05 11 World Premieres

New works for piano trio

07 Cristóbal Halffter

Lázaro at the Kiel Opera

11 Arvo Pärt

Human foibles

12 Harrison Birtwistle

Double comedy trouble

21 Walter Braunfels

St Joan in Berlin

Cristóbal Halffter

World Première Lázaro in Kiel

newsletter02/08 • spring 2008

2

contents 02/2008

COMPOSERSStockhausen — 411 World Premières — 5-6Halffter — 7Rihm — 8Haas — 9Staud — 10Panufnik — 10Pärt — 11Schwartz — 11Schnittke — 12Birtwistle — 12Sotelo — 13Luke Bedford — 13Borisova-Ollas — 15Baltakas — 15Kurtág — 16Furrer — 16Lentz — 16Boulez — 17Cerha — 17Pousseur — 18Wilson — 18Eichberg — 18Berio — 19Scherchen — 20Kagel — 20Braunfels — 21Ligeti — 21Eisler — 22Feldman — 22Weill — 23Zádor — 24Kaminsky — 24Krenek — 25Casella — 26Liebermann — 26Schulhoff — 26

Contents

WP = World Première

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Martin — 27Messiaen — 27Milhaud — 28Szymanowski — 28Bartók — 29Kodály — 29Zemlinsky — 30Schreker — 30Schönberg — 31Webern — 32Malipiero — 32Berg — 33Mahler — 34Janáček — 35Beethoven — 35

ANNIVERSARIES — 36 - 37

WORLD PREMIERES — 38 - 39

NEW RELEASES — 40 - 41

NEW ON CD AND DVD — 42 - 43

WORKLISTEHalffter — 44 -46

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — 48

Dear Readers,

Who wouldn’t love to have been inBerlin in 1925 for the première ofAlban Berg’s Wozzeck – like AlfredSchlee, Universal Edition’s directorfor many years, for whom this eve-ning turned out to be a landmarkevent? Such life-changing expe-riences don’t just come out of theblue. Even a masterpiece like Wozzeck had to be composed first,and this itself required a stimulus –a bold theatre director to give thecommission which would changeoperatic history.

Over the next few months twooperas by UE composers are recei-ving their premières: Lázaro by Cristóbal Halffter at the Opera inKiel (4 May) and Melancholia byGeorg Friedrich Haas at the OpéraNational de Paris (9 Jun). We ex-tend our thanks to both the direc-tors responsible, for ensuring bytheir commitment that opera re-mains a living art form.

The Editorial Team

4

stockhausen

STOCKHAUSEN

Karlheinz

Stockhausen

(1928–2007)

Karlheinz Stockhausen was signedby Universal Edition in July 1953with his work Kontra-Punkte. 37 works created up until 1969 arepublished by Universal Edition. Stockhausen made it clear rightfrom the start that he was sear-ching for a radical new beginning.It was his conviction that music after1945 needed a new foundation,both aesthetically and morally. Hisplace in music encyclopaedias wassecured already by his early works;a rare occurrence indeed in musichistory. Today Kreuzspiel, Kontra-Punkte,Punkte, Zeitmasse and Gruppen be-long to the classics of modernism.

As a vocal advocate of serialism heenabled the development of newstructures with which music canbe organised. Through his use ofelectronics he became an icon ofmusical progress with an influencereaching far wider than the circlesof new music. In these years therewas hardly a single composer whodid not take Stockhausen as a refe-rence. His pioneering achieve-ments also included the union ofmusic with space and explorationof the systematic organisation ofdurations, on the same lines as theorganisation of pitches in twelve-tone music.

By paving the way through un-known musical territory, and beinga true visionary, Stockhausen hasearned a permanent place in themusic history of the 20th century.

Karlheinz Stockhausen died on 5Dec 2007 in Kürten. We mourn theloss of a great composer.

11 word premières

5

UNIVERSAL EDITION

11 new works

for piano trio

On 29 Nov 2007 the Vienna Musikverein ho-

sted a remarkable event: a whole concert of premières in honour of Bálint András Varga,Universal Edition’s Promotion Manager since 1992, who retired atthe end of the year. Several UE composers attended theconcert in person to show theirgratitude. Wolfgang Rihm and Vykintas Baltakas surprised every-one with personal greetings. TheVienna Piano Trio gave the premiè-res of no fewer than 11 new worksfor their ensemble, which as awhole showed the versatility ofform and timbre with which onecould still write for this combina-tion today. New works for piano trio are now

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Concert for Bálint András Varga

available by the following compo-sers (at the moment still as specialorders):

Harrison BirtwistleDouble Hocket for Bálint Varga for violin, cello and piano(with Boosey & Hawkes)

Friedrich CerhaParabola Ifor violin, cello and piano

Georg Friedrich Haas ins Lichtfor violin, cello and piano

Saed HaddadThe Politics of Chaos(Bartók & Grisey in memoriam)for violin, cello and piano

11 word premières

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cont. from page 5:

Cristóbal HalffterCanto del caballerofor violin, cello and piano

György KurtágVarga Bálint Ligaturájafor violin, cello and piano

Arvo PärtScala cromaticaTrio piccolo for violin, cello and piano

David SawerSatzfor violin, cello and pianodedicated to Bálint András Varga

Jay SchwartzMusic for Violin, Violoncello and Piano

Mauricio SoteloVenta Vargafor violin, cello and piano

Johannes Maria StaudFür Bálint András Varga4 miniatures for piano trio

Bálint András Varga

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halffter

7

HALFFTER

Of life and death

Ever since the première of the reduced version of

Don Quijote, opera loversin Kiel have had a new favouriteamong the composers of our time:Cristóbal Halffter. The enthusiasmhas resulted in a commission for afurther opera, Lázaro, which willhave its eagerly awaited premièreon 4 May, conducted by GeorgFritzsch.Halffter has divided the Biblicalmaterial into five scenes and filledit with life in a manner typical ofhis musical language. The opera re-volves around life and death andtells of the (life) force which over-comes death. Despite its expansivescoring, in many places Lázaro hasa chamber music character. Thevery lyrically written vocal parts arecontrasted – as so often in Halffter’s

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case – with distorted quotationsfrom ‘early’ music. The stage direc-tion is by Alexander Schulin, aswith Don Quijote.As a kind of introduction and pre-paration, Introducción y escenafrom the opera, for soloists and orchestra, is to receive its Germanpremière in Kiel as soon as 16 Mar –here too, Georg Fritzsch is conduc-ting.

Adagio in the Form of a Rondo, firstperformed by the Vienna Philhar-monic at the 2003 Salzburg Festi-val, is a ‘grand, moving, dark-huedepitaph’ (Frankfurter AllgemeineZeitung) in which Cristobál Halffterreflects on the 9/11 attacks in theUSA. The work is now to receive itsfirst Czech performance as part ofthe ‘Prague Premières’: Peter Vronskýconducts the Moravian Philharmo-nia of Olomouc on 29 Mar.

Giotto di Bondone Lázaro Basilica de San Francisco Assisi

rihm

8

RIHM

Precise ecstasy

Bursting with energy, Jagden und Formen still

remains precise in all itsecstasy. The music sprouts andblooms and has literally grown outof three originally independentworks which here interweave withand nourish one another. Wolf-gang Rihm’s new version is recei-ving its first performance with Ensemble Modern on 7 May inFrankfurt – where Sasha Waltz &Guests will transform the work’simplicit gestures into dance – withfurther performances in Berlin (10–12 May). The composer has also expandedanother work: Male über Male hasits première in Witten on 25 Aprwith Ensemble Contrechamps.The chamber opera Jakob Lenz isone of the most performed musictheatre works of our day. The

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drama of an anguished, self-de-structive psyche, which confusesdream visions with reality, is beinggiven a new staged interpretationat the Vienna Festival. The produc-tion is assured to create a stir, par-ticularly as with Frank Castorf ithas a director who knows like noother how to give expression tohuman destinies (starts on 17 May,Theater an der Wien).Of the countless other Rihm con-certs, mention be made above allof the first performances: Das Lesen der Schrift (30 May, Kra-ków), Sotto voce 1 and 2 (5/6 Mar,Lucerne with soloist Nicholas Hodges) and Vigilia (19 Mar, Cathé-drale St Michel, Brussels).

