Hamburg Contemporary

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As with Pierrot Lunaire, this concert also marks the anniversary of Arnold Schönberg's 150th birthday. Under the direction of Prof. Tanja Becker-Bender, students from the string classes will present highlights of the composer's oeuvre and at the same time depict some of his creative periods that are considered so typical. "Transfigured Night (op. 4) is certainly one of Schönberg's best-known pieces alongside Pierrot Lunaire and is exemplary of his early phase. The piece for string sextet (and in a later version for string orchestra), which is based on Wagner and Brahms, received a scathing review at its premiere: "It sounds as if one had wiped over the still wet <Tristan> score" was the verdict of the jury of the Vienna Tonkünstlerverein. The sprawling programmatic piece based on Richard Dehmel's poem of the same name soon established itself as a repertoire piece and is considered one of Schönberg's most frequently performed pieces.
Schönberg's "middle" phase is often referred to as "atonal" or "polytonal" or "pantonal". The second string quartet (op. 10) in F sharp minor dates from this period. With its terseness in tonal language and the increasingly free dissonance treatment in today's program, it represents a bridge between the late Romantic language and Schönberg's twelve-tone technique.
Finally, the Fantasy for Violin and Piano (op. 47) dates from the period in which the twelve-tone technique was developed and applied as a compositional technique. Schönberg wrote the work in 1949 at the suggestion of the violinist Adolph Koldofsky. The piece is virtuosic throughout, free in form in accordance with the title, and is somewhat reminiscent of the composer's neoclassical pieces in terms of expression, but is based on the principle of dodecaphony - composing on the basis of the twelve tones of the (then) European tonal system with their equal status in favor of sequential principles of order.

Program:
Arnold Schönberg (1874-1951)
Fantasy for violin and piano op. 47 (1949)

Asiia Garipova, violin
Alexei Petrov, piano

Arnold Schönberg
String Quartet No. 2 with soprano voice, op. 10 (1907/08)
Text: Stefan George

Moderate (moderato)
Very fast
Litany. Slow
Rapture. Very slow

Oda Lou Johansen, soprano
Asiia Garipova, violin
Yaodong Zhang, violin
Gung-Hui Ho, viola
Michael Heupel, violoncello

- Intermission -

Arnold Schönberg
"Verklärte Nacht" op. 4 for six string instruments (1899)
after a poem by Richard Dehmel

Very slow - Broad - Heavy emphasis - Very broad and slow - Calm

Kateryna Boskina, violin
Liliya Milcheva, violin
Chien-Ying Pan, viola
Jianxiu Jiang, viola
Thomas Haas, violoncello
Yixi Xia, violoncello

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The New Music Week is back for a new edition! From May 13 to 16, 2024, performers who have dedicated themselves 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.

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.