Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra Perform Jörg Widmann's Chor

The music of Jörg Widmann returns to the United States as The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst perform his work Chor on Thursday, October 15 and Saturday, October 17. Originally titled cantus firmus, Chor was given its US premiere by the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra in 2004 under Kent Nagano, who also conducted its world premiere with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. The piece is a study of "instrumental singing" as Widmann puts it, with the music unfolding slowly as ringing, sustained tones are gradually passed around the orchestra. The result is a moving tone poem of a melancholic character. Widmann, a young German composer fast becoming recognized as one of the most important voices in contemporary music, elaborates:

In Chor, the single voice becomes magnified to giant proportions, the entire orchestra singing as one body, one choir. In reality, it looks like a choral piece. There are scales, and long-held notes, and sound scapes like the kind you would compose for a chorus. At present I am very interested in how instruments can 'sing.' This is one front that has been rather neglected in contemporary music.

Visit www.clevelandorch.com for more details on the performance.