Event

With the conviction that we can only understand our present and determine our position if we are aware of our history, we are pleased to make a substantial contribution to a festival on the theme of "Remembering."

In this program of the Schwetzingen SWR Festival, eras are interwoven and epochs of upheaval are put into dialog: the modern age, which is breaking away from the Middle Ages, and the stage since modernity. The pieces thematize existential issues: love, death and memory, lamentation, accusation and hope.

The framework is set by the last works: Alban Berg's Violin Concerto (arranged for chamber ensemble) and a madrigal from the last collection published by Luca Marenzio. Today's compositions take up the calls from history: José M. Sánchez-Verdú refers to Dante, as does Marenzio. Remembering and commemorating are inscribed in the works from the 15th century: Josquin composed "Nymphes des bois" on the death of Ockeghem, Vinder his "O mors inevitabile" (O unavoidable death) as an obituary for Josquin. As in a time-lapse, memories sound out in Alban Berg's violin concerto: A Styrian folk song as a melancholic semblance of home, a Bach chorale as a broken longing for a home beyond, the Brucknerian rhythm of death as a startling memento, all carry an aura of remembrance into this modern work, as it may be felt at a perceived boundary of life.