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Work of the Week – Andrew Norman: Play: Levels 1, 2 and 3
- By Christopher Peter
- 26 Oct 2025
Dutch premiere of Andrew Norman's Play: Levels 1, 2 and 3 (Oct 29, 2025) with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Klaus Mäkelä.
Tagged with 'Berlin Philharmonic'
Work of the Week – Toshio Hosokawa: Prayer
- By Christopher Peter
- 27 Feb 2023
With Toshio Hosokawa’s new violin concerto Prayer, the composer reflects on the passing of modern events and their overall influence on the life of the soul. The piece is dedicated to world renowned soloist Daishin Kashimoto who will perform it for the first time on 02 March 2023 with the Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Paavo Järvi at the Philharmonie Berlin.
Work of the week – Andrew Norman: Spiral
- 11 Jun 2018
On 14 June, the Berlin Philharmonic will give the world premiere of Andrew Norman’s Spiral as part of the orchestra’s farewell season of their principal conductor Simon Rattle, and within their “tapas” series of new works approximately six minutes in length, designed to whet the appetite for contemporary music.
Andrew Norman is widely regarded as one of the most successful composers of his generation and regularly receives commissions from major international orchestras. Last year he achieved great success with his children’s opera A Trip to the Moon, written for the Berlin Philharmonic’s “Vokalhelden” (Vocal heroes) project. In the same year, Norman’s orchestral work Play won a Grawemeyer Award, and he was named “Composer of the Year” at Musical America.
Norman’s Spiral traces the transformations of a few instrumental gestures as they orbit each other in ever contracting circles. The strings are instructed to play divisi and, one after the other, they entwine to create the effect of a musical spiral.
Further performances of Spiral will follow in Berlin on 15 & 16 June. On 23 July the BBC Symphony Orchestra will perform the UK premiere at the BBC Proms, who co-commissioned the work, with Karina Canellakis conducting.
Andrew Norman is widely regarded as one of the most successful composers of his generation and regularly receives commissions from major international orchestras. Last year he achieved great success with his children’s opera A Trip to the Moon, written for the Berlin Philharmonic’s “Vokalhelden” (Vocal heroes) project. In the same year, Norman’s orchestral work Play won a Grawemeyer Award, and he was named “Composer of the Year” at Musical America.
Andrew Norman - Spiral: a musical force
Norman’s Spiral traces the transformations of a few instrumental gestures as they orbit each other in ever contracting circles. The strings are instructed to play divisi and, one after the other, they entwine to create the effect of a musical spiral.
"...the idea of a "spiral-shaped" orchestra piece is something I've been thinking about for a while. Some of the musical ideas and gestures in this piece were definitely inspired by my experiences of and with Simon and the Berlin Philharmonic (namely their unique physical energy and precision)." – Andrew Norman
Further performances of Spiral will follow in Berlin on 15 & 16 June. On 23 July the BBC Symphony Orchestra will perform the UK premiere at the BBC Proms, who co-commissioned the work, with Karina Canellakis conducting.
Work of the week – Jörg Widmann: Tanz auf dem Vulkan
- 21 May 2018
Internationally, Jörg Widmann has achieved great success as a clarinetist, composer and increasingly as a conductor. On 27 May, the Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle will premiere Widmann’s new work Tanz auf dem Vulkan (Dance on the Volcano), which was commissioned by the orchestra as part of their “tapas” concert series, and dedicated to Sir Simon who will leave his post as the orchestra’s principal conductor this year.
Although the work is written for Sir Simon, it begins without a conductor. Instead, the percussionist counts the orchestra in with drumsticks, and the conductor walks on stage to join in over the course of the first eleven bars.
For Widmann, established tradition and contemporary exploration in music are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, Widmann openly refers to past musical conventions in his works, yet creates something completely new in his examination on the past.
The Berlin Philharmonic will perform Tanz auf dem Vulkan at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 31 May, at the Musikverein Wien in 2 June and at the Philharmonie Köln on 6 June. The Spanish premiere will follow at the Auditorio Nacional de Música on 7 June in Madrid.
Although the work is written for Sir Simon, it begins without a conductor. Instead, the percussionist counts the orchestra in with drumsticks, and the conductor walks on stage to join in over the course of the first eleven bars.
Jörg Widmann – Tanz auf dem Vulkan: Love for all music, past and present
For Widmann, established tradition and contemporary exploration in music are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, Widmann openly refers to past musical conventions in his works, yet creates something completely new in his examination on the past.
“Over the past few years, I have been closely involved with the Berlin Philharmonic in an intense musical partnership and was therefore only too pleased to fulfill their request to compose a short farewell piece for Sir Simon. My composition has evolved into an insistently explosive work. The job description for a chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic is these four words, in my opinion very aptly described: Dance on the volcano.”
– Jörg Widmann
The Berlin Philharmonic will perform Tanz auf dem Vulkan at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 31 May, at the Musikverein Wien in 2 June and at the Philharmonie Köln on 6 June. The Spanish premiere will follow at the Auditorio Nacional de Música on 7 June in Madrid.
Work of the Week – Julian Anderson: Incantesimi
- 29 Aug 2016
The Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle will give two national premieres of Julian Anderson's new orchestral work Incantesimi this week at the Lucerne Festival on Wednesday 31 August and at the BBC Proms on Saturday 3 September.
Written with this orchestra's particular colour in mind, Incantesimi is an 8-minute glittering exploration of orbiting musical ideas. Following its world premiere in Berlin in June, the Berlin Philharmonic have taken the piece on tour to Rotterdam, Lucerne, and culminating with the UK premiere at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
Incantesimi (meaning ‘spells’ or ‘enchantments’ in Italian) is based on five musical ideas which circle around each other, sometimes accompanying in the background, sometimes rising to the foreground. The work is characterised by a recurring Cor Anglais solo, a long arching string figure, low chords, and bell chords in the middle and high registers. The piece unfolds slowly in what the composer describes as an “almost hypnotic state”, which lends the work its title. Toward the end of the work, the tempo dramatically shifts, bringing about an eruption of sound. This subsides and the music continues its orbit to close the piece.
A co-commission between the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation, the Royal Philharmonic Society and Boston Symphony Orchestra, Incantesimi will be given its US premiere by the BSO on 26 January 2017 followed by performances on 27 and 28 January at Symphony Hall, Boston, Massachusetts.
Written with this orchestra's particular colour in mind, Incantesimi is an 8-minute glittering exploration of orbiting musical ideas. Following its world premiere in Berlin in June, the Berlin Philharmonic have taken the piece on tour to Rotterdam, Lucerne, and culminating with the UK premiere at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
Incantesimi (meaning ‘spells’ or ‘enchantments’ in Italian) is based on five musical ideas which circle around each other, sometimes accompanying in the background, sometimes rising to the foreground. The work is characterised by a recurring Cor Anglais solo, a long arching string figure, low chords, and bell chords in the middle and high registers. The piece unfolds slowly in what the composer describes as an “almost hypnotic state”, which lends the work its title. Toward the end of the work, the tempo dramatically shifts, bringing about an eruption of sound. This subsides and the music continues its orbit to close the piece.
When Sir Simon Rattle asked me to compose a work for the Berlin Philharmonic, I decided to write a piece which focused upon line and timbre unfolding at a slow rate. I have always admired the ability of Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic to play long, flowing musical lines with exceptional beauty of tone. – Julian Anderson
A co-commission between the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation, the Royal Philharmonic Society and Boston Symphony Orchestra, Incantesimi will be given its US premiere by the BSO on 26 January 2017 followed by performances on 27 and 28 January at Symphony Hall, Boston, Massachusetts.
