissimov conducts the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in Prague on 26 Sep as part of Prague Autumn. Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle travels to the Netherlands and to New Zealand this autumn. Wellington hosts a semi-staged production on 6 Sep. Marc Taddei conducts Margaret Medlyn and Paul Whelan in the leading roles. In Groningen (15 Nov) and Rotterdam (16 Nov), Michel Tabachnik conducts Cora Burggraaf, Peter Hoarethe, and the Noord Nederlands Orkest. More performances information at www.universaledition.com/bartok
BARTÓK
Bartók around the world Concerning the difficulties of having his Miraculous Mandarin performed, in 1927 Béla Bartók wrote to Universal Edition: ‘… it is a pity, as this is the best orchestral work I have written so far’. The work’s standing in today’s repertoire is testimony to this. Lorin Maazel conducts the work with the New
Béla Bartók statue Kensington, London
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kodály / bartók
SZYMANOWSKI
Interwoven polymelody The colourful late romanticism of Karol Szymanowski's Symphony No. 3 “The Song of the Night” (1914–1916) is currently making a welcome return to concert programmes. After a period spent travelling, Szymanowski had returned to his Ukrainian homeland in 1914 enriched by his experiences in Eastern Europe, and it was this which helped to shape the unique contours and originality of his music. His Symphony No. 3 is characterised by harmonic sensuality, combined with monumental orchestral movements. Another prominent feature is the formation of unique melodic voices moving independently of one another, in a manner which can be described as ‘interwoven polymelody’.
The work will be performed in Duisburg by the Duisburg Philharmonic (17/18 Sep), in Milan at the Festival di Milano Musica (8 Nov), and in Munich and Cologne, interpreted by Mariss Janson with the SO of the Bavarian Radio (18–20 Sep). WELLESZ
Sensitive Egon Wellesz completed his Sonette der Elizabeth Barrett-Browning op.52 in 1934. Originally written for a spoken voice and string quartet, he wrote the final version for soprano and string quartet soon afterwards. This will be performed on 28 Nov in Heilbronn/D. In the five Sonetten, which are among the composer’s key chamber music pieces, Wellesz creates an extremely sensitive fluctuation between parlando and cantando, in harmony with the text.
Karol Szymanowski Museum Zakopane
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szymanowski / wellesz
BERG
‘She’s not graspable – she can’t be put in a pigeonhole. She’s one thing for one person and something else for someone else. You don’t know who she is.’ This is how soprano Marlis Petersen describes the role of Lulu by Alban Berg, which she sings at the Lyric Opera of Chicago this November. Sir Andrew Davis conducts the new production by Paul Curran. Davis: ‘… Lulu is one of the best examples I know of how music can completely transform a play. In the opera you get drawn in – the music gives these characters depths and feelings.’ The opening night is 7 Nov. Three days later the curtain goes up on a new production of Wozzeck by Andreas Kriegenburg at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, where Kent Nagano conducts Michael Volle and Michaela Schuster in the leading roles. Jeffrey Tate, recently appointed chief conductor of the Hamburg Symphoniker, takes the orchestra to the Beethovenfest in Bonn this September, where Juliane Banse sings Berg’s Seven Early Songs. Edo de Waart conducts the same work in Hong Kong with Dagmar Schellenberger and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (12/13 Sep).
Alban Berg Lulu Chicago 2008
Lulu’s in town
In Basle/CH, Gabriel Feltz conducts both the Bruchstücke aus Wozzeck and the Lulu-Suite on 27 Nov with the Sinfonieorchester Basel. Theo Verbey’s 2005 arrangement of 3 movements from the Lyric Suite continues its tour across Australia this September. Shooting star Alina Ibragimova will be conducting the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Sydney.
