Work of the Week - Bernard Rands: Danza Petrificada

Following its celebrated world premiere in May, 2011, Bernard Rands' Danza Petrificada sees its Austrian premiere on August 26 at the Salzburg Festival with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Led by Riccardo Muti, Danza Petrificada was commissioned by the CSO to celebrate Muti’s inaugural season as music director. A longtime collaborator and with Muti, Bernard Rands comments on the occasion

Maestro Muti’s request was that the new work would, in some way, pay tribute to Mexico on the 200th anniversary of that country’s revolution and the 100th anniversary of Mexico’s independence. The title comes from a beautiful poem by Octavio Paz in which he describes a Mexican village. ‘[…] festin de formas, danza petrificada bajo las nubes que hacen y se deshacen y no acaban de hacerse, siempre en tránsito hacis su forma venidera.’(’[…] a banquet of forms, a petrified dance under the clouds that make and unmake and never stop making themselves, always in transit toward their future forms.’). Such a wonderful description of the phenomenon of music itself!

Following the Austrian debut, Muti and the CSO tour throughout Europe and present three more national premieres of Danza Petrificada on August 28 at the Lucerne Festival, August 31 in the Philharmonie Luxembourg and September 2 in Paris. The CSO concludes the tour with a performance in Vienna on September 5.

• Bernard Rands - Profile
• Details on Danza Petrificada, full digital score, concert dates