04 Leos Janácek.

Boulez and Chéreau in conversation

05 Georg Friedrich Haas.

Featured composer Europe-wide

06 Friedrich Cerha.

Three World Premières

25 Franz Liszt /

Marcel Dupré.

Rediscovered organ concerto

34 Gustav Mahler.

Mahler Years 2010 / 2011

Georg

Friedrich

Haas

GroßerÖsterreichischer

Staatspreis

newsletter04/07 • autumn 2007

2

contents 04/2007

NEWSBoulez and Chéreau:guests of UE — 4

FESTIVALSWien Modern — 13Musik Today 21 — 17Ostrava Days 2007 — 17

COMPOSERSHaas — 5Cerha — 6Rihm — 7Luke Bedford — 9Saed Haddad — 9Halffter — 10Baltakas — 10Panufnik — 11Schwartz — 11Staud — 15Pärt — 19Borisova-Ollas — 19Birtwistle — 20Sawer — 20Patterson — 20Boulez — 21Stockhausen — 22Krauze — 22Kagel — 23Kelemen — 23Ligeti — 23Berio — 24Schnittke — 24Feldman — 25Liszt / Dupré — 25Martin — 26Weill — 27Krenek — 27

Contents

WP = World Première

3

Martinu — 28Kodály — 28Bartók — 29Szymanowski — 30Braunfels — 30Berg — 31Schreker — 31Webern — 32Hauer — 32Zemlinsky — 33Schönberg — 33Mahler — 34Mahler as a pointof reference — 35 - 36Haydn — 37Janácek — 37

ANNIVERSARIES — 38 - 39

WORLD PREMIÈRES — 40 - 41

NEW RELEASES — 42 - 43

NEW ON CD + DVD — 44 - 45

WORKLISTBraunfels — 46 - 47

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — 48

Dear Readers,

Mozart scarcely needed an anni-versary – but he got one anyway,and rightly so. Does Mahler needone, then? There are in fact two ontheir way: 2010 (150th birthday) and2011 (100th anniversary of hisdeath). What kinds of contempo-rary reading will his music be con-fronted with? Well, besides peren-nially fascinating new interpreta-tions, based on the latest findingsof Mahler research, our view ofMahler can also be modified andbrought into sharper focus throughother composers' music.

On pp. 35–36 you’ll find an over-view of those works in the UE cata-logue that would be unthinkablewithout him. In autumn 2007 anew Mahler brochure will appearfrom UE with a number of unex-pected programme suggestions.Looking forward to Mahler 2010/11!

The Editorial Team

4

news

JANÁCEK / BOULEZ / CHÉREAU

Boulez

and Chéreau:

guests of UE

They have been dubbed ‘opera’sonly real dream-team: Pierre Boulezand Patrice Chéreau, who in 1976produced the so-called ‘Ring of thecentury’ at Bayreuth. In 1979 theymade operatic history in Paris aswell, when they premièred AlbanBerg’s Lulu in the three-act versioncompleted by Friedrich Cerha.Now an international co-produc-tion of Leos Janácek’s From theHouse of the Dead has broughtBoulez and Chéreau togetheragain. Critics around the worldhave spoken of ‘breathtaking moments’, a ‘terrific evening’ andan ‘authentic grasp of the ex-pressiveness of the score’.

The production is now set to appear on DVD.

On 12 May, the date of the premièreat the Theater an der Wien, Boulezand Chéreau were welcomed inthe conference room of UniversalEdition to field questions from aselect audience of journalists andarts professionals. Both explainedin vivid and detailed terms whatthey considered to be the chal-lenges of Janácek’s last opera andhow they had sought to overcomethem. The greatest challenge forboth had been to discover an overall shape for the music drama.‘Although Janácek didn’t conceiveit in such terms, it’s almost like col-lage technique in painting,’ ex-plained Boulez. ‘You have one texture and then another, andpaste them together one after theother.’The interview can be accessed inboth text and video format on thewebsite: www.tinyurl.com/3b22kx

Pierre Boulez and Patrice Chéreau at UE

haas

5

HAAS

Colourful Beauty!

In November 2007 GeorgFriedrich Haas will begranted a very special

honour: he is to receive the GrosserÖsterreichischer Staatspreis. This isthe highest distinction granted bythe Republic of Austria and is awarded once a year to an artist foroutstanding achievement.

In addition to the numerous workspresented at Wien Modern this au-tumn (s. page 13), is enjoying a rangeof further performances across Europe. The 2007 Warsaw Autumnwill see the première of Open Spaces (28 Sep), a new 16-minutework for ensemble – two percussion-ists and two groups of 6 stringstuned a sixth of a tone apart.Haas’ string quartets have beendescribed as creating a ‘special, freeand colourful beauty’ (Tagesspiegelon Haas’ Quartet No. 2). His StringQuartet No. 5 will be premiered byArditti Quartet at the KlangspurenFestival in Schwaz, Austria. On 6Oct Friedrich Cerha will conductHaas’ Violin Concerto at the festivalmusikprotokoll im steirischenherbst, with Ernst Kovacic and theRadio Symphony Orchestra Vienna,in what will be Kovacic’s fourthperformance of the work since thepremière in 1998.Josquin Desprez’ Agnus Dei from

the ‘Missa l’homme armé supervoces musicales’ is a beautifulexample of his contrapuntal skills.The second part is a wonderfulmensuration canon (where differ-ent voices play the same notes atdifferent speeds). Haas’ Tria ex unorespectfully takes this exquisitematerial and extends it in sono-rous and harmonic directions,blending the source material witha mixture of microtonal sonorities.The result truly gives the feelingthat Haas has continued Josquin’swork, and not merely added mate-rial. Ensemble Recherche performsthe work at the Ultima Festival inOslo on 6 Oct.

WP

cerha

6

CERHA

Return to Venice

One year after FriedrichCerha was presentedwith the Leone d’oro of

the Venice Biennale in recognitionof his life’s work, the composer isreturning to the city to attend thefirst performance of his ensemblepiece for Klangforum Wien, LesAdieux (Elegie), conducted by Jo-hannes Kalitzke (8 Oct). Two daysearlier the composer himself willbe on the rostrum in Graz, wherethe musikprotokoll festival – partof steirischer herbst – has invitedhim to conduct the première of hisAderngeflecht for baritone and or-chestra after poems by Emil Brei-sach (Georg Nigl, RSO Wien). Andyet a third première is taking placeon 15 Nov: Eliahu Inbal, who con-ducted Hymnus in 2002, is perfor-ming Berceuse céleste with theSWR RSO of Stuttgart. Cerha has

provided detailed programmenotes for all three new works,which have the character of con-fessions more than musicologicalanalyses. They tell us much aboutthe 82-year old Cerha as a person –about a composer blessed with un-diminished creative powers, whocan afford ‘to compose in a style farremoved from all fashionabletrends, expectations or indeedcommandments’. He has remainedtrue to himself: already in his 1963piano work Elegie, which forms thebasis of Les Adieux, he was rebel-ling ‘against certain taboos of “newmusic”, as well as against the pre-vailing nervous hyperactivity’.

The orchestral work Momente, firstperformed in Munich in 2006, is toreceive its Austrian première on 6Oct in Graz.

WP

7

rihm

7

the Miller Theater (Columbia Sinfo-nietta/Jeffrey Milarsky).Christoph Eschenbach is conduct-ing the US première of Verwand-lung 2 with the Philadelphia Orche-stra on 27 and 28 Sep, and theNorth German Radio (Hamburg) isdevoting a concert series to thecomposer’s vocal works, to includeworks for voices and orchestra aswell as Lieder. The programme in-cludes Europa nach dem letztenRegen for soloists and orchestra (3 Nov, NDR Radiophilharmonieunder Stefan Asbury).In Cologne, Vers une Symphoniefleuve III (1 Nov) will be contrastedwith Sphere for piano (Udo Falkner), wind and percussion (2 Nov); Peter Rundel conducts.

Amongst numerous first perfor-mances, special mention should bemade of Quid est Deus (Cantatahermetica) for choir and orchestra(4 Nov, Freiburg, under SylvainCambreling).

RIHM

Project for ECHO

A major collaboration istaking shape: inspired bythe music of Wolfgang

Rihm, Belgian artist Jan Fabre iscreating visual elements for anevening-long stage work for theconcert hall, I am a mistake. Com-missioned by the European Con-cert House Organisation (ECHO),the work will tour eight othercountries after its première inAthens on 29 Nov. Its composer hasmeanwhile been invited to theKlangspuren Festival in Schwaz,Austria, as composer in residence,where several of his chamberworks will be performed, as well asJagden und Formen, with the Inter-national Ensemble Modern Acade-my under Franck Ollu (19 Sep). Thesame work is receiving its secondNew York performance on 18 Oct at

WP

9

haddad / bedford

HADDAD

‘Arabian’ music?