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berg
WEBERN
Les Journées Webern Geneva plays host to the ‘Journées Webern’ this November, a series of concerts and events presenting all works by Anton Webern in one week (13–20 Nov), an idea developed by Ensemble Contrechamps. The ‘days’ open with a concert by the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève and the Chœur de chambre de la Haute École, with Patrick Lange conducting both Cantatas. Sophie Graf and Henk Neven are the soloists. Contrechamps itself performs the Lieder (with Claudia Barainsky, sop), the Symphony Op. 21, and the Concerto Op. 24 on 20 Nov (Heinz Holliger conducts). Further performances include a recital by Claudia Barainsky and Eric Schneider (pno) at the Grand Théâtre on 16 Nov, and a concert by the Orchestre du Conservatoire de Genève on 15 Nov. An exhibition on the life and works of Webern will be on show at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, with various lectures accompanying the series. For more information, visit www.contrechamps.ch On 12 Sep, Olari Elts joins the EMO Ensemble and the Finnish RSO for a concert at the Temppeliaukio Church in Helsinki. The programme
34
webern
includes Webern’s Five Movements for string orchestra Op. 5 and the Five Pieces for orchestra Op. 10, flanked by music by Arvo Pärt and Franz Schubert. John Cranko’s 1965 ballet OPUS 1, based on the music of Webern’s Passacaglia Op. 1, returns to the Staatstheater Stuttgart on 1 Nov this autumn as part of the production Variationen. For all Webern performances this autumn, see www.universaledition.com/webern
SCHÖNBERG
Anarchy of forces 1909 was a key year in music history: it was the year that the expressivity of Arnold Schönberg’s monodrama Erwartung stood out from all previous composition. Never before had the ‘free anarchy of forces’ (Ingo Metzmacher) been so immediately tangible as here. The oneacter returns to the stage this autumn in Pori, Finland, when Paul Mefano and Michel Decoust's 2001 interpretation is performed by the Pori Sinfoniettam under Jukka Iisakkila between 8–10 Oct. Gurre-Lieder, which premièred four years later, can be heard four days earlier in Tokyo on 5 Oct (Shunyukai Symphony Orchestra, directed by Shunsaku Tstusumi). Any staging of Pierrot Lunaire (Schönberg's work for spoken voice
and 5 instrumentalists) demands the highest levels of musical precision from its director. However, if anyone can deliver this, it is directing guru Peter Konwitscy, who has developed a new stage production of the work in Leipzig (20 Sep). The Gewandshaus Orchestra will play under the baton of Johannes Harneit (with soloist Young-Hee Kim). Pierrot is also interpreted by the great Anja Silja in Stuttgart (2 Oct), and by Ensemble Recherche in Barcelona (26 Nov with Salome Kammer). Jun Märkl conducts Pelleas and Melisande in Berlin (4 Nov). The Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra performs the same work under Michael Schönwandt on 23/24 Nov.
Arnold Schönberg Pierrot Lunaire Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago 2006
35
schönberg
south pole 1909 1909
History in the making It was the year in which Shackleton reached the South pole and Bleriot flew across the English Channel. In Munich, Kandinsky and others founded the ‘Neue Künstlervereinigung München’, a forerunner of the ‘Blaue Reiter’ movement. Following the fin-de-siècle spirit that permeated the art-world, but still before the crises leading to the First World War, the year 1909 reflects the incredible productivity and yearning for change that paved the way for the modernism of the 20th century. Universal Edition – then in its 8th year of existence – was already beginning to develop the very special profile which still exists today. 1909 was the year the first contract
was signed directly with Gustav Mahler (for his Symphony No. 8) and also the year of the publication of some of the most important works of 20th century music history. Mahler completed Das Lied von der Erde, which was only to receive its first performance two years later in Munich under Bruno Walter. Alban Berg himself said that his Sonata for piano Op. 1 was completed in 1908, but it is now assumed that it wasn’t finished until the following year (the UE edition from 2006 has more information about this). Anton Webern’s 5 Lieder Op.4, the 5 Movements Op. 5 for string orchestra and his 6 Pieces for orchestra Op. 6 all appeared in 1909. Arnold Schönberg completed Das Buch der hängenden Gärten, Erwartung and the 3 Klavierstücke Op. 11. The list goes on – you can see an overview at www.tinyurl.com/ue1909 (pdf file)
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the year 1909
KALLIWODA
Innovation Prague-born composer Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda (1801–1866) was court chapel-master at the baronial court in Donaueschingen from 1822 to 1866. Oboist Hansjörg Schellenberg discovered the manuscript for an oboe concerto by Kalliwoda that had been thought lost in an archive (Divertissement pour l'haubois avec accompagnement d'orchestre, op 58). A CD recording of this sensuous and impressive work was made shortly afterwards (see p44) and the work is now available to hire from Universal Edition.