Fetzen nos. 2 and 4 will be perfor-med by soloists of the EnsembleIntercontemporain in Paris (10 Apr),and Deus Passus can be heard on 15and 16 Mar at the venue of its pre-mière: the Stuttgart Liederhalle (BachCollegium Stuttgart, GächingerKantorei Stuttgart/Helmuth Rilling).

Sasha Waltz & Guests

9

haas

HAAS

Not Chinese

Georg Friedrich Haas’music is often described

as microtonal, a termwhich is easy to print but doesn’tnecessarily say much about themusic itself. It’s like saying he’s notChinese. True, but hardly helpful.As Haas himself points out, whatWestern European classical music regards as a natural law – take forexample a major triad – is absentin most non-European cultures,whereas singing in microtonalintervals is widespread. Haas expands this phenomenon toargue that we have a basic desirefor dissonance, and consonance infact bores us!

In Haas’ last concerto, the PianoConcerto premièred in Vienna inNovember, the central instrument

is a normally tuned concert grand.But the work by no means adheresto a classical concerto format, andHaas uses the orchestra as a kindof extension of the piano’s sonority– the very beginning featuringsforzando attacked single notes onthe piano which are then adoptedand spread out amongst the or-chestra. Yes, there are sixth-tonesand very audible harmonic seriespresent in the work, but the liste-ner has the feeling that there’s nothing there that hasn’t been‘launched’ by the piano first – afterall, just consider the rich overtonesof a Steinway concert grand.

Haas’ fourth concerto, followingthe violin, cello and piano, is the Saxophone Concerto and will bepremièred in Cologne by MarcusWeiss with the WDR SO on the 3May. Emilio Pomárico will conduct.

April sees the first performance of… in progress for 16 instruments atthe Vienna Konservatorium by students of Ernst Theis.

WP

staud / panufnik

10

STAUD

Special

selection

For his latest work, Johan-nes Maria Staud has cho-

sen an ensemble for whichhardly anyone has written sinceOlivier Messiaen’s Quatuor pour lafin du temps: clarinet, violin, celloand piano. The title, Lagrein, refersto a grape variety grown in the re-gion where it is to be premièred,Magreid in South Tyrol (20 May).What most interests Staud here isthe role of the clarinet, whose spe-cific timbre is otherwise used in a

completely different context inchamber music.Incipit III for trombone solo, stringorchestra, 2 horns and percussionis receiving its Austrian première inVienna on 30 May (with soloistUwe Dierksen, conducted by Bert-rand de Billy). Apeiron, first perfor-med by Simon Rattle and the BerlinPhilharmonic in 2005, is becomingsomething of a success story. FranzWelser-Most conducts its US-pre-mière on 28 Feb in Cleveland.

PANUFNIK

Strong choirs

2008 already looks veryexciting for Roxanna

Panufnik: 4 world-premiè-res and a UK première surround her40th birthday celebrations in April!On 13 Mar, Graham Caldbeck willconduct the Nonsuch Singers andshakuhachi soloist Kiku Day at St.John’s, Smith Square in Wild Ways.Two days later at St. Peter’s Church,Poole, David Gostick conducts theBournemouth Sinfonietta and choirin the UK première of Love Abide.Mobius Ensemble will debut Roseon 22 May and Tasmin Little willperform Spring, her new violin con-certo, with the Orchestra of theSwan on 5 May.Finally, the Dante String Quartet,along with a 30-strong male-voicechoir from King’s College, Cambridge,will air Heaven to Earth on 10 May.

WP

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Johannes Maria Staud

pärt / schwartz

11

PÄRT

Distinction

and première

‘Arvo Pärt is one of themost original voices on

the international musicscene today’. This is one of the rea-sons given by the Sonning MusicFoundation for awarding the com-poser the Léonie Sonning Prize –the most important distinction inthe Danish music world – on 22 Mayat a celebratory concert conductedby Tõnu Kaljuste. Besides Cantus,L’Abbé Agathon and In Principio,the programme also includes apremière: ‘These Words …’, a 15-mi-nute work for strings and percus-sion. As its textual basis Pärt usesthe human foibles mentioned inthe old Church Slavonic prayerfrom the Canon to the GuardianAngel, while the title derives fromassociations between this materialand Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Copen-hagen will already be focusing on

Pärt on 20 May, with a performan-ce of Miserere by the Ars NovaChoir and the Athelas Sinfoniettaunder Paul Hillier.

SCHWARTZ

Psychiatric

lament

Music for Six Voices III byJay Schwartz is a lament

based on the letters of afemale patient at a psychiatric in-stitution in the early 20th century.The letters come from the Prinz-horn Collection at Heidelberg Uni-versity. The work is to receive itspremière on 27 Apr as part of theWitten New Music Days; WalterNussbaum conducts the ScholaHeidelberg. At the same time, Schwartz’s con-cert installation Music for Autoso-nic Gongs X can be experienced inthe ‘Zeche-Nachtigall’, a formerWitten coal mine.

WP

WP

Jay Schwartz

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schnittke / birtwistle

SCHNITTKE

Dialogue

with the past

For Alfred Schnittke, ‘polystylism’was a logical reaction to modernconcert life, in which yesterday andtoday are equally present. ‘The pre-sent-day composer cannot ignorethe past which is offered us on adaily basis. We enter into a dialo-gue with the past,’ said Schnittke.Peter Manning’s string orchestraversion of the String Quartet No. 3can be heard for the first time inGermany on 9 Apr in Wiesbaden,with the Hessisches Staatsorche-ster of Wiesbaden under PhilippeAuguin.

BIRTWISTLE

Better safe

than sorry

To coincide with the eagerly awai-ted opening of Sir Harrison Birt-wistle’s The Minotaur, both EnglishNational Opera and the Royal OperaHouse are hosting his very firstopera, Punch and Judy, in its 40th

anniversary year.ENO’s new production opens on 19Apr and has Daniel Kramer as director, with Edward Gardner con-

ducting. It takes place at the YoungVic – an intimate setting for this disturbingly dark work.Prior to this, however, comes MusicTheatre Wales’ established produc-tion at the Linbury Studio of theROH, directed by Michael McCarthyand conducted by Michael Rafferty(17, 19, 20 Mar).Meanwhile, on 13 Apr at the Phil-harmonie in Luxembourg, and on14 Apr at the Palais des Beaux-Artsin Brussels, Beat Furrer directsKlangforum Wien in performancesof Tombeau in memoriam IgorStravinsky.Looking ahead to 2009 – Birtwistle’s75th year – reveals many perfor-mances worldwide. More soon …www.youngvic.orgwww.royaloperahouse.org

Sir Harrison Birtwistle

13

sotelo / bedford

a visit to the Alhambra in Granada.The work is now to receive its firstCzech performance as part of the‘Prague Premières’ concert series(30 Mar, conducted by Jiří Malát).