At the beginning of SaedHaddad’s On Love I the listener is confronted

with a tremolo on the solo qanún –a Middle Eastern zither. Is this Arabicmusic or Western music? Haddad isa Jordanian composer who has stud-ied and lives in Europe, and it is im-possible – though tempting – toput a label on his compositionalstyle. The European musical back-ground is always present. The Ara-bic roots are unmistakable yetnever superficial, and permeatethe form, rhythm, structure, har-mony and melody of the piece. OnLove I completes a fascinating musical development in its 12 minutes. Garry Walker conductsthe Nieuw Ensemble at the Festival d’Automne in Paris on 13 Oct.

BEDFORD

New work

for orchestra

The world première of anew orchestral piece byLuke Bedford for the BBC

NOW will take place at the WiltshireMusic Centre, Bradford on Avon on7 Dec as part of the venue’s

UA

WP10th anniversary concert. Principalconductor Thierry Fischer will takethe baton. Lasting around 17 minu-tes, the one-movement piece is thelongest continuous stretch ofmusic that Bedford has so far com-posed. One of the guiding ideas inthe piece is the idea of return – theway that material can return andbe transformed – and the use of cyclic, harmonic and/or rhythmicpatterns. A recent workshop revealedsimple yet strong, organic ideasthat develop in intensity; for thefull picture, come to the concert!

Saed Haddad

halffter / baltakas

10

HALFFTER

Introduction

and scene

Cristóbal Halffter is theundisputed doyen of Spanish music. In his opera

Don Quijote (premièred in 2000 inMadrid) he set the national myth.Its central themes are heroic idealism, and the question of whatin our world is real, and what is adream. For his latest opera Lázaro,Halffter is setting a Biblical theme(première 4 May 2008 in Kiel, con-ducted by Georg Fritzsch). The first

performance of the Introducción yescena from the new work is alrea-dy scheduled for 20 Sep in Burgos,with the Dresden Philharmonicunder Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos.

BALTAKAS

Progress report

Lithuanian composer and Belgianresident Vykintas Baltakas is cur-rently writing an orchestral piece,Scoria, for viva musica of Munich.The première, originally plannedfor July, has now been postponed;details of the new date will appearin this Newsletter, as well as a re-port on the composition which Bal-katas is writing for the Neue Vocal-solisten Stuttgart, to be premièredin Stuttgart on 14 Feb 2008.The ensemble work (co)ro(na) (1 1 10 - 1 1 0 0 - perc, acc, pno, sop.sax,vln), first heard in Hamburg in2005, is receiving its Japanese pre-mière on 7 Sep in Tokyo, with Yasu-aki Itakura conducting the TokyoSinfonietta. And on 12 Sep in Frank-furt, Olari Elts is to conduct Ensem-ble Modern in Ouroboros (fl, ob, cl,acc, pno, sop.sax, vln(2), vla(1)).

WP

Cristóbal Halffter

11

panufnik / schwartz

Cain (with harpist Kate Milne) atSt. Paul's Cathedral in London. On 8Nov, the Krakow PhilharmonicBoys' Choir and Krakow AcademyString Quartet will perform Oliviaas part of the Festival of PolishMusic in Krakow (conductor LidiaMatynian). Finally, saxophonistDieter Kraus will be performingnew arrangements for saxophoneand piano of three of Panufnik’ssongs in Ulm, Germany, in Nov (seewww.universaledition.com/pa-nufnik for details).

SCHWARTZ

Feeling sounds

The sound installation Music for 8Autosonic Gongs, a peripheralevent of the documenta 12 festivalin Kassel, has become a magnet formusically inclined art lovers whonot only want to hear sounds butfeel them too. The installation byJay Schwartz is in place until 23 Sepin St Martin’s church.A different musical experience, of aquite special kind, is offered by theKasseler Kantorei under EckhardtManz: the choral version ofSchwartz’s Music for 6 Voices, on 21Oct at the Philharmonie in Essen.

PANUFNIK

Setting of Rumi

The Spirit of the Saints byRoxanna Panufnik re-ceives its world première

on 1 Nov this year. It is her secondsetting of the C14th Sufi poet Rumiand, as before, she uses Sufirhythms and this time, an Arabicmode. The work, composed for voi-ces and harp, was commissionedby Downe House School to celebra-te its centenary. The choir commis-sioned Panufnik to write a settingof the Ave Maria in 2005, and willagain be conducted by Anthony

WP

Roxanna Panufnik

Karten & Information: www.wienmodern.at · Konzerthaus 242 002 · Musikverein 505 81 90

Wiener Konzerthaus, Musikverein Wien, Atelierhaus der Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien, Tanzquartier Wien, Dschungel Wien, TAG u.v.a.

Musik der Gegenwart

1. November bis

1. Dezember 2007

13

wien modern 2007

Vienna Concert House

FESTIVALS

Wien Modern 2007

This year’s Wien Modern Festivalshowcases two featured compos-sers: Luciano Berio and Georg Friedrich Haas.In Berio’s case this means return-ing to a modern master whose mu-sical universe can always be seenas a dialogue with tradition. HisConcerto for two pianos and orche-stra (2 Nov under Bertrand de Billy)testifies to this just as much as Formazioni (15 Nov under StefanAsbury) or his fascinating study inlayered sonorities Bewegung (Aus-trian première 21 Nov under PeterRuzicka). Chemins I (su Sequenza II),Sequenza II for harp and CheminsIIb indicate other ‘paths’ into Berio’s world. Almost all his Sequenze can be heard in ‘The Sequenza Project’ on 4 Nov, whileRe-Call opens the festival on 1 Nov.

Two Georg Friedrich Haas premièresare eagerly anticipated: Concertofor Piano and Orchestra (7 Nov,Tho-mas Larcher / RSO Wien) andREMIX (12 Nov, Klangforum Wien /Enno Poppe). Also to be heard isHaas’ half-hour long Bruchstück,his latest large orchestral work (2 Nov, RSO), hailed as ‘spellbindingmusic’ by the Süddeutsche Zeitungafter the Munich première. “ .... ”,double concerto for accordion,viola and chamber ensemble canbe heard on 13 Nov, while on 21 NovOpus 68 (2003) projects AlexanderScriabin’s Piano Sonata No. 9through the prism of Haas’ own so-nority. Berio (Sinfonia) and Haas(Concerto for Cello and Orchestra)also form the centrepieces of the24 Nov concert by the Vienna Phil-harmonic under Jonathan Nott.

fr 7.9. 20.00 Tennishalle Schwaz | TIROLER SYMPHONIEORCHESTER INNSBRUCK | HAYDN ORCHESTER VON BOZEN UND TRIENT | CONTAKT | THE NEXT STEP | JOHANNES KALITZKE - DIRIGENT | Iannis Xenakis | Kurt Estermann UA | Hans Werner Henze sa 8.9. 20.00 Fleckviehhalle Rotholz | ÖSTERREICHISCHES ENSEMBLE FÜR NEUE MUSIK | MANUEL DE ROO – MANDOLINE | Marios Joannou Elia UA | Manuel de Roo UA | Judith Unterpertinger UA | Eva Reiter UA so 9.9. 10.00 Naturhotel Grafenast Schwaz | PILZWANDERUNG | GENUSS DES SELBSTGEFUNDENEN | TIROLER ENSEMBLE FÜR NEUE MUSIK | Thomas Amann | Paul Hindemith | Jenö Takács | Heinrich Gattermeyer 20.00

Swarovski Kristallwelten | DIOTIMA QUARTETT | Brian Ferneyhough | John Cage | James Dillon | Misato Mochizuki | Helmut Lachenmann mi 12.9. 20.00 Swarovski Kristallwelten |MICHAEL GIELEN ZUM 80. Geburtstag‚ UNBEDINGT MUSIK‘ LESUNG | STEFAN LITWIN -KLAVIER | Michael Gielen do 13.9. 20.00 SOWI Innsbruck | ENSEMBLE MODERN | FRANCK OLLU - DIRIGENT | Enno Poppe | Johannes Maria Staud | Evis Sammoutis | Marios Joannou Elia fr 14.9. 20.00 Kirche St. Martin Schwaz | MINGUET QUARTETT | CLARON MCFADDEN - SOPRAN | Jörg Widmann sa 15.9. 20.00 Landesmuseum Innsbruck | TAMTAM | SAM AUINGER - SAMPLER | MICHAEL MOSER - CELLO | DAVID MOSS - STIMME/ PERCUSSION | HANNES STROBL - E BASS | UA so 16.9. ab 9.00 Pilgerwanderung LETTISCHER RADIO-CHOR | INTERNATIONALE ENSEMBLE MODERN AKADEMIE | Gavin Bryars | Jack Body | Karlheinz Stockhausen | Peteris Vasks | Gustav Mahler | Olivier Messiaen | Wolfgang Rihm | Johannes M. Staud 20.00 Dom St. Jakob Innsbruck | DIE HIMMLISCHE STADT | WINDKRAFT | LETTISCHER RADIO-CHOR | JUGENDCHOR DER MUSIKSCHULE INNSBRUCK | KASPER DE ROO - DIRIGENT | Sofia Gubaidulina | Evis Sammoutis UA | Arvo Pärt | Thomas Daniel Schlee mo 17.9. 20.00 Aula Paulinum Schwaz | ENSEMBLE RECHERCHE | RUDOLF GUCKELBERGER - SPRECHER | SUSANNE FRITZ | LESUNG | SPRECHERIN | Cornelius Schwehr di 18.9. 20.00 Kirche St. Martin Schwaz | ENSEMBLE RECHERCHE | Wettbewerb Recherche | Marios Joannou Elia | Björn Raithel | Fausto Tuscano | Hugues Dufourt | Ivan Fedele | Jonathan Harvey mi 19.9.