Dupré, in the 1920s and only rediscovered recently as an organ recital with a great impact. Franz Schreker has arranged a version of Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 for large orchestra that, in spite of its ingenious contrapuntal arrangements, retains the required lightness of the original and thus surpasses all the other orchestrations of this work from a musical point of view.
LISZT
Liszt year 2011 2011 will see the 200th anniversary of Franz Liszt’s birth. Universal Edition has come up with two original, musically related ideas for programmes: In a long-standing cooperation with Martin Haselböck and Thomas Daniel Schlee, UE has published Liszt’s entire works for organ. These include the monumental organ solo Ad nos, ad salutarem undam. This solo was orchestrated by the most famous organist of the 20th century, Marcel
Franz Liszt
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kalliwoda / liszt
2008 25th 125th 90th 70th 80th 100th 60th 60th 75th 70th 75th 80th 125th
Anniv. of Death Anniversary Anniversary Birthday Anniversary Anniversary Birthday Birthday Birthday Birthday Anniv. of Death Anniversary Anniversary
Cathy Berberian † 06 March 1983 Alfredo Casella * 25 July 1883 Gottfried von Einem * 24 January 1918 Zygmunt Krauze * 19 September 1938 Gerhard Lampersberg * 05 July 1928 Olivier Messiaen * 10 December 1908 Nigel Osborne * 23 June 1948 Peter Ruzicka * 03 July 1948 R. Murray Schafer * 18 July 1933 Tona Scherchen * 12 March 1938 Max von Schillings † 24 July 1933 Karlheinz Stockhausen * 22 August 1928 Anton Webern * 03 December 1883
Anniv. of Death Birthday Anniv. of Death Birthday Anniversary Anniversary Anniv. of Death Anniv. of Death Anniv. of Death Anniv. of Death Birthday Birthday Anniversary Anniversary Anniv. of Death Anniversary Anniversary Anniv. of Death
George Antheil † 12 February 1959 Sir Harrison Birtwistle * 15 July 1934 Frederick Delius † 10 June 1934 Edison W. Denisow * 06 April 1929 Joseph Bohuslav Foerster * 30 Dec 1859 Roman Haubenstock-Ramati * 27 Feb 1919 Josef Matthias Hauer † 22 September 1959 Joseph Haydn † 31 May 1809 Bohuslav Martinu † 28 August 1959 Ennio Porrino † 25 September 1959 Henri Pousseur * 23 June 1929 Bernard Rands * 02 March 1934 Karl Scheit * 21 April 1909 Alfred Schnittke * 24 November 1934 Franz Schreker † 21 March 1934 Alfred Uhl * 05 June 1909 Roman Vlad * 29 December 1919 Eric Zeisl † 18 February 1959
2009 50th 75th 75th 80th 150th 90th 50th 200th 50th 50th 80th 75th 100th 75th 75th 100th 90th 50th
38
anniversaries
2010 50th 75th 80th 80th 100th 150th 75th 100th 80th 125th
Anniv. of Death Anniv. of Death Birthday Birthday Anniversary Anniversary Birthday Anniversary Anniversary Anniv. of Death
Hugo Alfvén † 08 May 1960 Alban Berg * 24 December 1935 Paul-Heinz Dittrich * 04 December 1930 Cristóbal Halffter * 24 March 1930 Rolf Liebermann * 14 September 1910 Gustav Mahler * 07 July 1860 Arvo Pärt * 11 September 1935 Ennio Porrino * 20 January 1910 Toru Takemitsu * 08 October 1930 Egon Wellesz * 21 October 1885
Birthday Birthday Anniversary Birthday Birthday Birthday Anniversary Anniv. of Death Birthday Anniv. of Death Birthday Birthday Birthday Birthday Anniv. of Death Birthday