BEDFORD

Complex themes

Newly appointed as the first evercomposer-in-residence at the Wig-more Hall, Luke Bedford is also con-tinuing to flourish in his relations-hip with the BCMG. Good DreamShe Has is to be premièred in Bir-mingham on 14 Apr. Having beeninspired by a phrase from Milton’sParadise Lost in his BBC commis-sion Rode with Darkness, this newwork will again draw on some ofthe complex themes therein.Oliver Knussen will conduct BCMGat the CBSO Centre, with soloistsAngela Tunstall, S, Susan Bickley,MS, and Alan Belk, T.

SOTELO

Distant echo

Como llora el aqua … isinspired by Mauricio

Sotelo’s Como llora elviento for guitar and orchestra (firstperformed in January) of which thecomposer says: ‘The language soundsquite different from any other con-ceivable type of new music. I havestruggled for a long time to be ableto write in such a language.’ Theguitarist at the première of thenew solo work will again be JuanManuel Canizares (13 Mar, Berlin).On the same day the Berlin Festivalalso features Audéeis, with the fla-menco singer Arcángel as soloist.Tamquam centrum circuli for flute,harpsichord and orchestra (1997 /2006) draws on memories of theancient songs of Flamenco, whichpermeate the work like a distantecho. The cadenza was inspired by

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Luke Bedford

15

borisova-ollas /baltakas

Feet for singer, speaker and orche-stra after the gripping novel of thesame name by Salman Rushdie,receiving its Swedish premièreunder Niklas Willén in Stockholm(22 May). Revised since its premiè-re, for the Stockholm performancethe narration has also been trans-lated into Swedish – although thesongs remain in their original English – to mirror the Swedishedition of the novel.

BALTAKAS

Wild Things

Vykintas Baltakas’ Ouroboros wascommissioned by the KlangspurenSchwaz/A festival and was premiè-red there in 2004 by the LithuanianGaida Ensemble. The Austriannewspaper Der Standard spoke of‘quivering layers of sound andcomplex patterns’ in this delicatebut intense 15 minute work. A series of performances has follo-wed and the work will now bepresented in Zurich by the Colle-gium Novum Zurich. Roland Kluttigconducts the promisingly titledconcert ‘Young Wild Things from theNorth’ at the Schiffbau on 8 May.

BORISOVA-OLLAS

The storyteller

‘The scores of Victoria Borisova-Ollas are full to the brim with emo-tion, delicately woven and of intensestory-telling power’, wrote a Swe-dish music critic. The composer’scollaboration with the SwedishRSO is further reinforced thisspring by no less than four perfor-mances: Before the MountainsWere Born for wind quartet and or-chestra under Susanna Mälkki (12and 14 Mar), the Symphony No. 1 on8 May under J. Gustavsson (also forCD), and The Ground Beneath Her

Victoria Borisova-Ollas

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kurtág / furrer /lentz

KURTÁG

Flowers are we,

mere flowers

A key work in György Kurtág’s out-put is The Sayings of Péter Borne-misza – a concerto for soprano andpiano in the sense of the ‘sacredconcertos’ of, say, Heinrich Schütz.Like Kodály’s Psalmus Hungaricus,Kurtág derived inspiration from aHungarian preacher of the 16th

century. In Death, the third move-ment of this four-part work, wefind the words and melody whichhave become a kind of motto forKurtág: ‘Flowers are we, mere flo-wers’. Elena Vassilieva and Pierre-Laurent Aimard are performing thework in Paris on 1 Apr.

FURRER

Imaginary space

The acoustic effect created by BeatFurrer’s ensemble piece Gaspra(first performed in 1989) results fromtwo different processes. The live in-strumental sounds are ‘projected’via a computer-controlled mixingdesk into a pulsating, expandingand retracting (imaginary) musicalspace. Our perceptual notions ofthe real space and the space gene-rated by the computer/mixing desk

permeate each another. The Ensemble für Neue Musik per-forms this fascinating, complexwork on 10 Apr in Basle.

LENTZ

Existential

loneliness

The isolation, silence and starrynight skies of the vast AustralianOutback are important sources ofinspiration for Georges Lentz.Monh (the word for ‘stars’ in an Ab-original language) from Mysterium(Ceali enarrant … VII) (2001/5) forviola, orchestra and electronics isconcerned with ‘the problem of ourexistential loneliness’, ‘the problemof how to bear this silence’. Thework is dedicated to viola playerTabea Zimmermann and conductorSteven Sloane, who are to give thework its Australian première on 26Mar (with further performances on28 and 29 Mar) with the Sydney SOat the Sydney Opera House.

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boulez / cerha

BOULEZ

Finely crafted

miniatures

Notations I-IV for orchestra is a1960 revision of the first 4 pieces of12 Notations, written by Pierre Boulez for piano in 1945 and insome ways his ‘Opus 1’: each of thepieces a finely crafted 12-bar minia-ture, whose originality emergeseven more powerfully in the orche-stral version. Boulez is conductingNotations I–IV and Notation VII on6 May in Brussels with the LondonSymphony Orchestra.The Ensemble Intercontemporain(EIC) is also taking some of itsfounder’s works on tour. With itschief conductor Susanna Mälkki itis performing both Dérive 1 (Valen-ciennes, 30 Mar and Rome, 8 May)and Dérive 2 (Essen, 31 May), whichwill also receive its Swedish premi-ère in Stockholm on 6 Apr with

KammarensembleN. And on 7 Aprin Madrid, the EIC is performingthe classic work Igor Stravinsky soadmired: Le Marteau sans maître.

CERHA

Dreamy

detachment

‘I have always loved the sound ofthe saxophone. I treasure its canta-bile possibilities, its capacity fordreamy detachment’, says FriedrichCerha. At the centre of his Concertofor Soprano Saxophone andOrchestra – first performed in2006, lies the relationship bet-ween individual and society. Nowthe soloist Theodore Kerkezos is toperform the concerto in Athens on3 Apr (Orchestra Kamerata / WarrenGreen).

Pierre Boulez

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pousseur / wilson /eichberg

POUSSEUR

Endless options

Miroir de Votre Faust (Caractères II)(1964) for solo piano and optionalsoprano consists of three reworkedextracts from the opera VotreFaust, which Henri Pousseur wrotein collaboration with Michel Butorbetween 1961 and 1968. Windowsare cut into the pages of the sheetmusic, so that other music appearsfrom the next page and is perfor-med. Freedom to choose betweendifferent possible variations andversions gives rise to endless per-formance options. Soloists fromthe Bavarian State Orchestra areperforming the work on 29 May atthe Pinakothek der Moderne inMunich.

WILSON

Brighton, Canada

and Italy

Running from 3–25 May, the 2008Brighton Festival features themusic of Ian Wilson. The CappaQuartet gives the UK première ofhis quartet no. 4, Veer and there isa new piece for two guitars calledCast. This is a transcription of 3 of the5 movements of Wilson’s quartetno. 2, each inspired by a different

Giacometti work, and referring to adifferent aspect of life itself.www.brightonfestival.orgOn 15 May, the Canadian premièreof Timelessly This takes place inVancouver, in a concert curated bycomposer Jeffrey Ryan. Finally, theDedalo Ensemble presents the Ita-lian premières of Verschwindendand A Haunted Heart: Elena Pasotti,piano, 29 Mar, Brescia/I.

EICHBERG

From elegy

to ecstasy

For thirteen enthralling minutes, aviolin and orchestra evoke the ritual drum dances of the originalnatives of Greenland, the Inuit. Thedance proceeds from a melancholicelegy to an overwhelming ecstasy;the Inuits call this dance Qilaatersorneq. The 2007 ISCMWorld Music Days in Hong Kongselected this short, but effectiveviolin concerto by Søren Nils Eichberg (b. 1973) for their closingconcert on 1 Dec 2007. The MacauOrchestra is conducted by Shao Enwith soloist Dennis Kim.

