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From Mahler’s adagietto to Pesson’s post-modern review. At a moment that marked a highpoint in Central European Romanticism, Gustav Mahler–the man who eluded all early 20th century “isms” and redefined the concept of symphonies–united a funeral march with folksongs, dance and even embryonic Expressionism in his Symphony No. 5. A symphonic jigsaw puzzle to which he returned time and time again, it is now a staple in concert halls throughout the world. Aside from its huge popularity, in the words of critic Paul Bekker, it contains some of the most magnificent passages from the history of music. Aggravations et final is a deep reflection on time, finiteness and the human condition, achieved through form and musical material. Gérard Pesson is one of the most outstanding French avant-garde composers, and this piece for orchestra is a fine example of his skills and approach to music, characterised in this last case by a subtle exploration of highly personal, sophisticated sounds, inspired, in turn, by hidden references and musical quotes, from Bruckner to Messiaen or to the famous adagietto from Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.
The Quatuor pour la fin du temps, composed by Messiaen in a Nazi concentration camp, is one of the most impressive pieces of chamber music of the 20th century. The Sitkovetsky Trio and clarinetist Andreas Ottensamer will perform Olivier Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du temps ( Quartet for the End of Time) (1941), which is inspired by a passage from the Apocalypse of St. John. This is one of the most impressive pieces of chamber music of the 20th century, especially considering that Olivier Messiaen composed it in a Nazi concentration camp. He met three other prisoners who were musicians; a clarinetist, a cellist and a violinist. This was the reason behind the rather unusual chamber ensemble. They premiered the work in front of a group of prisoners. “Never had I been listened to with so much attention and understanding,” said the composer. With death approaching, the power of music intensifies. Maurice Ravel’s Piano Trio in A Minor (1914) is the last work that Ravel composed before becoming an ambulance driver for the French army. Ravel masterfully combines his obsession with formal perfection with his interest in the popular Basque tradition that he had nurtured since he was a child. The movement uses irregular rhythms similar to those of the zortziko dance rhythm and the third movement uses the form of the passacaille.
Westerns are much more than a film genre. They form part of an imaginary shared by various generations around the world, featuring iconic settings and scenes in saloon bars, gun duels and battles between cowboys and Indians. The soundtracks of these films have also become twentieth-century classics. They include Ennio Morricone’s compositions, which set a style of their own in the spaghetti western. Elmer Bernstein’s score for the Magnificent Seven was one of the best-known of the 1960s. Not long after this, John Williams composed the soundtrack for The Cowboys, starring John Wayne, a classic of the 1970s. And John Barry’s score for Dances with Wolves is undoubtedly one of the most popular late twentieth-century soundtracks. This very special concert also includes the suite written by Roque Baños for 800 balas by Álex de la Iglesia, a comedy paying tribute to the western.
Sonets de joguina (Toy Sounds) is a show bursting with magic and creativity in which the imagination flies to an airport full of surprises and dream-like characters. On this journey you’ll be accompanied at all times by the sounds of clarinets, flutes, guitars, a sax, an accordion, and a melodica...and a whole host of different keyboards, percussion instruments, objects and toys that make sounds, to transport you to a musical universe full of surprises and sensations.
Sonets de joguina (Toy Sounds) is a show bursting with magic and creativity in which the imagination flies to an airport full of surprises and dream-like characters. On this journey you’ll be accompanied at all times by the sounds of clarinets, flutes, guitars, a sax, an accordion, and a melodica...and a whole host of different keyboards, percussion instruments, objects and toys that make sounds, to transport you to a musical universe full of surprises and sensations.
Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg conducts his work for ensemble. The title of the first piece, Correntewill conjure up the Baroque period to music lovers. Indeed, its suggested links with a courante have a certain logic, since the title gives us some clues to the work. We will hear how an ostinato can be converted into a vibrant, obsessive leitmotif, better suited to combatting a sense of horror vacui. Souvenir (Memory) also feeds on the past: it is a kind of miniature symphony, both in terms of the number of performers and its division into movements, hence implying the deployment of sound in each one for dramatic purposes. The first movement has a very specific quality, emanating right from the outset through the blocks that open the piece. The second spurns the supposed tranquillity that its slower tempo ought to convey, and it is characterised by a certain disturbing treacle-like feel. In the third movement, timbral specificities are used as a nostalgic gesture. As Lindberg acknowledges, small ensembles have long been used as a test laboratory by many creators when they are unable to premiere work with orchestras. This is the case of this tribute to Gérard Grisey and to the Italian composer Franco Donatoni, from whose work of the same name, written in 1967, the title was taken.
Sonets de joguina (Toy Sounds) is a show bursting with magic and creativity in which the imagination flies to an airport full of surprises and dream-like characters. On this journey you’ll be accompanied at all times by the sounds of clarinets, flutes, guitars, a sax, an accordion, and a melodica...and a whole host of different keyboards, percussion instruments, objects and toys that make sounds, to transport you to a musical universe full of surprises and sensations.
