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To mark Pēteris Vasks’ 70th birthday on 16 April, Sinfonietta Rîga and the Latvian Radio Choir will give the premiere of his new work Da pacem, Domine in Riga cathedral.

Vasks was born in Latvia in 1946, the son of a Baptist priest. He began studying the double bass at the Lithuanian Conservatory and later went on to study composition the Latvian Music Academy. During the Soviet period Vasks suffered under the repressions of Russian cultural doctrine due to his beliefs and artistic convictions, but his works went on to achieve widespread recognition.

Describing his compositional style, Vasks writes:

It all comes from my father. How expressive his language and his gestures were while he was preaching. He worked hard on the preparations and when he delivered a sermon, it seemed as if it was created in that moment for the people, with so much expression. It is about ideals, faith and love. Those are the messages of my music which I have to tell the people.  And so I do that. – Vasks

A desire for peace is a common theme in many of Vasks’ works and this is particularly present in Da pacem, Domine. The text ‘Da pacem, Domine in diebus nostris’ has been set to music countless times since its adaptation by Martin Luther in 1529 and the musical settings frequently comment on the political situation of their own era warning future generations of the danger of religious division, war and terror.

Sinfonietta Rîga and the Latvian Radio Choir will also perform Pater Noster, The Fruit of silence, Einsame Engel, Musica appassionata and Musica serena conducted by Sigvards Kïava and Normunds Ðnç.

• Peteris Vasks - profile


• more performances at his birthday

photo: Mélanie Gomez

On 7 April, Buenos Aires Philharmonic will give the Argentinian premiere of Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Concerto for oboe and small orchestra with soloist Néstor Garrote under and conductor Zhang Guoyong at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

The Oboe Concerto was written in 1952 and premiered the same year at the Donaueschingen Festival. Zimmermann was a lecturer in music theory at the University of Cologne at the time, before his career became more heavily weighted towards composition. Throughout his career he struggled with the conflict between the security of a permanent position and the freedom of being a composer. He referred to himself a ‘restless spirit’ and although this was often a burden to him, it also inspired his compositions.

Zimmermann’s homage to Stravinsky

Zimmermann’s work presents a virtuosic oboe part, highly demanding of the soloist. The Concerto comprises three movements: 'Hommage à Stravinsky', 'Rhapsodie' and 'Finale'. Zimmermann explained:

In the first movement, 'Hommage à Stravinsky', motifs and themes of the first movement of Stravinsky's Symphony in C are quoted in both overt and hidden ways. All the movements of my concerto are based on the same 12-note row, which is still flexible flexible enough that – an aversion for all ultra orthodox dodecaphonists – themes by Stravinsky can be quoted without “breaking ranks”. It will be possible for the audience to discover these little jokes from time to time.

The Argentinian premiere of Zimmermann's opera Die Soldaten will also be given this year in a production from 12-20 July directed by Pablo Maritano at the Teatre Colón.

• Bernd Alois Zimmermann - profile


• Konzert für Oboe und kleines Orchester - work details and online score


• Teatro Colón

Photo: HalloweenHJB

On 19 March the European premiere of Andrew Norman's Play: Level 1 will be performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the direction of Gustavo Dudamel in Paris as part of their 2016 tour across the USA and Europe.

Play: Level 1 is part of a larger work, Play, made up of three movements or 'Levels' where levels 1 to 3 can also be performed as stand-alone works. The complete work was premiered by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project in 2013.

Music reaching the next level

In his work, Norman draws on the many meanings and connotations of the word 'play'. He explores the idea of 'play' being fun and child-like, but also considers how it could be part of the darker side of interpersonal relationships consisting of control and manipulation. For Norman, once the orchestra is on stage it assumes a theatrical quality. He is fascinated with the moving parts of individual instrumentalists playing with and against each other at different times, led by a conductor who pulls the strings like a puppeteer.

Much of this piece is concerned with who is playing whom. The percussionists, for instance, spend a lot of their time and energy "playing" the rest of the orchestra (just as they themselves are "played" by the conductor, who in turn is "played" by the score). Specific percussion instruments act as triggers, turning on and off various players, making them (sometimes in a spirit of jest, sometimes not) play louder or softer, forwards or backwards, faster or slower. They cause the music to rewind and retry things, to jump back and forth in its own narrative structure, and to change channels entirely, all with an eye and ear toward finding a way out of the labyrinth and on to some higher level. - Norman

The Los Angeles Philharmonic continue their tour with national premiere performances of Play: Level 1 in Luxembourg on 21 March and the UK on 22 March.

• Andrew Norman - profile


• Play: Level 1 - work details and online score


• Los Angeles Philharmonic

On 15 March composer, conductor and clarinettist Jörg Widmann will perform the world premiere of his own arrangement of the Andante from Mendelssohn’s Clarinet Sonata with the Irish Chamber Orchestra at Limerick University Concert Hall.