19

berio

Alan Gilbert between 5–8 Mar. TheDüsseldorf Tonhalle is dedicatingits concert on 23 Apr to the memoryof Cathy Berberian, featuring FolkSongs and O King, both sung byAnne-Carolyn Schlüter.

Another classic of Berio’s œuvre –and at the same time a landmarkof 20th century music history – is ofcourse his Sinfonia of 1968, whichhas been played by every major or-chestra in the world. The ViennaPhilharmonic and the Swingle Sin-gers, conducted by Zubin Mehta,are featuring it in their 28 Mar pro-gramme at the Vienna Musikver-ein.

Berio did not survive to hear thepremière of Stanze for baritone, 3male choirs and orchestra: his lastcompleted work. The Czech premi-ère fast approaching: on 31 Mar atthe Rudolfinum in Prague, with theSymphony Orchestra of CzechRadio under Guillaume Tournaire.

BERIO

Vocal

intelligence

On 6 March it will be 25 years sincethe death of Cathy Berberian. Shewas one of the most versatile sin-gers of the 20th century, and it isimpossible to imagine the modernconcert repertoire without theworks that emerged from her col-laboration with Luciano Berio.Works like Folk Songs – transcrip-tions for mezzo soprano and sevenplayers (1964) or mezzo sopranoand orchestra (1973) ‘dedicated tothe vocal intelligence of Cathy Berberian’ (Berio). With the aid ofvarious folk music practices, theFolk Songs reveal the infinite varietyof timbral possibilities available tothe human voice. Dawn Upshaw issinging the Folk Songs with theNew York Philharmonic under

Cathy Berberian and Luciano Berio

scherchen / kagel

20

Shen for six percussionists or per-cussion orchestra is a dance basedon the rhythm of the small Chinesedrum, which is compared with theheartbeat and the rhythm of life itself.

KAGEL

Parodistic ideas

One can assert without a doubtthat the deliberate break with tradition is one of the hallmarks ofMauricio Kagel. His way of theatri-calising musical performance pro-ved to be a refreshing and – notleast – entertaining new departure.In his work, moments of comic absurdity are united with dada-istand surrealist motives. Dull it cer-tainly isn’t! As for example in Kantrimiusik –Pastoral for voices and orchestra(1973/5), whose parodistic ideasonce again astonish the listener.The pseudo-folksy character of se-veral movements is eloquent testi-mony to the amount of humourwith which Kagel can invent ‘musicabout music’. ‘How much parody orcaricature is present here must beclearly audible in every accuratemusical performance’, said Kagel. Oliver Knussen will be conductingit on 14 Apr with the BirminghamContemporary Music Group.

TONA SCHERCHEN (*1938)

Rhythm of life

In March 2008 composer TonaScherchen celebrates her 70th

birthday. We extend our heartfeltcongratulations!Her compositions make the cultureand tradition of her native China,vividly present for us. Not only arethe titles of most of her worksdrawn from the Chinese language– Wai (1966), Hsun (1968), Tao(1971), Yun-Yu (1972), Yi (1973),Vague T’ao (1974/5) – but the actu-al content also draws upon events ofthe Chinese past and present.

Tona Scherchen Yun-Yu (Nuages et Pluie)

21

braunfels / ligeti

21

BRAUNFELS

Unbroken faith

Walter Braunfels survived the ThirdReich, but his music was perma-nently scarred by it. Like that ofSchreker and countless other com-posers who had once been success-ful, for many years his music fellinto oblivion. During this period ofinner exile he wrote a series of ope-ras, without any hope of perfor-mance. These include Scenes fromthe Life of St Joan Op. 57 (1939-43),the libretto for which Braunfelshimself compiled, based upon thetrial records of her life. The first con-cert performance of this work didnot take place until 2001 in Stock-holm, with the German premièrefollowing later that year. ManfredHoneck conducted both of theseperformances.Now, at last – on 27 Apr, the opera’stime has come! In a new produc-tion at the Deutsche Oper of Berlin,

Mary Wills sings the title role underthe baton of Ulf Schirmer. Perfor-mances follow on: 2, 6, 17 and 31May.

LIGETI

Atmosphere

of renewal

Over nearly 50 years of performan-ce, György Ligeti’s orchestral worksApparitions and Atmosphères havebecome classics, indeed symbols –of the atmosphere of renewal afterWorld War II; of the exciting con-certs in Cologne and Donaueschin-gen; and of the hard-won personaland artistic freedom of the youngHungarian Ligeti, then at last ableto develop his extraordinary talent.Peter Rundel is conducting Appari-tions in Freiburg (5 Apr) and Dort-mund (6 Apr), John Mauceri per-forms Atmosphères in Leipzig (15/16May) and Vladimir Jurowski per-forms it in Philadelphia on 1 Jun.

Walter Braunfels Scenes from the Life of St Joan

Deutsche Oper Berlin

22

eisler / feldman

EISLER

Storm of

indignation

Bertolt Brecht and Hanns Eisler’s‘didactic piece’ Die Massnahme un-leashed a storm of indignationwhen first performed in 1930. Forthe right it was a ‘Bolshevisticscandal’; for the liberals a ‘long-range Bolshevistic weapon’; for thecommunists, a ‘travesty’. Little won-der further performances werebanned by both authors. Not untilthe end of the Cold War could thework again be produced. Approa-ching soon (from 20 Mar) at HansCastorf’s Volksbühne in Berlin.

FELDMAN

Heartfelt eulogy

Morton Feldman’s heartfelt eulogyto his piano teacher Madame PressDied Last Week at Ninety, is to receive numerous performances bytwo ensembles over the next fewmonths. Nieuw Ensemble Amster-dam, under Ed Spanjaard, will per-form on 1, 4, 5 Mar throughout theNetherlands. Barely a month later, Beat Furrerwill conduct Klangforum Wien fortwo performances on 13 and 14 Apr,including the territorial première

of the work in Luxembourg.Following Emilio Pomárico’s 2007performances of Feldman’s one-singer opera Neither, we eagerlyawait another new production inthe Kassel Opernhaus on 15 Mar.Pomárico describes the work as‘one of the greatest masterpieces …of the previous century’ and gavemuch input into the new UE edi-tion of the work.Rasmus Baumann will conduct theOpernhaus orchestra and sopranoAlexandra Lubchansky in this first2008 performance.

Morton Feldman

23

weill

Meanwhile a new production ofthe Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny is eagerly awaited inEssen. For eccentric Australian pro-ducer Barrie Kosky, Mahagonny isnot a town but more ‘a place ofdreaming, remembering, forget-ting. A Biblical burlesque for the21st century.’ Stefan Soltesz willconduct the Essen Philharmonic.Details: www.theater-essen.de

WEILL

Inspirational

dreams

The Kurt Weill Festival in Dessau –the annual March get-together forKurt Weill experts and fans theworld over, hosted in the composer’shome town – is devoting this year’srun of more than 35 events to thetheme of dreams, nightmares, noc-turnal shapes and images as im-portant sources of inspiration forthe substance of Weill’s work.