20.00 O-Dorf | INTERNATIONALE ENSEMBLE MODERN AKADEMIE | MICHAEL GIELEN -DIRIGENT | WOLFGANG RIHM - COMPOSER IN RESIDENCE | Wolfgang Rihm | Arnold Schönberg | Michael Gielen do 20.9. 20.00 Kirche St. Martin Schwaz | QUARTETT BENAIM | Pierre Boulez | John Cage | ARDITTI QUARTET | Elliott Carter | Georg Friedrich Haas UA | Wolfgang Rihm fr 21.9. 20.00 O-Dorf | DISSONART | VLADIMIROS SYMEONIDIS -DIRIGENT | Yiani Christou | Georges Aperghis | Dimitri Papageorgiou | Panayiotis Kokoras | Antonis Anissegos | Yannis Kyriakides 22.00 Yannis Kyriakides sa 22.9. 18.00

Kirche St. Martin Schwaz BOZZINI QUARTET | Ernst Albrecht Stiebler UA | Walter Schweiger |George Crumb | Mark Randall Osborn | GESPRÄCH - DAS ANDERE QUARTETT Heinz Klaus Metzger, Clemens Merkel, Walter Levin und Reinhard Schulz (UA = Uraufführung)

Klangspureng. 1 | Eacke Ullreichstr. 8a | A 6130 SchwazT +43-5242-73582 | F +43-5242-73582-20 | info@klangspuren.at Fo

to A

stri

d Kar

ger, G

rafik

bü

ro

54

15

staud

was perhaps no more than an at-tempt to awaken in the listener, forthe duration of the performance,the impression that I was workingharder and faster at the creationand shaping of new lives and formsthan time was working at their de-struction.’ After the première KlausGeitel wrote:‘Out gushed a compo-sition of 20 minutes’ duration, writ-ten for no fewer than 101 musici-ans. Its first performance earnedthe composer a unanimous, thun-derous crescendo of applause’.

The piano work Peras forms a unitywith Apeiron; according to Staud, itis ‘structured like the reverse sideof the same coin’. On 13 Sep it isbeing performed by Ueli Wiget inInnsbruck as part of a Staud por-trait. The programme also includesthe Austrian première of both Suites from the opera Berenice aswell as Sydenham Music, and as atthe Hamburg première of the Suiteson 31 May Franck Ollu is conductingEnsemble Modern.On 16 Sep Sydenham Music, forflute, viola and harp (first per-formed at Aldeburgh on 15 June), isperformed by members of theInternational Ensemble ModernAcademy.

STAUD

New lives,

new forms

Tokyo’s Music Today 21 festival is togive the first Japanese performanceof Johannes Maria Staud’s Apeiron.Music for large orchestra. The work,premièred in 2005 in response to acommission from Sir Simon Rattleand the Berliner Philharmoniker,will be performed on 4 Sep by theTokyo Metropolitan Symphony Or-chestra conducted by TetsujiHonna. Staud’s programme noteends with the words: ‘In essence it

Main Media Partners >

Produced by >

OstravaDays 2007

NewMusic

Festival

General Sponsor >

With Financial Support from >

Media Partners >

17

festivals

Morton Feldman Neither Staatstheater Stuttgart 2004

FESTIVALS

Music Today 21

The summer festival Music Today21 of the Suntory Music Foundationin Japan celebrates its 20th anni-versary with a special series of con-certs featuring international con-temporary music. Nine works, mainlyby European composers, will be giventheir first Japanese performances.Amongst those presented in theSuntory Hall in Tokyo are JohannesMaria Staud, Vykintas Baltakas,David Sawer and Mauricio Sotelo.See pp. 10, 15, 20 for more details.

Ostrava Days

In 1999, the Czech composer andconductor Petr Kotik founded theOstrava Center for New Music inOstrava, Czech Republic. In August2007 the Ostrava Days, a learning

environment for young up-and-com-ing composers, with lectures,master-classes and concerts, willtake place for the fourth time.Amongst the works on the pro-gramme are those by composerswith whom Kotik has worked per-sonally during his lifetime, inclu-ding Morton Feldman and Karl-heinz Stockhausen. One of thehighlights of the festival is withouta doubt the performance of Feld-man’s one-act opera Neither on atext by Samuel Beckett, which willbe performed in the closing con-cert on 1 Sep with the Janácek PO,conducted by Peter Rundel. Furtherperformances include Feldman’sCello and Orchestra and PeterKolman’s 3 Klavierstücke zum Ge-dächtnis Arnold Schönbergs. TheMelos Ethos Ensemble performsLadislav Kupkovic’s Das Fleisch desKreuzes, a 16-min work for tromboneand 10 percussionists from 1962.Stockhausen is represented by theKlavierstücke 1–4 and Zeitmaße for5 woodwinds. See www.ocnmh.cz

19

pärt /borisova-ollas

PÄRT

Baltic Star

In 2004 Russia launched the annu-al ‘Baltic Star’ award for creative in-dividuals in the artistic or culturalsector who have brought particu-lar distinction to the Baltic region.Previous prize-winners have inclu-ded, film director Andrzej Wajda,choreographer John Neumeier,Krzysztof Penderecki and film di-rector Aki Kaurismäki. The 2007Baltic Star has been awarded toArvo Pärt and will be presented tothe composer in St Petersburg thisOctober.As the Estonian contribution to theEuropalia.Europa Festival – whichfrom now on will form a pan-Euro-pean festival for the 27 memberstates – three concerts includingPärt’s works are taking place underAndres Mustonen’s direction inBelgium: on 13 Nov in Brussels and14 Nov in Marche-en-Famenne (Für

Lennart, Ein Wahlfahrtslied, DaPacem Domine) and on 15 Nov inAntwerp (Te Deum).

BORISOVA-OLLAS

Feast for

eyes and ears

The first ever Manchester Interna-tional Festival opened on 29 Junwith Victoria Borisova-Ollas’music theatre work The Ground Beneath Her Feet, after the novelby Salman Rushdie. A massive suc-cess for all involved: Mike Figgisprovided an equally inspired visualcounterweight to the music withspecially prepared film footage,while actor Alan Rickman – howelse could it have been? – captiva-ted everybody’s heart. The HalléOrchestra was conducted by MarkElder. Next performance: May2008, in Stockholm.

Victoria Borisova-Ollas The Ground Beneath Her FeetManchester International Festival 2007

birtwistle / sawer / patterson

20

BIRTWISTLE

Cortege

Following its triumphant premièreat the re-opening of the Royal Festival Hall (last UE newsletter),Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s Cortegewill be performed next in Cologneby musikFabrik. Andrew Clementswrote in The Guardian that ‘the se-ries of instrumental solos [are] inturn more virtuosic and more out-ward-going, though the sense of acollective tribute persists’ and Michael Church stated that ‘if thefirst version had smoulderingpower, it's now more of a bonfire’(The Independent). Cortege will beperformed in Cologne, on 23 Nov.

SAWER

Tokyo Festival

David Sawer’s Rebus receives its Ja-panese première (Tokyo Sinfonietta,conducted by Yasuaki Itakura) on 7Sep at the Suntory Music Founda-tion’s Music Today 21 in Tokyo. Sinceits première in 2004, in Cologne,the work has also been performedin Essen and London.‘Rebus parallels the idea of a visualriddle with a teasing play on notepatterns, rhythms and harmonies’(Matthew Rye, The Telegraph);‘Rebus was like an eviscerated ver-sion of Ravel's ‘La Valse’, constantly

teasing us with fragments in dancerhythm.’ (Paul Driver, The SundayTimes)

PATTERSON

Canterbury

Psalms

As part of Paul Patterson’s 60th

birthday celebrations, CanterburyPsalms will be performed again inthe city from which it takes itsname (20 Oct). The work was writ-ten whilst Patterson was SouthEast Arts’ composer-in-residenceand as such was based at The King'sSchool, Canterbury. Composed forthe school in 1980 and dedicated toAlan Ridout, it comprises of threemovements, and uses a text takenfrom psalms 97, 121 and 148. Thisnew performance also takes placeat the school, with the CanterburyOrchestra under the baton of Michael Lewis.