Sonets de joguina (Toy Sounds) is a show bursting with magic and creativity in which the imagination flies to an airport full of surprises and dream-like characters. On this journey you’ll be accompanied at all times by the sounds of clarinets, flutes, guitars, a sax, an accordion, and a melodica...and a whole host of different keyboards, percussion instruments, objects and toys that make sounds, to transport you to a musical universe full of surprises and sensations.
Franz Schubert’s major symphony, reflecting a talent that was much envied by Richard Strauss. The two movements known today as the Unfinished Symphony are one of Franz Schubert’s most popular symphonic works, and the symphony marks a turning point in the history of the genre, breaking classical moulds. As with other symphonies, it was not the Viennese composer’s death that interrupted it, since he abandoned the project six years before he died. A work contemporary with his major song cycle Die schöne Müllerin (The Lovely Miller Maiden), Schubert never lived to hear it. The symphony opens with a long movement, built on extensive linked up phrases, giving rise to a broad spectrum of atmospheres and effects while also highlighting the inexplicable talent that Richard Strauss so envied. Idomeneo marks a turning point in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s operas. A work commissioned by the Bavarian court, the composer held it in high esteem despite the tortuous process that led to its creation. Its music illustrates Mozart’s rich wealth of ideas and his skill at sketching characters and situations, governed by human fate and marked by death. The Australian Brett Dean has achieved international recognition over the last two decades in the form of awards and commissioned works. Carlo is his most widely performed work, a symphony based on a creative new look at the life and music of Carlo Gesualdo, the great Renaissance madrigal composer. F. J. Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 is one of the most famous concertos written for this instrument and a mainstay for many performers. A work written in his youth, it nonetheless reveals the Austrian maestro’s solid skills.
Death, W. A. Mozart’s unresolved issue. Requiem in D Minor, a work of legendary fame, marks a highpoint in W. A. Mozart’s late period dedicated to sacred music. A work that went unfinished due to the composer’s premature death, it is an autobiographical testimony to the composer, over and beyond his treatment of the themes of death and Divine Judgement. Mozart’s use of dramatic action breathes new life into this sacred genre, with a sound that shines out to create a powerfully intense experience. His disciple Franz Xaver Süssmayr, who had already assisted him with other contemporary works such as The Magic Flute and The Clemency of Titus, finished off the requiem: a work with some pending issues since Mozart posed the question of death, but it still remains unresolved. Mozart’s famous Symphony No. 40 stands out among his last three symphonies and among all those that he wrote in Vienna for its masterly use of wind instruments in the orchestral texture and for its bold harmonics, which are unique to this work. This masterpiece contains all the promise and heralds all the potential that would later be reflected in Romantic symphonies. Despite the brevity of this motet on the death of God made man, Ave verum corpus is considered to be “the most sublime work of art ever written by Mozart” in the opinion of leading 20th expert in Mozart, Bernhard Paumgartner.
Death, W. A. Mozart’s unresolved issue. Requiem in D Minor, a work of legendary fame, marks a highpoint in W. A. Mozart’s late period dedicated to sacred music. A work that went unfinished due to the composer’s premature death, it is an autobiographical testimony to the composer, over and beyond his treatment of the themes of death and Divine Judgement. Mozart’s use of dramatic action breathes new life into this sacred genre, with a sound that shines out to create a powerfully intense experience. His disciple Franz Xaver Süssmayr, who had already assisted him with other contemporary works such as The Magic Flute and The Clemency of Titus, finished off the requiem: a work with some pending issues since Mozart posed the question of death, but it still remains unresolved. Mozart’s famous Symphony No. 40 stands out among his last three symphonies and among all those that he wrote in Vienna for its masterly use of wind instruments in the orchestral texture and for its bold harmonics, which are unique to this work. This masterpiece contains all the promise and heralds all the potential that would later be reflected in Romantic symphonies. Despite the brevity of this motet on the death of God made man, Ave verum corpus is considered to be “the most sublime work of art ever written by Mozart” in the opinion of leading 20th expert in Mozart, Bernhard Paumgartner.
A captivating programme focused on Bach and one of his most important musical genres: cantatas. Masaaki Suzuki –music director of the Bach Collegium in Japan– is the guest conductor of the Bachcelona Festival, where he will offer a concert featuring, among others, soloists from the Salvat Beca Bach. Johann Sebastian Bach’s two cantatas BWV 71 and BWV 119 will be performed, both composed as part of religious celebrations to mark civic and political events: Gott ist mein König was written in 1708 to celebrate the inauguration of Mühlhausen Municipal Council and Preise, Jerusalem, den Herrn, which includes fragments of the Te Deum with texts by Martin Luther, was composed to mark the inauguration of Leipzig City Council in 1723. The concert will also feature the Cor Bachcelona Akademie and Bachcelona Consort, with Daniel Tarrida as organist.