His Concerto for Violin and WindOrchestra from the 1920s, with itsserenade-like instrumentation andmovements called Notturno andSerenata, is true night music; inWeill’s American musicals, dreamsform a recurrent theme. We alsoencounter Utopian dreams in Weill’swork, whether in the form of a critique of social realities and thedreamy ideals lurking behindthem, as in the Benares Song,which describes a country of ourdreams, or perhaps the dreams offreedom, as in his Ballad of MagnaCarta or in Lindberghflug / Ozean-flug. World-class ensembles likethe Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Modern and the MDRSymphony Orchestra and RadioChoir are soon showcasing theseworks. Details: www.kurt-weill.de

Kurt Weill Der Lindberghflug /Der Ozeanflug Opéra National de Lyon 2006

24

zádor / kaminski

Eugen Zádor X-mal Rembrandt Bühnen Köln 2007

ZÁDOR

If pictures

could sing …

Last December in the Wallraf RichartzMuseum, Cologne, a highly success-ful production of Eugen Zádor’sopera-burlesque X-mal Rembrandt(first performed in 1930) by the Büh-nen Köln offered its audience a veryspecial operatic pleasure. Conceivedas a guided tour, the action wasstaged in various rooms of the mu-seum, thus offering pictorial andvocal art rolled into one. The KölnerStadt-Anzeiger described the pieceas a ‘stroll through a Gesamtkunst-werk: entertaining, cheeky and witha deeper purpose … The piece is aloose sequence of scenes dealingwith the problem of art forgeryand hasn’t lost its relevance rightup to today – with all the relatedphenomena such as corruption,

philistinism, commercialisation, errors by experts, collection maniaor art worship.’From 10 May the work can be seenin a new production in Giessen,under the musical direction of Carlos Spierer.

KAMINSKY (1886-1946)

Mystical ecstasy

Heinrich Kaminski’s Magnificat forsoprano, viola, small off-stage choirand orchestra was first performedin 1925 with Fritz Stein conducting.‘Here for the first time in the historyof Musica sacra, Mary’s song ofpraise from Luke I is united withthe preceding ‘Annunciation of theAngel’’ he said of the work. ‘Themusic is born out of mystical ecstasy,out of the primal depths of religious experience.’ Aru Tali isconducting this rarely performedcomposition on 11 Apr in the Herz-Jesu-Kirche, Munich.

25

krenek

KRENEK

Eurydice’s ghost

The myth of Orpheus – presidingover the birth of opera 400 yearsago, and repeatedly reworked overthe centuries – also provided ope-ratic inspiration for Ernst Krenek.In his Orpheus und Euridyke Op. 21,the tender, tragically misled singer becomes the man of sorrows of thefragmented 20th century. For thework’s 1926 première in Kassel, Krenek described his approach inthese terms: ‘Eurydice’s ghost appears for the final showdownwith Orpheus. She wants to be freefrom him forever. Both find restonly when Eurydice gives all hersuffering back to Orpheus and killshim. With their deaths, the bad luckperishes.’ The libretto, incidentally,is by Oskar Kokoschka, who wrote itduring his imprisonment in Russia.The Teatro Real in Madrid is givinga concert performance of the operaon 25 and 27 Apr.

The song cycle Journey through theAustrian Alps Op. 62 (1929) for medium voice and piano is one ofKrenek’s most frequently perfor-med works, and he also wrote thetext for these Schubert-like gems.

Christoph Homberger performsthe cycle on 18 Apr in Zurich, whereon the same day the CollegiumNovum Zurich will perform Krenek’s

Heiligenblut with Großglockner

Symphonic Music Op. 11 for ninesolo instruments.

In 1922 Krenek wrote his SymphonyNo. 3 Op. 16, whose character differed markedly from that of thefirst two: less expansive, brighter in colour and more modest in instru-mentation. Under Ernst Kovacic,the Vienna Chamber Orchestra isperforming the work on 1 and 2 Mar.

26

casella / liebermannscnulhoff

CASELLA

Italian colours

Leon Botstein, a great champion ofrediscovered music, is featuringAlfredo Casella’s rhapsody Italia(1909) in his concert with the Ame-rican SO in New York (18 Apr). Meanwhile, the Schwetzinger Fest-spiele has invited the Groethuy-sen-Tal Duo to perform the pianoconcerto Scarlattiana in the versionfor two pianos (6 May). The Serenataexists in two versions: the originalversion (1927) for five instrumentsand the chamber orchestra versionof 1930. The former can be heard on 13 Apr in Kaiserlautern.

LIEBERMANN

March drums

For its 200th anniversary in 1958,the firm of J.R. Geigy AG commis-sioned Rolf Liebermann to write awork that, if possible, should incor-porate Basle folk melodies. The result was Geigy Festival Concerto,Fantasy on Basle themes for Basledrum and large orchestra. Liebermann makes extensive useof the musical and rhythmic pecu-liarities of this music and the orna-mentation unknown in the conven-tional marching drum repertoire.Peter Braschkat is performing the

work on 30 Mar with the HeilbronnSymphony Orchestra.

SCHULHOFF

Rhythmic fervour

Conductor James Conlon has chosen to make the promotion ofso-called ‘degenerate’ composers akey priority – notably AlexanderZemlinsky, but increasingly alsoFranz Schreker and other outlawedmusicians. He conducted ErwinSchulhoff’s ‘ballet mystery’ Ogelalain Aspen in 2006, with four follow-up performances in New York inDecember 2007; the work is nowcoming to Paris (27 Mar). The ballet reflects Schulhoff’s fascination with dance, and wascomposed – as he told Alban Berg –‘… out of pure rhythmic fervour andsensual abandon’.

27

martin / messiaen

MARTIN

Life and

death struggle

The Basle Sinfonietta describesFrank Martin’s oratorio Golgothaas ‘one of the most moving choralworks of the 20th century’. Shortlybefore Easter, Johannes Günther isconducting it with the choirs ofEvangelical choral societies in Bernand Zurich (16/21 Mar). No less mo-ving is Martin’s final work, hischamber cantata Et la vie l’emporta,to be heard on 1 Mar in Switzerland(Huttwiler Chamber Orchestra /Rainer Held). The composer, by thisstage seriously ill, overcame hisweakness with the help of a Luthe-ran chorale describing the strugglebetween life and death – the textthat he then went on to set in thecantata. The Concerto for 7 wind in-struments, timpani, percussion andstrings can be heard on 13 and 14 Marin Tel Aviv under Mendi Rodan, and

also on 13 Mar in Brussels with Em-manuel Krivine conducting. GidonKremer is playing and conductingPolyptyque in Luxembourg on 19 Mar.

MESSIAEN

Exuberant

birdsong

All over the world, Olivier Messiaenwrote down countless birdsongs –he could distinguish around 700different types – which he thenused throughout his piano and or-chestral works. In Oiseaux exotiques(1955/6) for piano and small orche-stra, these exuberant lines are expressed particularly vociferously.During March and April the workcan be heard in Copenhagen, Za-greb and Toulouse, also on 3 and 4May in Freiburg and Frankfurt. TheSWR SO Baden-Baden/Freiburgwill be performing it under SylvainCambreling with Pierre-Laurent Aimard at the piano.

28

milhaud / szymanowski /

MILHAUD

Concentrated

material

When Darius Milhaud composedhis Concerto for percussion andsmall orchestra in 1929–30 he wasthe first composer ever to createsuch a piece, wanting to give per-cussion the prominence he felt itdeserved. The piece is to be perfor-med in Ipswich on 8 March.In his Little Symphonies for cham-ber ensemble, Milhaud substitutesconcentration of material for quantity of musical resources – thepieces last only between 3–6 minutes. The Mendelssohn Cham-ber Orchestra of Leipzig is playingthe Symphony No. 2, the Pastorale,in Essen on 27 March.