David Sawer

21

boulez

21

BOULEZ

French polish

Music history shows that compo-sers are not always the best con-ductors of their own works, but inthe case of Pierre Boulez the mat-ter is rather different. Anyone whohas seen him at rehearsal or in con-cert can confirm how compellinglyhe can make the emotional andstructural strength of his ownworks shine: the music sparkles likea polished jewel.Several cities now have the oppor-tunity to experience this for them-selves: Pierre Boulez is to conductEnsemble Modern Orchestra inParis, Frankfurt, Berlin, Essen andBaden-Baden. The programme in-cludes his Notations I–V and VII,whose origins date back to smallpiano pieces from 1945: germinalcells from which something greathas grown. In Paris (Ensemble

Intercontemporain) and Essen (Lu-cerne Festival Academy Ensemble)Boulez will also conduct Le Marte-au sans maître, the work whichonce so aroused Stravinsky’s en-thusiasm.Two other works that also have aplace in the standard repertoire arethe two versions of Dérive, whichuse material originally devised forRépons. Dérive I will be performedin London (17 Oct) and Essen (25Oct), Dérive II in Amsterdam (2 Oct,under Reinbert de Leeuw).Boulez’s close relationship with theLucerne Festival, where he headshis own academy and passes on hisexperience to international stu-dents, has left its mark again onthis year’s programming. Works tobe performed include sur Incises,Dialogue de l’ombre double and LeMarteau sans maître (4 Sep, con-ducted by Jean Deroyer).

Pierre Boulez and Luciano Berio

stockhausen /krauze

22

STOCKHAUSEN

Entrance Ticket

to New Music

In its series ‘100 classics of modernmusic’ the German newspaper DieZeit recently described KarlheinzStockhausen’s Gruppen as both an‘entrance ticket’ and ‘season ticket’to new music. Stockhausen’s revo-lutionary work, with the 3 orches-tras placed separately in the audi-torium, included the parameter ofposition with those of pitch, dura-tion, strength and timbre. At the

Lucerne Festival, Gruppen will beperformed twice by the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra con-ducted by Pierre Boulez, Jean Deroyer and Peter Eötvös, as well asparticipants in the conductors’master classes. Kreuzspiel, foroboe, bass clarinet, piano and 3 percussionists, will be performedby Ensemble Intercontemporainunder Susanna Mälkki in Paris (7 Nov). More performances:www.universaledition.com/stock-hausen

KRAUZE

Arabesque

in Hongkong

Polish composer and pianistZygmunt Krauze (b. 1938) is consi-dered a representative of so-called‘Unism’, an aesthetic movementwhich essentially eschews drama-tic conflicts or real contrasts, but inwhich, however, ‘many fine andsubtle things happen’. The inspira-tion behind it came from the Polishpainter Wladyslaw Strzeminski(1893–1952). Krauze himself is togive the Chinese première of hisArabesque for piano and orchestra(1984) at the Academy of Perfor-ming Arts in Hong Kong on 30 Nov.

Karlheinz Stockhausen

23

kagel / kelemen / ligeti

KAGEL

Inspiration

Beethoven

Breaking the mould of listeners’expectations has always been a distinctive trait of Mauricio Kagel.In Ludwig van the composer, whohas lived in Cologne since 1957, un-dertook nothing less than a ‘drasticexpansion of collage technique’.Beethoven’s chamber music servesas the sole source of all sound materials; it is the music’s entirealpha et omega. This homage canbe heard on 1 Oct in Milan (Diverti-menti Ensemble), while on 11 Octthere is a performance of Kantri-miusik at the Venice Biennale.

KELEMEN

Dazzling

self-assurance

Croatian composer Milko Kelemen(b. 1924) has just been awarded theKulturPreis Europa 2007. An impor-tant principle of his creative work isan effort to make ‘the complexityof new music more transparent’.The Concertante Improvisations forstring orchestra were first perfor-med in 1955 at the Salzburg Festi-val: ‘music full of aggressive moods

and dazzling self-assurance, notleast in the snappy endings,’ wrotethe Berliner Zeitung. The Sinfoniet-ta Wuppertal is performing thework on 15 Sep in the Lutherkirche,Wuppertal.

LIGETI

Musical

labyrinths

It was after the Cologne premièreof his orchestral piece Apparitionsat the ISCM World Music Days in1960 that György Ligeti and hismusic first advanced to the centrestage of contemporary music. Herehe had created intricately branch-ing musical labyrinths filled withsounds and delicate noises of akind never heard before. The workwill be performed on 15 Sep in Lille.

Ligeti’s classic Atmosphères is alsoenjoying several performances,including one at the BBC Proms (4 Sep), with the Vienna Philharmo-nic under Daniel Barenboim.

24

berio / schnittke

pianos and orchestra and Forma-zioni for orchestra. Other works tobe heard include Chemins I and IIb,Recital, Call and Sinfonia.

SCHNITTKE

Merely faked

Alfred Schnittke said of the firstperformance of his popular orchestral work (K)ein Sommer-nachtstraum: ‘I didn’t steal any ofthe antiques in this piece – I fakedthem’ (9–10 Sep Hamburg, NDRSO/Christoph von Dohnányi).The String Quartet No. 3 marked aturning point in Schnittke’s work:from now on fully integrated musi-cal quotations take the place ofstylistically abstract collages. PeterManning’s string orchestra versionis to be recorded on 21–22 Nov bythe BBC Symphony Orchestra.

BERIO

Suspended time

Peter Ruzicka has rediscovered aseldom heard masterpiece for or-chestra amongst Luciano Berio’sextensive output: Bewegung (1971,11’). Berio himself described it as ‘apiece in which disturbances gradu-ally begin to proliferate in themidst of a uniform tone row offixed character. By such means,after a relatively short while … animpression of movement can alreadybe created within a state of ‘suspended time’.’ Peter Ruzickaconducts Bewegung on 12 Oct inPeking with the China Philharmo-nic Orchestra, and for the first timein Austria on 21 Nov with the Vienna Philharmonic.Wien Modern 07 (see page 13) spot-lights Berio as one of the festival’sfeatured composers, with 2 furtherAustrian premières: Concerto for 2

China Philharmonic Orchestra

25

feldman /liszt - dupré

opera Le Prophète by Meyerbeer.This ‘Prophet Fugue’, as Liszt calledit, is one of the most impressiveworks in the secular organ repertoire.

Marcel Dupré (1886–1971), one ofthe greatest organists of the 20th

century, wrote an orchestral ver-sion of the Prophet Fugue, whichwas thought to have been lost andhas only recently been rediscov-ered. This version for organ and or-chestra is being played on 23 Sep inMerseburg where in 1885 the firstperformance of the solo versionalso took place.www.merseburger-orgeltage.de

FELDMAN

Meditative

and timeless

Morton Feldman died twenty yearsago in New York. His unmistakablemusical language can transportthe listener to a kind of meditativeintrospection and awaken feelingsof timelessness. His only operaNeither (for soprano and orchestra)is one of the twentieth century’smost fascinating works of musictheatre. The first concert perfor-mance in France is to take place on22 Sep as part of the Festival d’Automne. Neither can also beheard in Frankfurt (21 Sep) and Ostrava, Czech Republic (1 Sep).

FRANZ LISZT / MARCEL DUPRÉ

Rediscovered

organ concerto

For the consecration of the neworgan in Merseburg Cathedral, Ger-many, Franz Liszt was commis-sioned to write a fantasy on thenotes B-A-C-H. Liszt was howeverunable to complete the work intime, and offered as substitute hisFantasia and Fugue on the Chorale‘Ad nos, ad salutarem undam’,based on a movement from the

Merseburg Cathedralorgan by Heinrich Ladegast

martin

26

MARTIN

Tristan with

a difference

‘A Tristan with a difference’ – thatwas how the critic of the NeuesÖsterreich newspaper describedFrank Martin’s Le vin herbé (TheMagic Potion) after the first stagedperformance of this secular orato-rio at the 1948 Salzburg Festival.The concert version had alreadybeen premièred six years previous-ly in Zurich. In its more than 60-year history Le vin herbé (based onJoseph Bédier’s novel Tristan and Iseult)has enjoyed countless concert per-formances and several staged pro-ductions. In recent years it hasbeen seen as a chamber opera inZurich, Paris and Berlin. Now theRuhrTiennale has invited WillyDecker to realise his vision of thework on stage, with the première

on 2 Sep in the Gebläsehalle, Duis-burg featuring Friedemann Layerand the Junge Deutsche Philhar-monie.