Gilbert Amy * 29 August 1936 Sir Richard Rodney Bennett * 29 March 1936 Paul Burkhard * 21 December 1911 Cornelius Cardew * 07 May 1936 Mauricio Kagel * 24 December 1931 Ladislav Kupkovic * 17 March 1936 Franz Liszt * 22 October 1811 Gustav Mahler † 18 May 1911 Steve Reich * 03 October 1936 Ottorino Respighi † 18 April 1936 David Sawer * 14 Seotember 1961 Daniel Schnyder * 12 March 1961 Othmar Schoeck * 01 September 1886 Mauricio Sotelo * 02 October 1961 Alexandre Tansman † 15 November 1986 Hans Zender * 22 November 1936
2011 75th 75th 100th 75th 80th 75th 200th 100th 75th 75th 50th 50th 125th 50th 25th 75th
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anniversaries
PIERRE BOULEZ une page d’éphéméride for piano student of the Conservatoire Strasbourg 25 September 2008 · Festival Musica Strasbourg/F FRIEDRICH CERHA 5 Sätze for violin, cello and piano Wiener Klaviertrio: Wolfgang Redik, vl; Matthias Gredler, vc; Stefan Mendl, pn 17 November 2008 · Wien Modern, Konzerthaus Vienna/A GEORG FRIEDRICH HAAS Work for 19 instruments and electronics Collegium Novum Zürich, c. Enno Poppe 20 September 2008 · Dampfzentrale Bern/CH Work for 2 contrabassclarinets Collegium Novum Zürich 20 September 2008 · Dampfzentrale Bern/CH CRISTÓBAL HALFFTER Epitafio para el sepulcro de Juan del Enzina for orchestra Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León c. Cristóbal Halffter 19 September 2008 · León Cathedral/E GUSTAV MAHLER / GIUSEPPE BRUNO Purgatorio from Symphony. 10 for violin, cello and piano Trio Petrarca: Giuseppe Bruno, pno; Alberto Bologni, vln; Vittorio Ceccanti, vc 14 September 2008 · Perugia/I ARVO PÄRT O-Antiphonen for 8 cellos Cello Octet Conjunto Ibérico, c. Elias Arizcuren 21 October 2008 · Muziekgebouw Amsterdam/NL
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world premières
WOLFGANG RIHM COLL'ARCO 4th music for violin and orchestra Gewandhausorchester c. Riccardo Chailly Carolin Widmann, vln 11 September 2008 Gewandhaus Leipzig/D
WOLFGANG RIHM Concerto „Séraphin“ for ensemble musikFabrik, c. Emilio Pomàrico 17 September 2008 · musikfest berlin/D JAY SCHWARTZ Music for Voices and Orchestra SWR Vokalensemble, SWR RSO Stuttgart c. Matthias Pintscher 29 November 2008 · Stuttgart/D
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world premières
ALBAN BERG Lyric Suite for string quartet New edition 2005 by George Perle (including the ‘secret vocal part’) New Study Score Series UE 34119 FLORIAN BRAMBÖCK Celtic Saxophone Duets for 2 alto- or tenor saxophones UE 33061 Center Stage Christmas GEORG FRIEDRICH HÄNDEL / LOWELL MASON Joy to the World FRANZ XAVER GRUBER Silent Night for four-part flexible chamber music arrangements featuring a soloist arranged by James Rae UE 21453 TILMANN DEHNHARD Jazz Studies for flute with CD UE 33703 FRANK MARTIN Quatre Pièces Brèves for 4 guitars arranged by Hans Brüderl UE 33942 ARVO PÄRT Spiegel im Spiegel for alto-flute and piano UE 33935 ARNOLD SCHÖNBERG Suite Op.29 for flute, clarinet in E flat, clarinet in A, bass clarinet, bassoon, violin, viola, cello and piano Parts UE 33732 Sleigh Ride for Two – Schlittenfahrt für Zwei for four-handed piano with CD arranged by Mike Cornick UE 21454
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new releases
UNIVERSAL EDITION
Classic Solos for Flute Vol.2 edited by Mary Karen Clardy UE 70322 Great literature for soloists – take two Following the success of her Classic Solos for Flute, Mary Karen Clardy continues her presentation of the most important repertoire pieces in Classic Solos for Flute Vol. 2.