Originally clarinet and piano, Mendelssohn wrote his Clarinet Sonata in E flat major at the age of fifteen. The middle movement, Andante, is described as a touchingly simple song without words. United in their adoration of Mendelssohn, Widmann dedicates his arrangement, scored for clarinet and string orchestra, to Aribert Reimann who recently celebrated his 80th birthday.

Widmann composes an homage to Mendelssohn

Andante opens with a cantabile theme in the clarinet which is joined by the orchestra playing soft pizzicato notes. A celesta joins later with contrasting fast semiquaver passages which stand out from the rest of the ensemble. The piece is characterised by chant-like passages and variations in tempo and concludes with a G minor chord which is repeated as an echo.

I have long dreamed of arranging this wonderful music for clarinet, string orchestra, harp and celesta. This wish has now been fulfilled within the framework of the Irish Chamber Orchestra’s Mendelssohn Project. - Jörg Widmann

Irish Chamber Orchestra will perform Andante again alongside Widmann's Hunting Quartet on 16 March in Dublin. The German premiere of Andante will take place at the Heidelberger Frühling festival on 20 April in the Stadthalle Heidelberg.

• Jörg Widmann - profile


• Andante - work details and online score


• Irish Chamber Orchestra

Foto: Marco Borggreve

On March 10, Christoph Eschenbach (photo) leads the National Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere of Tobias Picker’s Opera Without Words, a major new work for orchestra. The premiere takes place at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, with repeat performances on March 11 and 12.

Picker’s Opera Without Words was co-commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra, through a grant from the John and June Hechinger Commissioning Fund for New Orchestra Works, and by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. The work is a remarkable and unusual musical drama that explores a mysterious narrative through five scenes: "The Beloved," "The Minstrel," "The Idol," "The Gladiator," and "The Farewell." Picker elaborates on the work’s unique genesis:

Opera Without Words is a music drama about some of the fascinating people I have known. In beginning to compose this work, I found myself reviewing the differences and similarities between a concerto for an orchestra and an opera. As a result, I approached this new orchestral work as I would an opera; I hired a librettist, Irene Dische, and set her words not to voices but to musical instruments, unfettered by considerations of vocal range and technique. When I finished the opera with words, I removed the text, leaving but a few traces and artifacts of the deleted libretto in the score. - Picker

• Tobias Picker - profile


• Opera Without Words - work details and online score


• The Kennedy Center

Photo: Luca Piva

Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin celebrate Aribert Reimann’s 80th birthday on 4 March with a performance of Metamorphosen über ein Menuett von Franz Schubert (D 600) for ten instruments. The Ensemble Pro Artibus Hannover will also perform the work at the Städtische Galerie KUBUS on 1 March.

Metamorphosen is based on Schubert’s Minuet in C sharp minor for piano, originally published in 1897 - nearly 70 years after Schubert’s death. Schubert often wrote initial musical ideas down in the form of short pieces, such as minuets, only later developing them into much larger works.

Developing Schubert’s ideas

Reimann uses Schubert’s minuet as a basis to create Metamorphosen. The ensemble is divided into a wind quintet and string quintet, which he uses to vary the texture between soli and duet sections. The work comprises an initial eight bar theme with a set of a variations that stray further and further from the original theme.

I have learned a lot through using other composers’ works. Especially concerning the polyphony in writing for piano, which plays a different role in new music today. – Reimann

Alongside Metamorphosen, DSO Berlin will also perform Adagio zum Gedenken an Robert Schumann for string quartet, Solo for oboe and Solo for cello.

• Aribert Reimann - profile


• Metamorphosen - work details and online score


• Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin


• Pro Artibus Hannover

Photo: © Schott Music Promotion / Gaby Gerster

On 25 Feburary 2016, Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla will perform the world premiere of Fazıl Say’s Grand Bazaar under the direction of John Axelrod at Teatro de la Maestranza in Sevilla.

Formally resembling a symphonic poem, Say refers Grand Bazaar as a "rhapsody for orchestra". The work is inspired by the major landmark in Istanbul, one of the world’s largest covered markets with thousands of shops and stalls stretching across 60 streets. The bustling atmosphere of trade inside the Grand Bazaar is brought to life in Say's music.

Istanbul’s landmark translated into music

Grand Bazaar depicts a variety of scenes from within the Bazaar, with sections of the score titled "walking in the dark streets of the Grand Bazaar", "carpet sale dispute" and "evening atmosphere". Say combines his idea of Turkish colours and rhythms with modern compositional and instrumental techniques.

I myself was raised as more of an Occidental, influenced by my parents, the conservatory in Ankara, and my life in Germany and the USA. In this respect I am nearly a Westerner, but cultures are merging more and more, because people intermingle more and more. We should strengthen these bridges and develop a greater openness to other cultures. – Say

The Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla will also perform Say’s violin concerto 1001 Nights in the Harem alongside Grand Bazaar on 25 and 26 February.