In his programme note for the Ge-neva première of the four sympho-nic studies Les quatre éléments in1964, the work’s dedicatee, ErnestAnsermet, called it ‘a princely gift’.In his opinion the music illumina-ted new aspects of Martin’s crea-tive talent and reflected the wildlandscapes of Norway and Iceland.Leon Botstein and his AmericanSymphony Orchestra have nowscheduled the work for 18 Nov inNew York.

Meanwhile, the Berne Stadttheateris staging one of Martin’s most fre-quently choreographed works, thePetite Symphonie Concertante, inHans van Manen’s choreography,on 27 Oct.

Frank Martin Le vin herbé RuhrTriennale 2007 (Willi Decker, stage director)

27

weill / krenek

Kurt Weill Der Silbersee Wexford Opera 2007

WEILL

Der Silbersee

in Wexford

Artistic director David Agler choseDer Silbersee by Kurt Weill to openthe 2007 Wexford Opera Festival inSouthern Ireland. Directed by therenowned Keith Warner, and with arevised translation by British come-dian Rory Bremner, the opera waspresented in the grounds of a localcastle. Simply but very effectivelystaged, the principal roles of Seve-rin, Olim and Fennimore were ableto shine thanks to the excellent di-rection and the timeless wit ofBremner’s translation. The evil Frauvon Luber was the fine British soapopera actress Anita Dobson, whocommanded the stage in evermore outrageous dresses, whilstthe assured conductor, Tim Red-mond, ensured that the production

was successful aurally as well as visually.We are grateful to Wexfordfor its commitment to this beguil-ing opera!

KRENEK

Tarquin - his

rise and fall

In 1940 Ernst Krenek wrote hischamber opera Tarquin, about therise and fall of a dictator whose ar-rogance proves his own downfall.The opera was first performed inCologne in 1950 and recently (22Apr) received its highly acclaimedAustrian première by the OperaStudio of the Anton Bruckner Uni-versity, Linz, as part of the ErnstKrenek Festival. Krenek used twelve-tone technique to set this compel-ling operatic subject, and the workpresents the singers with vocal demands of the highest order.

martinu / kodály

28

MARTINU

Great energy

and warmth

Impressed by Piero della Francesca’sfresco cycle ‘The Legend of the TrueCross’, which he had admired inArezzo/Italy in 1954, Bohuslav Martinu composed Frescos for or-chestra, dedicating the work to Rafael Kubelik, who gave the pre-mière in Salzburg with the ViennaPhilharmonic in 1955. It seducesthe ear with its great energy andwarmth, conveying both the ‘peaceand colour’ of the frescos and thespectator’s astonishment.The Augsburg Philharmonic Orche-stra will perform the work on 24and 25 Sep, and the Orquesta Sinfo-nica de Bilbao on 22 and 23 Nov.

KODÁLY

Perennial

favourites

Born in 1882, Zoltán Kodály spenteight years of his childhood (1885–1892) in Galánta, where his fatherwas the local stationmaster. In 1933he arranged the folk songs heheard there to form a work whichhas rooted the name of this smallNorth Hungarian town (since 1920in Slovakia) in the world’s musicalconsciousness forever. It is impossi-ble to imagine the concert reperto-ire today without the Dances fromGalánta or the Dances from Ma-rosszék (an arrangement of Tran-sylvanian folk tunes). The formercan be heard shortly in Lucerneand London, as well as in Stock-holm, Zurich and Brussels, whilethe latter are being performed inRotterdam.

Elsewhere, Mark Elder is conduc-ting the Psalmus Hungaricus inManchester (14 Oct), and on thesame day Horst Meinardus is giving a performance of the Te Deum in Cologne.

Piero della FrancescaThe Legend of the True Cross

29

bartók

BARTÓK

On stage and

concert platform

Béla Bartók wrote a single operaand two ballets – all three haveconquered both stage and concertplatform. His music has the powerto speak directly to the listener with-out any visual elements; withoutthe narration of a ‘story’. Duke Blue-beard’s Castle can be seen in Bilbaoconducted by Juanjo Menas from22 Sep, while Barcelona has co-pro-duced the work with Paris (firstnight 2 Nov, Josep Pons conductsthe Fura dels Baus production).Christoph König is conducting aconcert performance of the workin Porto on 8 Sep.The Miraculous Mandarin can beheard in nine cities in the nextthree months: in Lucerne with PierreBoulez, in Berlin with Sir Simon

Rattle, in Munich, Luxembourg, Tallinnand Brussels with Andrey Boreykoon the podium, with Michael Gielen in Freiburg and Mannheimand Vassily Sinaisky in Rotterdam.

On 30 Nov Stefan Asbury is con-ducting the second suite from TheWooden Prince with the DresdenPhilharmonie. And Daniel Barenboimhas entrusted the Berlin Staats-kapelle to Gustavo Dudamel, inorder to appear as soloist in thePiano Concerto No. 1 (16 and 17 Sep,Berlin).Both artists can also be heard inLucerne, with the Vienna Philhar-monic on 10 Sep. Daniel Barenboimis also conducting the orchestra inLondon on 4 Sep and in Lucerne on8 Sep, in a programme includingthe Music for Strings, Percussionand Celesta – a work which Lawrence Foster is also conductingon 18 Sep at the Théâtre desChamps-Élysées.

Béla Bartók Duke Bluebeard’s Castle Long Beach Opera 1999

30

szymanowski /braunfels

The Songs of the Amorous Muezzin(1934) are miniature gems. Theseand a series of other works rich inimpressionistic colour are the resultof Szymanowski’s extensive travelsin the Mediterranean region, whichstimulated an intensive study ofMediterranean and Islamic historyand culture. Aleksandra Zamojskawill bewitch the muezzin on 29and 30 Sep, with the help of theBerlin Konzerthaus Orchestraunder Lothar Zagrosek.

BRAUNFELS

Sacred

rediscoveries

Alongside Franz Schreker and Richard Strauss, Walter Braunfelswas considered one of the fore-most German operatic composersof his time. His opera Die Vögel wasperformed by such famous con-ductors as Bruno Walter, WilhelmFurtwängler and Otto Klemperer.But only since the 1990s has healso been remembered for his lateromantic sacred works. Worthy ofmention here, besides the GreatMass (1926), is above all the TeDeum (1920–21), soon to be per-formed in Cologne by MarkusStenz and the Gürzenich Orchestra(25, 26 and 27 Nov).

SZYMANOWSKI

Miniature gems

The Teatr Wielki in Poznan, Poland,is preparing a ballet evening for 15Sep entirely based on works byKarol Szymanowski. As the basisfor their expressive dance formsthe choreographers have chosen,amongst other things, the quiver-ing intensity of the ecstatic Mythsfor violin and piano (1915) and themoods and colours of the Notturnoand Tarantella for violin and piano(1915). There are further performan-ces on 16 and 30 Sep and 18 Nov.

Jean-Léon Gérôme The Muezzin 1866

31

berg / schreker

Alban Berg Wozzeck Vienna State Opera 2005

BERG

Il ritorno

di Wozzeck

On the 3 Nov 1942 Alban Berg’sopera Wozzeck was given its Italianpremière at the Teatro Reale dell’Opera in Rome. The preparations forthe performance – war raging acrossEurope – involved the participationof Mussolini himself, who appar-ently phoned Hitler to announcehis intention to have this opera of‘social pity’ performed. UE directorAlfred Schlee wrote after the pre-mière to Berg’s widow Helene ‘…the singers exceeded all expecta-tions. I couldn’t have believed thatthe Italians would get the style sowell.’ 65 years later, Wozzeck re-turns to the Teatro dell’Opera (itscurrent name) on 19 Oct in a pro-duction by Giancarlo Del Monacoconducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti.

In Berlin, Michael Gielen conductsDer Wein, with soprano AnjaKampe and the Staatskapelle Ber-lin (26 and 27 Nov.). See more atwww.universaledition.com/berg

SCHREKER

Music of spheres

As far as form and title go, FranzSchreker’s Chamber Symphonyseems to be one of the few worksof his that meet the criteria of ‘ab-solute music’. However, on closerinspection its thematic kinship tohis opera Die Gezeichneten is un-mistakable. Without a doubt hisunfinished opera Die tönendenSphären (1915) also assisted at thework’s birth. Finnish conductorSusanna Mälkki, the new principalconductor of Ensemble Intercon-temporain, presents it on 7 Nov atthe Cité de la musique in Paris.

webern / hauer

32

WEBERN

Taking

abstraction

to its limits

In 1984 Henri Pousseur made an ar-rangement for small ensemble ofAnton Webern’s Passacaglia. In hisorchestral Passacaglia Webern had,by 1908, already developed a finelynuanced orchestral manner exclu-sively serving a compositional logicfar removed from the late roman-tics’ intoxicating sound-world. PierreBoulez is conducting the originalPassacaglia with the Orchestre deParis on 28 Nov – Peter Keuschnig isbringing the reduced version toVienna on 8 Oct, with his EnsembleKontrapunkte.