make this a rich standard work for flautists.
Starting with Georg Philipp Telemann’s Fantasien, with their contrast of baroque richness of expression and rococo-like gracefulness, and Johann Joachim Quantz’s flowing French style, Clardy moves through the typically rich floweriness and romantic virtuosity of Friedrich Kuhlau’s Divertissement and Johannes Donjon’s Etudes, entering the 20th century with the highly interwoven chromaticism of Sigfrid Karg-Elert’s Sonata Appassionata. These pieces are followed by Arvo Pärt’s Estländler, which boasts musical intricacies in its simplicity, and Victoria BorisovaOllas’ Four Pieces, taking us neatly into the 21st century. Brief biographies and selected notes on works and performances
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new releases
VYKINTAS BALTAKAS b(ell tree) Arditti String Quartet WDR 2 CD WD 2007 BÉLA BARTÓK String Quartet No. 1 – Nr. 5 Belcea Quartet EMI 2 CD 094639440023 LUKE BEDFORD Outblaze the Sky London Symphony Orchestra, c. Francois-Xavier Roth LSO CD 5032 ALBAN BERG Lyric Suite (including the ‘secret vocal part’) ARNOLD SCHÖNBERG String Quartet No. 2 Christine Schäfer, Petersen Quartet Phoenix Edition CD 81169101 133 2 LUCIANO BERIO Sequenza V MAURICIO KAGEL Atem Christian Lindberg, Hakan Hardenberger BIS-DVD-1678 WALTER BRAUNFELS Te Deum Swedish RSO and Radio Choir, c. Manfred Honeck Gitta-Maria Sjöberg, Lars-Erik Jonsson, Eric Ericson Chamber Choir Orfeo CD 4011790679129 MORTON FELDMAN Three Voices Marianne Schuppe Col legno WWE 1 CD 20249 JOHANN WENZEL KALLIWODA Divertissement pour l'hautbois ... Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana Lugano, c. Hansjörg Schellenberger Solo Musica CD SM C 130168 ZOLTÁN KODÁLY Háry Janos-Suite, Sommerabend Hungarian RSO, c. Adám Fischer BMC/Codaex CD 5998309301414 ERNST KRENEK String Quartet No. 1 BeethovenQuartet Audiomax 946 1517-6 (Hybrid-SACD + DVD) ERNST KRENEK Piano Sonata No. 2 and 4 Mikhail Korzhev, pno Phoenix Edition CD 81169101 129 5 GUSTAV MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde John Elwes, Russell Braun, Smithsonian Chamber Players, Santa Fe Pro Musica, c. Kenneth Slowik Dorian/Edel CD 053479032225 GUSTAV MAHLER Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Kindertotenlieder, Lieder aus „Des Knaben Wunderhorn“ Thomas Quasthoff, Hakan Hagegard, Kölner RSO, c. Gary Bertini Phoenix Edition CD 81169101 105 9 FRANK MARTIN Concerto for cello and orchestra, Ballad for cello and pianor, 8 Préludes for piano Malmö Symphony Orchestra, c. Tuomas Ollila-Hannikainen, Christian Poltéra, Kathryn Scott BIS Records CD 1637
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new on cd + dvd
ALBAN BERG 4 Songs LUCIANO BERIO Sequenza III Salome Kammer, voice, Rudi Spring, pno WERGO CD WER 67092
HARRISON BIRTWISTLE Secret Theatre, Silbury Air, Carmen Arcadiae Mechaniquae... London Sinfonietta, c. Elgar Howarth NMC D 148
