Hamburg Contemporary

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Program:
Nikolai Roslavets: 3 Etudes (1914)
No. 1: Affettamente

Samuil Feinberg: Sonata No. 3, Op. 3 (1916-1917)
I. Prélude
II. Marche funèbre
III. Sonata

Ronn Yedidia: Sonata No. 3, "Outcries" (1985)

Nikolai Roslavets (1881-1944, born in what is now Ukraine) was one of the pioneers of New Music in Ukraine and Russia. The composers' organization for new music (ASM) at the time, in which he played a leading role, was particularly committed to Jewish music.
Igor Stravinsky described Roslavets as the "most interesting Russian composer of the 20th century". With the beginning of the Stalinist era and the cultural policy of "socialist realism" in the 1930s, however, he was ostracized, so that his significance disappeared and is only gradually being rediscovered.
The piano etude "Affettamente" ("lovingly") by Nikolai Roslavets moves between the poles of technical virtuosity and deep expressivity. Up to four lines of notes are needed simultaneously to combine the polyphonic layers, each with its own rhythms, into a highly original network of tones, even today, which also displays a wealth of subtle nuances. Roslavets' mystical sound language may have references to Alexander Scriabin's late works, but it goes its own way by means of far more complex behavioral patterns.

Samuil Feinberg (1890-1962, born in Odessa) worked for 40 years as a piano professor at the Moscow Conservatory, which is why he left numerous traces in the Russian piano school. As a pianist, he made a name for himself with performances of Johann Sebastian Bach's complete Well-Tempered Clavier in one concert evening, Beethoven's 32 sonatas in one season and interpretations of Alexander Scriabin's music.
Feinberg's third piano sonata, with audible influences from Bach and Chopin, can hardly be surpassed in monumentality. An incredible number of notes and long phrases develop an almost trance-like or ecstatic effect. The Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin had the following to say about the third movement, which features a breathtaking fugue in the middle:
"It just doesn't stop! It is one of the most remarkable pianistic monsters that I've ever encountered. It just grows and grows and grows - and then you think the piece is over and then there is six more pages of Coda... He just doesn't want to let you go! Until he's milked absolutely everything out of the material. I can tell you, it's not much fun to play, but I do it, because - with all its imperfection - it's a remarkable creation, I've never seen anything like it and probably never will."

Ronn Yedida (*1960 in Tel-Aviv) is a highly decorated composer and pianist. His musical career began as a child prodigy pianist. His most important teacher and mentor was Israel's "First Lady of the Piano", Pnina Salzman, who in turn was a protégé of Alfred Cortot. In 1984, Yedida entered the Juilliard School, from which he graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts in composition. He has received all the major composition prizes in the USA.
His third piano sonata "Outcries" was presented on Israeli television in 1987 as the discovery of the year in classical music.
In the composer's preface to his Piano Sonata No. 3 "Outcries", he describes his drawing from both mystical and material substances. He was inspired by a variety of influences - above all from the music of the early 20th century (Scriabin, Ravel, Bartok, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Webern, Messiaen), modern jazz and minimalism.
"In its general structure, "Outcries" represents a form of continuous change: A-B-C with several sections. The organic quality of the work is achieved through the interweaving of linear, harmonic, rhythmic and texture-forming elements as well as through a serial pitch organization. The sonata's powerful finale is based on a 12-note harmonic structure that builds up in a cumulative process. Strong contrasts of sound and movement from beginning to end create constant tension and release, forming a structure of acute formal and dynamic clarity amidst the chaotic nature of the piece."

Jonas Otte (*2000) began his training in piano and composition in his home town of Chemnitz. In 2012, he won 1st prize in the national competition "Jugend musiziert", in 2013 the special prize in the "Lions Music Competition" and in 2017 a sponsorship prize in "Jugend komponiert". From 2012 to 2018, he was a scholarship holder of the Saxony State Association of German Music Schools, and since 2021 he has been a scholarship holder of the German National Academic Foundation. In the same year, his piece "Ennui" was selected for the "Touching Sounds" project of the Darmstadt Summer Course for New Music. In 2022 he received a five-week residency scholarship at the Beethovenhaus Bonn.
2018-2023 he studied composition with Prof. Jörg Birkenkötter and piano with Hwa-Kyung Yim in Bremen. He is currently studying composition with Prof. Gordon Kampe in Hamburg. He has already gained international recognition through premieres of his compositions at the Izmir New Music Festival with the E-MEX Ensemble and the Tel Aviv International New Music Festival with the Meitar Ensemble, as well as through performances in Italy and South Korea. His works have also been heard on Deutschlandfunk radio. He was a pianist in the Bremen-based EnsembleANM for several years, gained valuable experience in the field of performance practice of contemporary music and has since regularly realized (premiere) performances of contemporary piano works. Jonas Otte is a member of the festival and concert organizer Projektgruppe Neue Musik Bremen (pgnm).

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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 presents music that has in part fallen into oblivion.
The class evenings of the composition classes from Rostock and Hamburg as well as the piano concert of the practical seminar on new piano music will sound, rattle and boom! 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 necessary and can be done via eventbrite.

You can also watch this concert live via our Youtube channel to follow the concert.

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.