SZYMANOWSKI

Fascinating

music

In his 1924 Stabat Mater for soloists,chorus and orchestra, Karol Szym-anowski set to music a medievalLatin sequence in a Polish trans-lation. The fascinating music of thisdeeply religious work draws inspi-ration in equal measure from

Polish folklore and church music.Szymanowski said of it: ‘For me itwas an inner experiment, aquestion of giving modern, self-contained forms to that which ismost real and at the same timeleast fathomable in the secret lifeof the soul.’ On 14 and 15 Mar, theWoodstock Music Society in Wood-stock, England, will perform StabatMater, whilst on 14 Apr the Berlinimmermann, is featuring it in itsprogramme with the Berlin Sing-Akademie at the Berlin Konzert-haus.

Adriaen IsenbrantOur Lady of the Seven SorrowsChurch of our Lady Brussels

29

bartók / kodály

BARTÓK

Seven

sealed doors

Béla Balázs showed his mysteryplay Duke Bluebeard’s Castle toboth his friends, Zoltán Kodály andBéla Bartók, without indicatingwhich of them he would prefer to setit to music. The subject left Kodálycold, but Bartók was immediatelyseized by it. The result – in 1911 –was his only opera, one of the mostfrequently performed music theatrepieces of the 20th century. Up until1 Jun 2008 there are 29 (staged orconcert) performances around theworld, among them La Fura delsBaus’ Paris production in Barcelo-na, Peter Stein’s version at La Scalaand Penelope Wehrli’s spatial in-stallation in Saarbrücken.The number of concert performan-ces of the dance work The WoodenPrince – including the two suites –has increased remarkably in recenttimes. Fabrice Bolton is conducting

the ballet on 29/30 Mar in Berlin,and Emmanuel Krivine is presen-ting the Large Suite in Brussels (13 Apr).

KODÁLY

Barefoot

schoolmates

All his life Zoltán Kodály remembe-red with affection his barefootschoolmates in Galánta, and theservant girl at his parents’ housewho taught him Hungarian folksongs as a child. A series of thesemelodies appear in one of his pe-rennial favourites, the Dances fromGalánta, which are soon to beheard in Paris, Granada, Meiningenand Rudolfstadt. With his opera Háry János, Hunga-rian folk music conquered the ope-ratic stage for the first time inmusic history. The Suite can soonbe heard in Glasgow, Stuttgart andPershore (UK).

Béla Bartók Duke Bluebeard’s Castle Opéra National de Paris 2007

30

zemlinsky / schreker

ZEMLINSKY

Sensitive

poetry in music

Belgian writer Maurice Maeterlinckwas one of the most widely read authors of the early 20th century; in1911 he received the Nobel Prize forliterature. His sensitive poetry andmystical, enigmatic dramas inspiredseveral composers of his day. Alexander Zemlinsky’s Six Songs toPoems of Maurice Maeterlinck Op.13 are among the most beautifulworks in the Lieder repertoire. Zem-linsky first wrote the Songs withpiano accompaniment in 1910, follo-wing this in 1913 with an orchestralversion (first played on 31 March1913 at the ‘Vienna scandal concert’).There are at the moment several op-portunities to hear the work in theNetherlands: sung by ChristianneStotijn in The Hague (11–12 Apr, with

Jaap van Zweden conducting theResidentie Orkest) and by HermineHaselböck in Apeldoorn, Nijmegen andArnhem (24–26 Apr, with the Gel-ders Orkest under Martin Sieghart).

SCHREKER

The Art Show

The Liverpool Klimt exhibition is re-ported on page 33, including theperformance of Franz Schreker’sSuite Birthday of the Infanta. Theconnection between Klimt andSchreker is particularly fitting: theoriginal version of the work waspremièred 100 years ago as part ofthe historic ‘Kunstschau’ (Art Show)organised by Klimt. Schreker’s Nacht-stück – the interlude from the 3rd

act of his opera Der ferne Klang – ispresented in Dresden on 29 and 30Mar by the Dresdner Philharmonieconducted by Lothar Koenigs.

Franz Schreker Der ferne Klang Teatro de la Maestranza Sevilla 2006

31

schönberg

SCHÖNBERG

A time of change

Arnold Schönberg’s Die glücklicheHand (The Hand of Fate) from1908–1913 comes from a particular-ly fruitful period in the composer’slife, bringing forth works such asErwartung and the Op. 11 Piano Pieces (and it was in 1909 thatSchönberg signed with UE). But itreally was a time of change, andDie glückliche Hand is a work that,written amidst a breakdown of apast musical style alongside hisstriving towards new compositio-nal techniques, forms a strong con-trast to the romantic nocturne Ver-klärte Nacht of 9 years earlier.Pierre Boulez conducts the LondonSymphony Orchestra at the Barbi-can Hall on the 11 May in a programme which includes Dieglückliche Hand alongside BélaBartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle.

Under the title ‘Moderne Men-schen’ (Modern People) LeipzigOpera presents a trilogy of Schön-berg’s works, in a stage productionby Carlos Wagner, Sandra Leupoldand Immo Karaman. Die glücklicheHand is flanked by Erwartung andVon heute auf morgen. Opening on5 Apr, 4 performances follow.

In addition to concerts in Zurich,Dresden, Cologne and Geneva,Pierrot lunaire is also being perfor-med in Jaffa and Jerusalem on 29 and30 Mar by the Israel ContemporaryPlayers under Renaud Déjardin.

Pelleas and Melisande can be heardin Monaco (Orchestre Philharmoni-que de Monte-Carlo under EliahuInbal, 10 Apr), Berlin (Barenboimand the Berlin Philharmonic, 10–12Apr) and Chemnitz (Frank Beer-mann conducts the Robert-Schu-mann-Philharmonie).

Arnold Schönberg Pierrot lunaireOhio State University

32

webern / malipiero

MALIPIERO

Opulent colours

Venetian composer Gian FrancescoMalipiero produced a gigantic out-put over the 91 years of his life – 11symphonies, 20 stage works, 7 ora-torios and much more. The sevensymphonic expressions, Pause delSilenzio (1917) for large orchestra,are a far too rarely performed mu-sical gem of the early 20th century:delicately orchestrated impressions,full of Mediterranean mood pain-ting and opulent colours. Thankfully, Leon Botstein featuresthe work in his programme withthe American SO on 18 Apr at theAvery Fisher Hall in New York.

WEBERN

Top interpreters

Sir Simon Rattle is taking the reduced version of Anton Webern’sSix Pieces for orchestra on a tour offive northern European cities withthe Berlin Philharmonic: Riga (2 May), Tallin (4 May), Helsinki (5 May), Stockholm (7 May) andOslo (8 May). Back home in Berlinthe orchestra, again with Rattle, isplaying both the Passacaglia for orchestra and the Cantata No. 2 forsoprano, bass, mixed choir and orchestra (26–28 Apr). On 21 and 22Apr, the Five Pieces for orchestraalso feature on the programme.On 5 May, with the Choir of BerlinRadio, Susanna Mälkki conductsthe Philharmonic in Das Augenlichtfor mixed choir and orchestra, theCantata No. 1 for soprano, mixedchoir and orchestra, and Two Songsfor mixed choir and ensemble.