The Cantata No. 1 for soprano,mixed choir and orchestra Op. 29(1939) is one of Webern’s mostsubtle works, in which he strove for‘a sound perhaps more differenti-ated than any that has ever comeinto my head’. The Cantata inaugu-rates his final creative period, inwhich he took abstraction to its limits. The Riga Sinfonietta is per-forming it on 20 Sep under Normunds Sne.

HAUER

Ascetic and

visionary

Josef Matthias Hauer (1883-1959) isa unique case in music history. TheAustrian composer had already in-vented his own twelve-tone tech-nique before Arnold Schönberg(who admired him!), but in his cre-ative work he remained essentiallywithout precedents or followers:an ascetic and thinker, steeped inancient Chinese wisdom. It is, how-ever, precisely this penchant for FarEastern philosophy that makes himtopical even today. The ReconsilSinfonietta is to perform his Concerto, Op. 55 in Vienna underRoland Freisitzer (7 Oct).

Josef Matthias Hauer

33

zemlinsky /schönberg

ZEMLINSKY AND SCHÖNBERG

Athen discovers

Zemlinsky and

Schönberg

Conductor Nikos Tsouchlos, musi-cal director of the Megaron Con-cert Hall in Athens, has made it hisgoal to familiarise his audiencewith masterpieces of 20th centuryopera which have never yet beenexperienced live in Greece. It isthanks to him, for instance, that in1995 Wozzeck and in 2005 Lulu hadtheir Greek premières.

Now the first Greek performanceof Arnold Schönberg’s Erwartung,coupled with Alexander Zemlinsky’sDer Zwerg, is taking place underhis baton (first night 23 Oct). Thesoloist in Schönberg’s monodramais Inga Nielsen, while the mainroles in Der Zwerg are sung by MarlisPetersen and Boiko Zvetanov, withEike Gramss directing, sets andcostumes by Gottfried Pilz, and theOrchestra of Prague Radio.

Schönberg’s Gurre-Lieder are beingperformed in Brussels (2 Sep, underMark Wigglesworth) and in Helsinki(19 Sep, under Esa-Pekka Salonen),while Daniel Barenboim is to con-duct the Four Orchestral Songs, Op.22 with Katharina Kammerloherand the Staatskapelle in Berlin

(29 and 30 Sep).Der Zwerg can also be seen at theFrankfurt Opera (with BarbaraZechmeister and Peter Marsh inthe main roles), together with AFlorentine Tragedy (soloists: YvesSaelens, Tom Fox, Claudia Mahnke;conductor: Friedemann Layer;director: Udo Samel; sets: TobiasHoheisei, first night 27 Oct). JamesConlon is conducting the FlorentineTragedy in Dresden on 26, 28 and29 Oct and Ryusuke Numajiri isconducting a performance of DerZwerg in Shiga, Japan on 25 Nov.

Arnold Schönberg ErwartungLa Fenice 2007

34

mahler

MAHLER

Inextinguishable

flame

Among the many performances ofGustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1,one that stands out is when Vene-zuelan shooting star Gustavo Dudamel will conduct the ViennaPhilharmonic for the first time (10Sep, Lucerne). The VPO is also play-ing ‘Mahler 1’ under Georges Prêtrein Vienna (9 Nov), Luxembourg (15Nov) and Dortmund (17 Nov), andChristoph Eschenbach is conduct-ing it in Paris (10 and 11 Nov).

Performances of Symphony No. 2include those in Dresden (2 Nov,under Fabio Luisi) and Cologneunder Franz Welser-Most (27 Oct,Cleveland Orchestra), while Sym-phony No. 4 can be heard underIngo Metzmacher in Berlin (17 and18 Sep) and elsewhere.Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos has cho-sen the expansive Symphony No. 8for his Dresden concerts on 8 and 9Sep, and the Darmstadt Staats-theater Orchestra is playing Sym-phony No. 9 (7 and 8 Oct).

Das Klagende Lied is receiving ahigh-profile performance in Lon-don, when Vladimir Jurowski con-ducts the original 3-movement ver-sion (19 Sep, London Philharmonic)

Das Lied von der Erde can also beheard in interpretations by two toporchestras: the Berliner Philharmo-niker (Ben Heppner and ThomasQuasthoff under Simon Rattle,1 and 3 Nov, Berlin) and the ViennaPhilharmonic (Angelika Kirchschla-ger and Rolando Villazón under Daniel Harding, 21 Oct, Vienna).

The choral version of Die zwei blau-en Augen from Lieder eines fahren-den Gesellen can be heard on 2 Sepin Stuttgart (Saarbrücken ChamberChoir) and twice in Poland (8 SepOlesnica, 9 Sep Wroclaw, with theRias Chamber Choir).

Gustav Mahler

35

mahler as a point of reference

Mahler as

a point of

reference

Several UE composers have madereference to Gustav Mahler in theirown work. The following sugges-tions might help you plan excitingconcert programmes for the Mahleranniversary years of 2010/11.

With his five-movement Sinfoniafor eight vocalists and orchestra(1968–69), Luciano Berio produceda masterpiece of 20th centurymusic. The central Scherzo is based

on the Scherzo of Gustav Mahler’sSymphony No. 2, which serves as akind of background canvas againstwhich fragments of music by seventeen composers are quoted.

Peter Ruzicka’s 1981 viola concerto“... den Impuls zum Weitersprechenerst empfinge” (Music for viola andorchestra) also revolves around themusic of Gustav Mahler. Parts ofthe composition refer to the draftsand sketches for the first move-ment of his Symphony No. 9.

Kurt Weill’s cantata Der neue Orpheus is an expressionistic,tonally free work which blends thevery different stylistic worlds ofaria and chanson. It also containsparodistic reminiscences of popu-lar and traditional tunes. GustavMahler’s music is always lurkingunmistakably in the background.

Two years older than Mahler, hisfellow student at the Vienna Con-servatoire Hans Rott (1858–1884),was for him the ‘founder of themodern symphony’. His PastoralPrelude is therefore reason enoughto take a fresh look at the history oflate romantic music. Above all, apassage characterised by sustai-ned notes and birdsong powerfullyevokes the pastoral imagery inMahler’s Symphony No. 1.

Kurt Weill

mahler as a point of reference

36

‘I have always considered Dr Weiglone of the best composers of theolder generation: one of those whois carrying on the magnificentViennese tradition’. These wordswere written in June 1938 by Arnold Schönberg, in a testimonialfor Karl Weigl (1881–1949). TheRhapsody reveals the repétiteur ofMahler’s at the height of his po-wers: late romantic and colourfulwriting united with virtuoso ma-stery of form.

The Lyric Symphony (written 1922–23) is Alexander Zemlinksy’s best-known work, not least becauseAlban Berg made reference to it inhis Lyric Suite. As a fusion of thegenres of song and symphony, theLyric Symphony is indebted aboveall to Mahler’s Lied von der Erde. Atits heart lies the question of the re-lationship between life and art:one of the burning questions, if notthe question, of the fin de siècle.

Wolfgang Rihm has produced awork of moving intimacy in theshape of his My Death. Requiem inmemoriam Jane S. for soprano andlarge orchestra (1988–89). Rihm’sstarting point was poetry by WolfWondratschek, written as a re-sponse to a friend’s suicide. Thewide-arching cantilena passagesand mood of painful longingwould be unthinkable withoutMahler’s music. Rihm’s Abkehr is acommission from the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie to write aprologue for Mahler’s SymphonyNo. 9.

Vally and Karl Weigl

haydn / janácek

37

HAYDN

Down Under

Under the baton of Hungarian-born conductor Imre Palló, stu-dents at the Sydney Conservato-rium of Music have been rehear-sing Joseph Haydn’s dramma gio-coso La vera constanza. Four per-formances are scheduled: on 15, 18,20 and 22 Sep.The three-and-a-half hour operawas first performed in 1779 at theEsterházy court – and in the sameyear the performance material wasdestroyed in a devastating fire. In1785 the Prince persuaded Haydnto reinstate the opera in the perfor-mance programme. To achieve thisthe composer had to reconstructthe score – a stroke of luck formusic history. Universal Edition haspublished six operas of JosephHaydn, edited by H.C. RobbinsLandon and Eva Badura-Skoda, in-cluding Die reisende Ceres, whichremained unperformed until 1977.