VICTORIA BORISOVA-OLLAS Symphony No. 1, Roosters in Love, Im Klosterhofe Norköpping SO, c. Mats Rondin, Raschèr Quartet Phono Suecia CD PSCD 171
GEORG FRIEDRICH HAAS Open Spaces Aukso Chamber Orchestra, c. Marek Mos Warsaw Autumn CD polmic 033
BOHUSLAV MARTINU Concerto da camera Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, c. Christopher Hogwood Bohuslav Matousek, vln, Karel Kosárek, pn Hyperion CD HYP 67672 ARVO PÄRT Nunc dimittis “Kamer ….” Youth Choir, c. Maris Sirmais Solo Musica CD SM 120 WOLFGANG RIHM Piano Works 1966-2000 Udo Falkner, pno Telos/KC 3 CD 4028524001088 KAROL SZYMANOWSKI Symphony No. 2 and 3 Ryszard Minkiewicz, T, Warsaw Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra c. Antoni Wit Naxos CD 8.570721
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new on cd + dvd
VYKINTAS BALTAKAS (born 1972) Worklist
about to drink dense clouds 2003 for female speaker, chamber ensemble and tape 7’ b(ell tree) 2007 for string quartet 10’ Cantio 2001–2004 music theatre 60’ (co)ro(na) 2005 for ensemble 9’ (how does the silver cloud s)ou(nd?) 2006 for piano 5’ Instruktionen zur Durchführung einer alten Liebesbeschwörung, 2007 die Ihre/Ihren Geliebte(n) auf einmal und für immer an Sie binden wird 12’ for 4 voices Das Lied 2000–2001 for piano and tape 5’ Ouroboros 2004 for ensemble 15’ Ouroboros – Zyklus I 2004–2005 for soprano, ensemble and tape 27’ Poussla 2002/2006 for ensemble and orchestra 20’ Ri 2007 for soprano and live-electronics 13’ Scoria 2007 for orchestra Varga-Lied 2007 for tape
More information available at: www.universaledition.com/baltakas
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baltakas worklist
UNIVERSAL EDITION Austria: Boesendorferstr. 12, A-1010 Vienna, Austria (Musikverein) tel +43-1-337 23 - 0, fax +43-1-337 23 - 400 UK: 48 Great Marlborough Street, London W1F 7BB tel +44-20-7437-6880, fax +44-20-7292-9173. USA: European American Music Distributors LLC 254 West 31st Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10001-2813 tel +1-212-461-6940, fax +1-212-810-4565. Web: www.universaledition.com Chief Editors: Angelika Dworak and Eric Marinitsch Contributors: Wolfgang Schaufler, Jonathan Irons, Eric Marinitsch, Angelika Dworak, Rebecca Dawson, Marion Dürr, Kieran Morris, Daniela Burgstaller and Elisabeth Bezdicek Design: Egger & Lerch, Vienna/Austria Photo Credits: Jan Mikota, UE-Archiv (8), Bavarian State Opera / Wilfried Hösl, Roy Tree, Opéra National de Paris, Marion Kalter (3), Holland Festival / Michael van der Aa, Eric Marinitsch (2), Co Broerse, Louvre Paris, University of South California, GNU Free Documentation, Bregenz Festival, Opera Köln / Klaus Lefevre, Robert Millard, Karol Szymanowski Museum, Lyric Opera of Chicago / M. Hoban, Contrechamps, Museum of Cont. Art / Sean Williams, Scott Polar Research Institute, Musikverein Vienna, Gewandhaus Leipzig; CDs: Wergo, NMC, Phono Suecia, polmic. DVR: 0836702
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thema