english 
deutsch 
français 
Work of the Week – Ludger Vollmer: Der Tigerprinz
- 14 Feb 2022
A cinema screen, a live camera and a children's book. Most people probably wouldn't associate these objects with an orchestral work, but they prove an important component to the performance of Ludger Vollmer's Der Tigerprinz (The Tiger Prince). The work for narrator and orchestra sets to music Chen Jianghong’s book of the same name. The music and narration are accompanied by unique images, projected onto a screen, providing an experience which can be appreciated by people of all ages. On 20 February the piece will be performed to a live audience for the first time at the Tonhalle Düsseldorf. The Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra will perform under the direction of Harish Shankar, Wolfram Boelzle appearing as narrator. The visual realisation is the work of the theater collective compagnie toit végétal.
Love defeats violence in Der Tigerprinz by Ludger Vollmer
The music follows the story of a tigress whose cubs are the victims of human slaughter. Driven by revenge, she destroys their settlement, declaring an ultimatum: only when the king and queen give up their son to the tigress will the violence be stopped. Adopting the king's young son, she teaches him all that must learned as a tiger prince. In the meantime, the king and queen decide to use forceful methods to retrieve their son. Out of love for his new tiger mother, the young boy protects the tigress against the danger and ends the violence between humans and animals.
Vollmer does not simply set a children's book to music: his composition signifies the importance of protecting natural life and the earth itself. Love must reign, not violence. It is a work that, despite the childlike template, also has much to offer adults.
"Der Tigerprinz is based on various dials and scales with which I transport special moods. For example, the little prince, the tigress, the paradise and also the mother love have a special mode. The result is a very emotional, often stormy music." Ludger Vollmer
Already on 18 February Der Tigerprinz will be performed twice as a school concert in Düsseldorf.
photo: Oleksandr Moroz/ Charimaru / Adobe Stock