A brochure with programme notesand details of scoring is availableon request.

JANÁCEK

Cunning little

adaptation

Leos Janácek’s The Cunning LittleVixen is one of his most popularoperas. To make it possible forsmaller theatres to stage it as well,Jonathan Dove produced a versionin 1998 for 16 instrumentalistswhich preserves all the colours,contrasts and effects of the origi-nal. Janácek’s magical scope ofsound remains intact in the cham-ber version because the all-perva-sive folk character is equally effec-tive without opulent orchestral sonorities. The Vienna Kammer-oper is now to stage the Austrianpremière (2 Oct).

Leos Janácek The Cunning Little Vixen Opera Zurich 2006

anniversaries

38

2007

75th Anniv. of Death Eugen d'Albert † 03 March 193270th Birthday David Bedford * 04 August 1937125th Anniversary Walter Braunfels * 19 December 188260th Anniv. of Death Alfredo Casella † 05 March 194720th Anniv. of Death Morton Feldman † 03 September 198780th Birthday Michael Gielen * 20 July 1927125th Anniversary Zoltán Kodály * 16 December 1882125th Anniversary Gian Francesco Malipiero * 18 March 1882125th Anniversary Joseph Marx * 11 May 188275th Birthday Richard Meale * 24 August 193270th Birthday Gösta Neuwirth * 06 January 193760th Birthday Paul Patterson * 15 June 194750th Birthday Thomas Daniel Schlee * 26 October 195750th Anniv. of Death Othmar Schoeck † 08 March 1957125th Anniversary Karol Szymanowski * 06 October 188270th Anniv. of Death Karol Szymanowski † 29 March 193750th Birthday Julian Yu * 02 September 1957

200825th Anniv. of Death Cathy Berberian † 06 March 1983

125th Anniversary Alfredo Casella * 25 July 188390th Anniversary Gottfried von Einem * 24 January 191870th Birthday Zygmunt Krauze * 19 September 193880th Anniversary Gerhard Lampersberg * 05 July 1928

100th Anniversary Olivier Messiaen * 10 December 190860th Birthday Nigel Osborne * 23 June 194860th Birthday Peter Ruzicka * 03 July 194875th Birthday R. Murray Schafer * 18 July 193370th Birthday Tona Scherchen * 12 March 193875th Anniv. of Death Max von Schillings † 24 July 1933

80th Birthday Karlheinz Stockhausen * 22 August 1928100th Anniversary Eugen Suchon * 25 September 1908125th Anniversary Anton Webern * 03 December 1883

anniversaries

39

2009

50th Anniv. of Death George Antheil † 12 February 195975th Birthday Harrison Birtwistle * 15 July 193475th Anniv. of Death Frederick Delius † 10 June 1934

80th Birthday Edison W. Denisow * 06 April 1929150th Anniversary Joseph Bohuslav Foerster * 30 Dec 185990th Anniversary Roman Haubenstock-Ramati * 27 Feb 191950th Anniv. of Death Josef Matthias Hauer † 22 September 1959

200th Anniv. of Death Joseph Haydn † 31 May 180950th Anniv. of Death Bohuslav Martinu † 28 August 195980th Birthday Henri Pousseur * 23 June 192975th Birthday Bernard Rands * 02 March 1934

100th Anniversary Karl Scheit * 21 April 190975th Anniversary Alfred Schnittke * 24 November 193475th Anniv. of Death Franz Schreker † 21 March 1934

100th Anniversary Alfred Uhl * 05 June 190990th Anniversary Roman Vlad * 29 December 191950th Anniv. of Death Eric Zeisl † 18 February 1959

201050th Anniv. of Death Hugo Alfvén † 08 May 196075th Anniv. of Death Alban Berg * 24 December 1935

80th Birthday Paul-Heinz Dittrich * 04 December 193080th Birthday Cristóbal Halffter * 24 March 1930

100th Anniversary Rolf Liebermann * 14 September 1910150th Anniversary Gustav Mahler * 07 July 1860

75th Birthday Arvo Pärt * 11 September 193580th Anniversary Toru Takemitsu * 08 October 1930125th Anniv. of Death Egon Wellesz * 21 October 1885

FRIEDRICH CERHA Aderngeflecht after poems by Emil Breisachfor baritone and orchestramusikprotokoll, RSO Wien, c. Friedrich Cerha, Georg Nigl, Bar06 October 2007 · Stefaniensaal Graz/A

Les Adieux (Elegie) for ensembleBiennale di Venezia, Klangforum Wien, c. Stefan Asbury08 October 2007 · Arsenal Venedig/I

Berceuse céleste for orchestraSWR RSO Stuttgart, c. Eliahu Inbal15 November 2007 · Liederhalle Beethovensaal Stuttgart/D

GEORG FRIEDRICH HAAS String Quartet No. 5Klangspuren Schwaz, Arditti Quartet20 September 2007 · St Martin’s Church Schwaz/A

Open Spaces for strings and 2 percussionistsWarsaw Autumn, AUKSO Chamber Orchestra, c. Marek Mos28 September 2007 · National Philharmonic Concert Hall Warsaw/PL

REMIX for 15 instrumentalistsWien Modern, Klangforum Wien, c. Enno Poppe12 November 2007 · Concert House Mozart Hall Vienna/A

SAED HADDAD Les 2 Visages de l'Orient (I–V) for violin (première of the final version)MachtMusik Festival, David Wedel, vln15 September 2007 · Leipzig/D

On Love I for qanun (Middle Eastern zither) and ensemble(première of the revised version)Festival d'Automne, Nieuw Ensemble Amsterdam,c. Garry Walker, Taoufik Mirkhan, qanun13 October 2007 · Opéra National de Paris/F

world premières

40

world premières

41

GEORG FRIEDRICH HAAS Concerto for Piano and OrchestraWien Modern, RSO Wien,c. Martyn Brabbins,Thomas Larcher, pno07 November 2007 · Musikverein Golden HallVienna/A

CRISTÓBAL HALFFTER Introducción y escena for soloists and orchestraDresdner Philharmonie, c. Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos20 September 2007 · Burgos/E

ROXANNA PANUFNIK The Spirit of the Saints for high voices and harpc. Anthony Cain, Downe House Choir01 November 2007 · St. Paul's Cathedral London/GB

WOLFGANG RIHM Canzona nuova for 5 violasFestival Musica, Christophe Desjardins, vla (with tape)29 September 2007 · Palais du Rhin Strasbourg/F

QUID EST DEUS Cantata Hermetica for choir and orchestraSWR-SO Baden-Baden und Freiburg, c. Sylvain CambrelingSWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart04 November 2007 · Concert House Freiburg/D

new releases

42

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACHInventionen und Sinfonien BWV 772-801 for piano Urtext Edition ed. by Ulrich LeisingerUT 50253

LUCIANO BERIOSequenza IV for piano (New Release) UE 33012

RICHARD FILZ Rhythm Coach – Level 2 (CD included)Rhythm workout for instrumentalists, singers and dancers UE 32348

RICHARD GRAFGuitar for 2 (Vol. 3, CD included) for 2 guitars UE 33337

ALEKSEY IGUDESMAN Klezmer Violin Duets for 2 violins UE 33650

GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 2 for soloists (soprano, alto), choir (SATB) and orchestrachoral score UE 32600

NICOLAI PODGORNOVPodgornov’s Piano Album for piano31 easy to middle-grade piecesUE 33649

FRANZ SCHUBERT Clarinet Album for clarinet and piano ed. by James RaeUE 21398

SIEGFRIED STEINKOGLER24 Competition Pieces for guitar solo UE 33667

KURT WEILLFünf Songs aus der Dreigroschenoper for choir SATBchoral score UE 33663

new releases

43

UNIVERSAL EDITION

Flute Project

for flute soloUE 33661

New contemporary pieces for per-formance and study

Famous flautists join forces withfamous composers for a voyage ofdiscovery into modern music.

New music is fun! New music isnot hard to listen to or understand.New music is playable. New musicthrives on extraordinary ideas!

One such extraordinary idea hasnow been realised, in the shape ofUniversal Edition’s Flute Project.Four of the best young musiciansin their field asked well-knowncomposers to write small pieces forsolo flute and to make them aseasy as possible. And they willinglyagreed. The result is distinguishedby an incredible musical diversity, awealth of different colours and styles. And besides simple pieces,the range deliberately incorporatescompletely new challenges,repeatedly providing incentives tocontinue this musical voyage of discovery.

Along with Emmanuel Pahud,Emily Benyon, Mathieu Dufour andKazushi Saito, discover the music ofVictoria Borisova-Ollas, David Cutler,

Misato Mochizuki, Roxanna Panuf-nik, Arvo Pärt and Jay Schwartz!

