Hamburg Contemporary

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"Fabbrica dei morti la chiamavano" ("It is called the factory of the dead"), Luigi Nono reported in a conversation with Hartmut Lück in 1972. It was one of the many reports and slogans from workers in Italian factories near Turin that Nono kept in 1962/63 and which he would eventually use for his composition "La Fabbrica Illuminata" (for soprano and electronics). The piece was created in the context of the workers' struggle in Italy and was also politically explosive: the planned premiere in a factory near Genoa was canceled and banned as Nono was accused of insulting the government. The piece was premiered at the Venice Biennale in 1964. Overall, Nono works in the piece with recordings from the factory (work noise and conversations), music for soprano and electronic music. Follow the renowned soprano Frauke Aulbert into the sound world of this unique piece of 20th century music history!

.... don't push the sounds... not even a little bit...?

Morton Feldman and Karlheinz Stockhausen set the framework for the concert of the New Piano Music seminar as antipodes. Under the direction of Bernhard Fograscher, a wide-ranging program of piano music from 1925 - 2022 was created. Feldman's spherical Last Pieces were written at almost the same time as Stockhausen's legendary Klavierstück IX, while the groundbreaking experimental piano treatment of Henry Cowell's Banshee from 1925 (!) inspired generations of composers. With Echo Dance by Hector Docx and caught in a dream by Julius Benedikt von Lorentz, there are two very fresh pieces by young composers from 2020 and 2022. In between, China Gates by John Adams as a brief excursion into minimal music, and an excerpt from Giacinto Scelsi's transcendental suite Bot-Ba. All the music we know was once new music. But some music is newer than others.

"I advise you to leave the sounds alone; don't push them; because they're very much like human beings - if you push them, they push you back. So if I have a secret it would be, 'don't push the sounds'." And he leaned over me and he said, "Not even a little bit?" (Morton Feldman and Karlheinz Stockhausen)

Participants: Lukas Becker, Julia Cao, Leonie Hesse, Maria Moliszewska, Sebastian Gabriel Müller, Viktoria Petkowa, Yanhao Yang
Directed by Bernhard Fograscher

Program:
Luigi Nono (1924-1990)
La Fabbrica Illuminata

Frauke Aulbert, soprano, electronics
Sina Fani Sani, electronics

Short break

Hector Dox (*1992)
Echo Dance

Yanhao Yang, piano

Henry Cowell (1897-1965)
The Banshee

Viktoria Petkova

Morton Feldman (1926-1987)
Last Pieces 1

Lukas Becker

GiacintoScelsi (1905-1988)
from Bot-Ba: V

Sebastian Gabriel Müller

John Adams (*1947)
China Gates

Leonie Hesse

Morton Feldman (1926-1987)
Last Pieces 2

Lukas Becker

Julius Benedikt v. Lorentz (*2003)
Caught in a Dream

Julia Cao

Morton Feldman (1926-1987)
Last Pieces 3

Lukas Becker

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007)
Klavierstück IX

Maria Moliszewska

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The New Music Week is back for a new edition! From May 13 to 16, 2024, performers dedicated to contemporary music - and the classics of modernism - will once again throw their hats into the ring.

No, and then again: two anniversaries of compositional masterpieces fall on the year 2024, and yet Hamburg Contemporary is not solely focusing on Arnold Schönberg (150th birthday) and Luigi Nono (100th birthday), even if it would have been so obvious and easy. Because the spotlight should be on the truly contemporary, the young musicians who get their stage here! Nevertheless, the music of the jubilarians and their contemporaries will not be completely omitted, and so students and teachers from the various instrumental areas will play several modern classics: Schönberg's "Pierrot Lunaire" and his string music, as well as Nono's "La Fabbrica Illuminata". The piano recital by Jewish composers from the first half of the 20th century will present music that has in part fallen into oblivion.
The class evenings of the composition classes from Rostock and Hamburg and the piano concert of the practical seminar on new piano music will be full of sound, rattling and booming! The exchange between the composition classes will be rounded off with a return visit to Rostock in the future. The final day will then feature two highlights: Miniatures for three violins will be performed by members of the Ensemble Resonanz. The small festival will be rounded off with an ensemble concert: students of the HfMT will play selected works by renowned - and attention: still living! - composers!

Eintritt frei

Registration is required and can be done via eventbrite.

Events at a glance:
13.05., 18:00 - Composition class evening Rostock
13.05., 20:00 - Nono: La Fabbrica Illuminata and piano music: ...don't push the sounds... not even a little bit...?
14.05., 19:00 - Composition class evening Hamburg
15.05., 17:30 - Piano recital by Jewish composers of the early 20th century
15.05., 19:00 - Pierrot Lunaire: Milestone of classical modernism
15.05., 20:00 - Schönberg's string music
16.05., 19:00 - Miniature Wonderland - Ensemble Resonanz @ HfMT

The events are sponsored by the ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius. They are part of the new series Hamburg Contemporary.