Berlin Philharmonic

33

berg

BERG

Viennese

Connection

The celebrations in Liverpool of thecity’s status as European Capital ofCulture 2008 include the first evercomprehensive exhibition of Gustav Klimt’s work in the UK, cre-ating an elegant association withthat other European city of Vienna.To accompany this Viennese con-nection, the Royal Liverpool Phil-harmonic Orchestra is giving a con-cert of ‘Viennese Masters’ on the 22May at the Philharmonic Hall. SirAndrew Davis conducts a program-me including Franz Schreker’s SuiteThe Birthday of the Infanta andAlban Berg’s Three Wozzeck Frag-ments. These three short move-ments are a compact and intensedistillation of some of the key dramatic points in the opera, andproved to be a valuable promotionfor the opera itself following itspremière in 1924.The full Wozzeck returns to the Bastille in Paris on 29 Mar in a newproduction by the Swiss directorChristoph Marthaler, conducted bySylvian Cambreling – the latest inthe list of their joint projects whichbegan with Debussy’s Pelleas andhas already included Leoš Janáčeks

Katya Kabanová in Paris. In Brussels, the David Freeman pro-duction at La Monnaie continues

throughout March. Mark Wiggles-worth conducts with Dietrich Hen-schel and Martina Serafin in the leading roles. In Switzerland, Erwin Stein’s redu-ced version of Wozzeck is beingpremièred in a new production byMarc Adam. On 22 Mar Roman Brogli-Sacher conducts at theStadttheater Bern.

Just over the horizon in 2010: the75th anniversary of Berg’s death on24 Dec 1935.

Liverpool

34

mahler

MAHLER

O Man!

Take heed!

Gustav Mahler once described in aletter how he felt working on hisSymphony No. 3, which for him reflected the whole world and inmany respects was to become hismost idiosyncratic work: ‘I myselfoften have a strange, uncanny feeling in many places, as though I definitely had not composed it’.Mahler sketched the Symphony inthe summer of 1895. The originaltitle of the work was The HappyLife, A Midsummer Night’s Dream,and all six movements bore pro-grammatic titles. However, Mahlerlater discarded these, as he feardthat they could lead to misinter-pretation. Despite its length and the hugenumber of performers required (in-cluding choral forces of more than150 voices), the piece is heard inconcert more and more often, andalmost all great conductors take upthe challenge and perform it as ashowpiece.

The shooting star among youngconductors, Venezuelan GustavoDudamel, who at the age of 27 hasalready conducted many of theworld’s great orchestras, choseMahler’s Symphony No. 3 to openthe 2006 season at La Scala in

Milan. Between 24–27 May he isconducting the same work withthe Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Besides this, the Symphony cansoon be heard in Lisbon (9 Marunder Michael Zilm), Nuremberg (4 Apr under Christoph Prick), Essen (10 Apr under Stefan Soltesz) andVienna (3 May under Mariss Jan-sons).

To find out more about Mahler andthe two major Mahler memorialyears, 2010–11, visitwww.universaledition.com/mahler

Gustavo Dudamel

35

janáček / beethoven

JANÁČEK

Fatal double

standards

Leoš Janáčeks Katja Kabanowa be-longs to a series of stage works inwhich Janáček attacks the fataldouble standards of the petitebourgeoisie, which crush the indivi-dual’s longing for happiness andfreedom. The confrontation of enlightened youth (Katya) andhard-hearted age is also a themeJanáček used repeatedly. The operais now to receive three new inter-pretations. In Vienna it is conducted

by Kirill Petrenko (from 13 Apr, withKeith Warner producing), in Cologneby Markus Stenz (from 19 Apr, pro-ducer Robert Carsen) and in Am-sterdam by Yakov Kreizberg (from 3 Mar, produced by W. Gussmann).

The Excursion of Mr Brouček to the15th century is also receiving a stageperformance: Yannis Kokkos pre-sents the story of the grey, conser-vative landlord Brouček who,whilst dreaming finds himself inthe middle of the Hussite wars of1420 (from 25 Mar in Geneva). Axel Weidauer is also performingBrouček in Frankfurt (from 27 Apr).

BEETHOVEN / MANÉN

Konzertstück

It is the Catalonian composer JuanManén (1883–1971) we have tothank for the completion of a violinconcerto by the young Beethoven,written after his first visit to Viennaand his meeting with Mozart.Manén sees influences of the Violin Concertos K. 207 and K.213 inmany passages of the Konzert-stück, which in turn left traces inthe great D major concerto and inboth the first two piano concertos.Ernst Kovacic is featuring the 21-minute work in his Vienna pro-gramme on 1 and 2 Mar.

Leoš Janáček

The Excursion of Mr BroučekNational Theatre Prague 2003

anniversaries

36

200825th Anniv. of Death Cathy Berberian † 06 March 1983

125th Anniversary Alfredo Casella * 25 July 188390th Anniversary Gottfried von Einem * 24 January 191870th Birthday Zygmunt Krauze * 19 September 193880th Anniversary Gerhard Lampersberg * 05 July 1928

100th Anniversary Olivier Messiaen * 10 December 190860th Birthday Nigel Osborne * 23 June 194860th Birthday Peter Ruzicka * 03 July 194875th Birthday R. Murray Schafer * 18 July 193370th Birthday Tona Scherchen * 12 March 193875th Anniv. of Death Max von Schillings † 24 July 1933

80th Birthday Karlheinz Stockhausen * 22 August 1928100th Anniversary Eugen Suchon * 25 September 1908125th Anniversary Anton Webern * 03 December 1883

2009

50th Anniv. of Death George Antheil † 12 February 195975th Birthday Sir Harrison Birtwistle * 15 July 193475th Anniv. of Death Frederick Delius † 10 June 1934

80th Birthday Edison W. Denisow * 06 April 1929150th Anniversary Joseph Bohuslav Foerster * 30 Dec 185990th Anniversary Roman Haubenstock-Ramati * 27 Feb 191950th Anniv. of Death Josef Matthias Hauer † 22 September 1959

200th Anniv. of Death Joseph Haydn † 31 May 180950th Anniv. of Death Bohuslav Martinu † 28 August 195980th Birthday Henri Pousseur * 23 June 192975th Birthday Bernard Rands * 02 March 1934

100th Anniversary Karl Scheit * 21 April 190975th Anniversary Alfred Schnittke * 24 November 193475th Anniv. of Death Franz Schreker † 21 March 1934

100th Anniversary Alfred Uhl * 05 June 190990th Anniversary Roman Vlad * 29 December 191950th Anniv. of Death Eric Zeisl † 18 February 1959

anniversaries

37

201050th Anniv. of Death Hugo Alfvén † 08 May 196075th Anniv. of Death Alban Berg * 24 December 1935

80th Birthday Paul-Heinz Dittrich * 04 December 193080th Birthday Cristóbal Halffter * 24 March 1930

100th Anniversary Rolf Liebermann * 14 September 1910150th Anniversary Gustav Mahler * 07 July 1860

75th Birthday Arvo Pärt * 11 September 193580th Anniversary Toru Takemitsu * 08 October 1930125th Anniv. of Death Egon Wellesz * 21 October 1885

2011

75th Birthday Gilbert Amy * 29 August 193675th Birthday Sir Richard Rodney Bennett * 29 March 1936

100th Anniversary Paul Burkhard * 21 December 191175th Birthday Cornelius Cardew * 07 May 1936

80th Birthday Mauricio Kagel * 24 December 193175th Birthday Ladislav Kupkovic * 17 March 1936

100th Anniv. of Death Gustav Mahler † 18 May 191175th Birthday Steve Reich * 03 October 193675th Anniv. of Death Ottorino Respighi † 18 April 193650th Birthday David Sawer * 14 Seotember 196150th Birthday Daniel Schnyder * 12 March 1961125th Birthday Othmar Schoeck * 01 September 188650th Birthday Mauricio Sotelo * 02 October 196125th Anniv. of Death Alexandre Tansman † 15 November 198675th Birthday Hans Zender * 22 November 1936

world premières

38

LUKE BEDFORD Good Dream She Has for soprano, mezzo soprano, tenor and 14 playersBirmingham Contemporary Music Group, c. Oliver Knussen, Angela Tunstall, S, Susan Bickley, MS, Alan Belk, T14 April 2008 · CBSO Centre Birmingham/GB