44

new on cd + dvd

BÉLA BARTÓK The Wooden Prince Hungarian National Philharmonic, c. Zoltán KocsisHungaroton/Klassik-Center SACD 43502

BÉLA BARTÓK String Quartet No. 5 Zehetmair Quartett ECM New Series CD 1874

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN / ALEXANDER ZEMLINKSY Fidelio for pianofor four hands Maki Namekawa, Dennis Russell Davies, pnCA vi-music CD 42 6008553019 9

ALBAN BERG LuluLaura Aikin, Cornelia Kallisch, Peter Keller, stage director: Sven-EricBechtolf, Opera Zurich Orchestra, c. Franz Welser MöstOpera Zurich Edition / Naxos DVD 5450270007844

LUCIANO BERIO Sequenza XIIITeodoro Anzellotti, acc Winter & Winter CD 910124-2

LUCIANO BERIO Folk SongsARNOLD SCHÖNBERG Pierrot Lunaire

Stella Doufexis, MS, opus21musikplus, c. Konstantia GourziNEOS CD 10709

SIR HARRISON BIRTWISTLE Punch and Judy Phyllis Bryn-Julson, S, Jan de Gaetani, MS, Philip Langridge, T,Stephen Roberts, Bar, London Sinfonietta, c. David Atherton NMC ANCORA NMC-D138

PIERRE BOULEZ Dérive, MémorialeLondon Sinfonietta, c. George Benjamin Nimbus Records NI CD 5167

FRIEDRICH CERHA Spiegel, Monumentum für Karl PrantlKlangforum Wien, c. Michael Gielencol legno WWE CD 20006

LEOS JANÁCEK JenufaNina Stemme, Eva Marton, Jorma Silvasti, Pär Lindskog, OrquestraSimfónica i Cor del Gran Teatre del Liceu, c. Peter Schneider, Regie:Olivier Tambosi Naxos TDKDVD DVWW-OPJENU 7438045

GYÖRGY LIGETI AtmosphèresStuttgarter Philharmoniker, Gabriel Feltz Dreyer Gaido CD 21029

WOLFGANG RIHM Antlitz, Phantom und EskapadeUlf Hoelscher, vln, Siegfried Mauser, pnCPO/JPC CD 999883-2

WOLFGANG RIHM Mehrere kurze WalzerFriederike Haufe & Volker Ahmels, pnMedien Kontor Hamburg ISMN M-700167-363

45

new on cd + dvd

ARNOLD SCHÖNBERG Gurrelieder Melanie Diener, Yvonne Naef, Robert Dean Smith, Gerhard Siegel,Ralf Lukas, BR-Chor, MDR-Chor, SWR SO, c. Michael GielenHänssler/Naxos 2 SACD 93.198

ARNOLD SCHÖNBERG Glückliche Hand, Variationen über ein Rezitativfür Orgel (ed. by Felix Greissle), EnsembleUnited Berlin, c. P. Hirsch ARS MUSICA AM CD 1344-2

PANCHO VLADIGUEROV Vardar, 2 Morceaux, Ratschenitzka Edua Amarilla Zádory, vln, Katalin and Endre Hegedus, Raluca StirbatHungaroton HCD 32301

ALEXANDER ZEMLINSKY Serenade A-Dur Mirijam Contzen, vln Oehms Classic / HM CD 596

JANET K. HALFYARD (HG.): Berio’s SequenzasEssays on Performance, Composition and AnalysisBook: UCE Birmingham Conservatoire, UK, www.ashgate.com

HANS GÁL3 Skizzen, 24 PreludienMartin Jones, pn Nimbus RecordsNI CD 1727

G. MAHLER Symphony No. 2Interactive VisualisationWDR-SO, c. Se-myon Bychkow,vis.: J. DeutschArthaus/NaxosDVD 101 421

FRANK MARTIN Die Weise vonLiebe u. Tod desCornets Ch. RilkeMusikkollegiumWinterthur,c. Jacvan Steen,Chris-tianne Stotijn,ACD MDG+SACD 601 1444-2

J. M. STAUDApeiron, Incipit III,Peras, Violentincidents, etc.Berliner Philhar.c. Simon RattleWDR SO,c.LotharZagrosek, etc.KAIROS CD0012672 KAI

46

braunfelsworklist

WALTER BRAUNFELS (1882–1954) Worklist (summary)

Die Ammenuhr op. 28 16’ 1914/1919

for boys’ choir and orchestra

Auf ein Soldatengrab op. 26 8’ 1922

for baritone and orchestra

Divertimento op. 42 for small orchestra 20’ 1929

Don Gil von den Grünen Hosen op. 35 180’ 1921–1923

Musical comedy in 3 acts for soli, choir (SATB) and orchestra

Vorspiel from the opera Don Gil von den Grünen Hosen op. 35 1921–1923

for orchestra

Tänze und Melodien op. 35b for orchestra 1921–1923

Suite from the opera Don Gil von den grünen Hosen

Don Juan op. 34 for large orchestra 18’ 1920/1924

A classic-romantic phantasmagoria Study score available at Musikproduktion Höflich: www.musikmph.de

Galathea op. 40 für soli, choir (SATB) and orchestra 50’ 1928/1929

A Greek fairy tale in 1 actDer gläserne Berg op. 39b Suite for small orchestra 24’ 1928

Große Messe op. 37 105’ 1923–1926

for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, boys’ chloir, mixed choir (SATB),

organ and orchestra

Kleine Messe op. 37b 50’ 1923/1926

for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, boys’ choir, mixed choir (SATB),

organ and orchestra, short version of the Große Messe

2 Hölderlin-Gesänge op. 27 for bass and orchestra 13’ 1922

Konzert op. 38 for organ, boys’ choir and orchestra 22’ 1928

Sonnenuntergang op. 41/1 for male choir (TTBB) a cappella 1924–1925

Nr. 1 from 2 Männerchöre

Nachtzauber op. 41/2 for male choir (TTBB) a cappella 1924–1925

Nr. 2 from 2 Männerchöre 10’ 1954/1961

Phantastische Erscheinungen eines Themas 47’ 1914–1917

von Hector Berlioz op. 25 for large orchestra

Study score available at Musikproduktion Höflich: www.musikmph.de

14 Präludien op. 33 for piano 1921

Präludium und Fuge op. 36 for large orchestra 17’ 1922–1925

47

Prinzessin Brambilla op. 12b 120’ 1906–1908

Fantasia in 1 prologue and 5 pictures for soli, choir (SATB) and orchestra

Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna op. 57 1939–1943

Composition after the court records from 1431, text and music by W. Braunfelsfor soli, choir and orchestra

Te Deum op. 32 60’ 1920/1921

for soprano, tenor, mixed choir (SATB), orchestra and organ

Der Traum ein Leben op. 51 for soli, choir (SATB) and orchestra 1934–1937

A dramatic fairy taleDie Vögel op. 30 A lyric-fantasy in 2 acts 120’ 1913–1919

for soli, choir (SATB) and orchestra

Vorspiel und Prolog der Nachtigall from the opera Die Vögel 10’ 1912/1913

for coloratura soprano and orchestra

Die Taubenhochzeit for orchestra 12’ 1912/1919

Ballet music from the opera Die Vögel

Abschied vom Walde for tenor and orchestra 5’ 1912/1913

Final song of Hoffegut from the opera Die Vögel

Vor- und Zwischenspiele op. 31 for piano 1918–1920

The complete UE worklist, with all specific details, can be found at:www.universaledition.com

braunfelsworklist

UNIVERSAL EDITION

Austria: PO Box 3, A-1015 Vienna, Austria

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: Bálint András Varga, Angelika Dworak,

Eric Marinitsch, Wolfgang Schaufler, Jonathan Irons,

Rebecca Dawson, Marion Dürr and Nick Cutts

Design: Egger & Lerch, Vienna

Photo Credits: Marion Kalter (3), Eric Marinitsch (5), Konzerthaus

Wien (2), Keith Saunders, Helmut Wiederin, Staatstheater Stutt-

gart, Manchester International Festival, Harlad Fronzeck, China PO,

Merseburger Orgeltage, RuhrTriennale / Roland Weihrauch, Wex-

ford Opera / Derek Speirs, www.italica.rai.it, Long Beach Opera,

Francis T.B. Martin Collection Omaha, Wiener Staatsoper / Axel

Zeininger, UE Archive (3), Teatro La Fenice / Michele Crosera, H. de

Booij, Stone / Kurt Weill Foundatin for Music, Karl Weigl jun.,

Opernhaus Zürich / Suzanne Schwiertz, Musikfreunde Wien / Peter

Schramek; CDs: Nimbus Records, Arthaus / Naxos, MDG, KAIROS.

DVR: 0836702

48

thema