• Fazıl Say - profile


• Grand Bazaar - work details and online score


• Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla

Photo: Akça Doğan

The Semperoper Dresden premieres a new production of Viktor Ullmann’s one-act chamber opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis oder Die Tod-Verweigerung [The Emperor of Atlantis] on 19 February, directed by Christiane Lutz and conductor Johannes Wulff-Woesten.

The opera is a parable of a cruel emperor, whose senseless war is claiming many lives. Death puts an end to the chaos by refusing his duty - now, everyone lives for eternity. The king becomes disempowered, but the people long for a release from the pain of life. Only the voluntary death of the emperor can restore death's original purpose.

Ullmann wrote Der Kaiser von Atlantis while imprisoned at the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1943, based on a libretto by Peter Kien, a fellow prisoner. The opera was rehearsed by a chamber ensemble founded with the permission of the SS, but its performance was prohibited after the final rehearsal. Just before his deportation to Auschwitz in 1944, Ullmann handed the score and libretto to a friend who was able to save both manuscripts.

I composed quite a lot of new music in Theresienstadt, mostly for satisfying the demands of conductors, directors, pianists, singers and thus for the leisure activities in the Ghetto […]. I need to emphasize that my musical work was encouraged and not inhibited by Theresienstadt. We were not merely succumbing to grief at Babylon’s streams, and our cultural will was equal to our will to live; and I am convinced that all those who have attempted to shape reluctant material in either life or art would agree with me. - Viktor Ullmann

A run of performances of Der Kaiser von Atlantis will follow the premiere in Dresden from 19 February to 6 March 2016. Several versions and manuscripts of the opera are available, showing the work in different stages before and after its censorship. A new Eulenburg study score from Schott (ETP 8067) shows each version together in one edition.

• Viktor Ullmann - profile


• Der Kaiser von Atlantis oder Die Tod-Verweigerung - work details and online score


• Semperoper Dresden

Photo: Landestheater Linz / © Christian Brachwitz 

On 11 February, Thomas Larcher's new cello concerto Ouroboros, written for cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras (photo), will be premiered at Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ with Amsterdam Sinfonietta. The work was jointly commissioned by Amsterdam Sinfonietta and Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra and Hong Kong Sinfonietta.

This new work was named after the ancient Greek symbol, the Ouroboros, which Larcher came across while reading about Brahms’ symphonies. A series of repeated motifs give the music a sense of circularity as the ideas progress and then return to the original motif.

Written to be played with or without a conductor, the rhythmically complex textures of the work require the orchestra to listen and play as a much smaller ensemble. The solo cello is an initiator of processes more than a virtuosic centrepiece. Ouroboros is constructed in three movements, the second of which is an extended cadenza for the solo cello and piano.

I love to write for individual players and singers. I love working with people who are going to play my music. Knowing what kind of music they like and what they can do has never been something that gives me boundaries – on the contrary, it is something that forces me to stretch myself and give each artist a piece which fills out their possibilities. This is also in an emotional sense – how they see the world. - Thomas Larcher

Following the premiere, Queyras will perform the work again with Amsterdam Sinfonietta between 13 and 19 February and with Lausanne Chamber Orchestra on 4 and 5 April. Further performances will take place in future seasons with Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra and Hong Kong Sinfonietta.

• Thomas Larcher - profile


• Ouroboros - work details and online score


• Amsterdam Sinfonietta


• Lausanne Chamber Orchestra

Photo: Marco Borggreve

On 5 February 2016, Thierry Pécou’s new trumpet concerto for Håkan Hardenberger (photo), Soleil rouge, will be premiered with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under the direction of Mikko Franck.

Many of Pécou’s works are inspired by his extensive travels across the world. His experiences are reflected in works including Symphonie du Jaguar, which refers to the native culture of pre-Columbian America, and which reflects ancient civilization across the Andes Mountains. Pécou’s binding of these diverse musical cultures with European tradition creates his distinctive compositional style.

Soleil rouge: A concert about visions and dreams

Soleil rouge relates to the indigenous cultures of North America:

I wrote this concerto during a visit to North America to meet various Native American communities. Two important elements of the ceremonial music of these peoples, the singing and the pulsating drum, are taken up by the trumpet and the various blended timbres of the orchestra. The drum does not accompany; it is the source, the actual centre of the sound. The interaction between the solo trumpet and the orchestra, situated opposite each other, is also special: The orchestra is neither an ‘extension’ of the soloist nor his ‘resonator’, but rather it carries him like an energy centre, creating the melodies, chords, and tone colours while the trumpet summons the spirits and depicts the visions and dreams evoked by the expansion of consciousness.
– Thierry Pécou

Hardenberger frequently performs many of the contemporary trumpet concertos from the Schott Music catalogue, including those by Ligeti, Hartmann and Henze. Later this month, he will perform Bernd Alois Zimmermann‘s popular concerto Nobody knows de trouble I see with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and conductor Andris Nelsons on 27 February, 29 February, and 1 March 2016 at the Semperoper in Germany.

• Thierry Pécou - profile


• Soleil rouge - work details and online score


• Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France


• Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden

Photo: Marco Borggreve