Work of the Week – Eduard Resatsch: Premonition

By Christopher Peter
25 Jan 2026

The banner features a portrait of composer Eduard Resatsch, a man with dark, wavy hair. It is blended with an artistic illustration: a bright golden beam of light cuts through a nocturnal forest scene and abstract dark blue shadows.

There are those rare moments in the concert hall when time seems to stand still, almost palpable in the room – a state of anticipation in which every breath weighs heavily. It is precisely this phenomenon of “premonition” that forms the centrepiece of Eduard Resatsch’s latest orchestral work. Premonition will premiere at the Konzerthaus Berlin on 29 January 2026, performed by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski.

Between standstill and eruption: Eduard Resatsch's ‘intermediate realm’

Eduard Resatsch does not view the world of the orchestra from the distance of a theorist. His approach is a deeply physical one: as a long-time cellist with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, he is as familiar with the vox humana of his instrument as he is with the complex machinery of an orchestra. This grounding in practice gives his compositions a special haptic quality.

In recent years, the Ukrainian-born composer has increasingly emerged as the musical voice of conscience. His arrangements and original compositions, published at M.P. Belaieff, often understood as reflections on the upheavals in his homeland, have found an audience worldwide. But Premonition does not focus on explicit political agendas, but rather on the existential exploration of the boundaries of sound.

A glimmer in suspended time

As Resatsch puts it, the work moves in the “limbo between dream and reality”. It is a musical exploration of that threshold state in which pulsating silence is suddenly broken by eruptive forces. To paraphrase a philosophical classic, one could almost say that here the world reveals itself as will and premonition.

Resatsch creates soundscapes that unfold an immense inner dynamic and drive the musical events to the threshold of the existential. But despite the eruptive outbursts that shatter the “frozen time”, the work remains optimistic. A “glimmer of confidence” permeates the score and acts as a reflection on the transformative nature of things.

The dedication of the work to Vladimir Jurowski underlines the artistic kinship between composer and conductor. Jurowski, whose interpretations often captivate with their almost dissecting precision and emotional depth, seems to be the ideal advocate for this world premiere. Christian Tetzlaff will accompany the programme, making the evening one of the most distinguished events of the current season. Anyone who wants to know what modernism sounds like when it reconciles the intellectual with the deeply human will find the answer at the Konzerthaus this evening.