Concert | Nova Ars Nova
Five compositions for vocal ensemble (including three commissioned works) will be premiered in this concert by the Berlin ars-nova ensemble under the direction of Peter Schwarz.
Today, the voice is an instrument whose capabilities and range of variance beyond bel canto have been largely explored in the 20th century, with and without the aid of electrical amplification and modulation.
In this concert, the individual compositions unfold a broad spectrum of different possibilities for setting
texts/language to music, telling a story, expressing emotions and confessions of faith and composing the sound spectrum of the voice:
It ranges from the sensitive setting of Rose Ausländer's spartan but nevertheless eloquent and sonorous poetry in Schwebende Welten by Günther Becker, the setting of a Psalm of David - Hilf, Herr - , which critically addresses the misuse and abuse of language today (Sabine Wüsthoff), to the composition
Et resurrexit, which focuses on the Easter event, a symbol of the central statement of faith in Western Christian culture (Frank Michael Beyer), through to the composition Die Träne Beethovens (Ricardas Kabelis), where narratives from Arabic are mixed with music-historical references in a tone-colour composition, and the composition Alex Arteaga's In loving memory of Lily Howard, in which expression and narration are eradicated in favour of an experience of sound space inscribed in the architecture of the location.
Günter Becker
Schwebende Welten (2002/2003) UA
Sabine Wüsthoff
Hilf, Herr (2004) WP / commissioned by ars-nova-ensemble Berlin
Frank Michael Beyer
Et resurrexit (2001/2002) WP
Alex Arteaga
In loving memory of Lily Howard (2004) WP / commissionned work
Ričardas Kabelis
Die Träne Beethovens (2004) WP / commissionned work
ars-nova-ensemble Berlin
Peter Schwarz – conductor
Eva Benger, Anna Barbara Kastelewicz – violin
In collaboration with Stiftung St. Matthäus