GEORG FRIEDRICH HAASConcert for baritone saxophone and orchestraWDR SO Köln, c. Emilio Pomárico, Marcus Weiss, sax03 May 2008 · WDR-Sendesaal Köln/D

CRISTÓBAL HALFFTER Lázaro opera in 1 actPhilharmonic Orchestra Kiel, c. Georg FritzschJörg Sabrowski, Julia Henning, Claudia Iten, Johannes An, Steffen Doberauer, Jooil Choi; stage direction: Alexander Schulin04 May 2008 · Opera Kiel/D

ARVO PÄRT „These Words …“ for string orchestra and percussionDanish National Symphony Orchestra/DR, c. Tõnu Kaljuste22 May 2008 · Copenhagen/DK

ROXANNA PANUFNIK Rose for violin solo and ensembleMobius Ensemble, Philipe Honoré, vln22 March 2008 · Wigmore Hall London/GB

Wild Ways for ji-nashi hakuhachi and choirc. Graham Caldbeck, Nonsuch Singers, Kiku Day, ji-nashi hakuhachi13 March 2008 · St. John's Smith Square London/GB

Heaven to Earth for string quartet and male choirDante String Quartet, King’s College Choir10 May 2008 · Cambridge/GB

WOLFGANG RIHM Male über Male for clarinet and ensembleEnsemble Contrechamps, c. Jurjen Hempel25 April 2008 · Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik/D

world premières

39

JOHANNES MARIA STAUD Lagrein for clarinet, violin, cello and pianoIsabella Faust, vln, MartinFröst, clar, Matthew Barley,vlc, Thomas Larcher, pno20 May 2008 · vineyardAlois Lageder, Magreid/I

WOLFGANG RIHM Jagden und Formen for chamber orchestraEnsemble Modern, Sasha Waltz & Guests, dance07 May 2008 · schauspielfrankfurt Frankfurt am Main/D

JAY SCHWARTZ Music for 8 Voices for 2 sopranos, mezzo soprano, 2 altos, tenor, baritone and bass, SCHOLA Heidelberg26 April 2008 · Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik/D

MAURICIO SOTELO Como llora el agua ... for guitar soloFestival MaerzMusik, Juan Manuel Cañizares, guit13 March 2008 · Berlin/D

IAN WILSON Spilliaert's Beach for clarinet and piano Matthew Schellhorn, pno; Peter Sparks, clar19 March 2008 · St. James' Piccadilly London/GB

new releases

40

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVENSonatas for cello and pianoUrtext Edition ed. by Christiane Wiesenfeldt, setting of cello-part by Heinrich SchiffUT 50247

FLORIAN BRAMBÖCKAfro Latin Flute Duets for 2 flutesUE 33041

ALEKSEY IGUDESMANCeltic Violin Duets for 2 violins UE 33652

ARVO PÄRTDa pacem Domine for recorder quartet adapted by Sylvia C. Rosin & Irmhild Beutlerscore and parts UE 33704

JAMES RAERepertoire Explorer - Clarinet for clarinet and pianoGraded pieces for beginnersUE 21458

ARNOLD SCHÖNBERGPierrot Lunaire op. 21 Dreimal sieben Gedichtefor speaker, piano, flute (piccolo), clarinet (bass clarinet), violin (viola) and celloNew edition according to the Critical Complete Edition piano reduction UE 33794

FRANZ SCHREKERPiano pieces UE 33685

JOHANNES MARIA STAUD Peras. Music for piano UE 33039

new releases

41

UNIVERSAL EDITION

Clever Cat

for piano 4 hands, with CDby Mike CornickUE 21407

Teacher and beginner pupil piano duets

Based on the simple idea of thepupil copying the teacher, theseduets provide young beginnerswith extra material for practisingthe basic skills covered in the earlystages of learning. Together withClever Cat, young pianists can havefun imitating the teacher - playingfive-finger exercises and arpeggiosetc. that are provided in the con-text of these little duets.

Away from the teacher, the CD pro-vides performances of each piecefor listening, followed by the play-along track for the pupil’s ownmusic making.

Amusing illustrations remind pupils of the mood and varyingstyles of the pieces whilst there areopportunities for adding finger-clics and vocal effects - including‘miaows’ for both pupil and teacher!

With these duets young beginnerscan be playing with a real sense ofachievement right from their firstlesson.

42

new on cd & dvd

BÉLA BARTÓK Herzog Blaubarts BurgRSO Stuttgart des SWR, c. Peter Eötvös Hänssler Classics CD 93.070

BÉLA BARTÓK String Quartet No. 4 ALBAN BERG Lyric SuiteLEOŠ JANÁČEK String Quartet No. 2, Intimate LettersWOLFGANG RIHM String Quartet No. 4

Alban Berg Quartett EMI Classics CD 3976292BÉLA BARTÓK Cantata Profana ZOLTÁN KODÁLY Psalmus Hungaricus

Sir Georg Solti, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich Decca CD 475 8525ALBAN BERG Wozzeck

choir and orchestra of Gran Teatro del Liceu, cond. Sebastian Weigle, dir.: Calixto Bieito; Franz Hawlata, Angela Denoke, Reiner GoldbergOA/Naxos DVD 809478009856

PIERRE BOULEZ Dialogue de l’ombre doubleGEORG FRIEDRICH HAAS String Quartet No. 1 and 2

Volker Hemken, bclar; Kairos Quartett 10 Jahre edition zeitklang ez 30032 3 CDs

MORTON FELDMAN The Viola in my Life I - IVCikada Ensemble, Norwegian Radio Orchestra Marek Konstantynowicz, vla, c. Christian EggenECM New Series ECM CD 1798

PAUL VON KLENAU Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Ch. RilkeCzech Philharmonic Choir, Odense SO, c. Paul Mann, Bo SkovhusDa Capo CD 6.220532

ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD Trio op. 1Trio Parnassus MDG CD 303 1463-2

ROLF LIEBERMANN FuriosoPhilharmonic Orchestra Lübeck, c. Roman Brogli-SacherMusicaphon M 56901 (SACD Hybrid)

GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 2 (Grammy Nomination)Budapest Festival Orchestra, c. Ivan Fischer, Birgit Remmert, Lisa Milne, Hungarian Radio Choir Channel Classics CCS SA 23506

GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 8 Staatskapelle Berlin, c. Pierre Boulez, Robinson, Wall, Queiroz, Botha,Choir of the German State Opera Berlin, Aurelius SängerknabenCalw Deutsche Grammophon 2 CDs 477 6597

FRANK MARTIN Cantate pour le temps de NoëlAtrium-Ensemble Luzern, Mozart-Ensemble Luzern, Luzerner Kantorei-Knabenchor, c. Eberhard Rex Musiques Suisses MGB 6259

JOSEPH MARX Songs Historic Recordings of the ORFJoseph Marx, pn, Wilma Lipp, S, Waldemar Kmentt, T, Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich, c. Miltiades Caridis ORF CD 3013

43

new on cd & dvd

BOHUSLAV MARTINŮ The Greek PassionBrno Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Philharmonic Choir, c. CharlesMackerras; David Gwynne, Jana Jonasova, Helen Field, Philip Joll, Welsh National Opera 1981 Supraphon DVD SU 7014

OLIVIER MESSIAEN CantéyodjayaKARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN Klavierstück XI

Prodromos Symeonidis Telos Music Records TLS CD 107

ARNOLD SCHÖNBERG Gurre-Lieder (Grammy Nomination)SWR SO Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Chor des Bayerischen Rund-funks, MDR Rundfunkchor Leipzig, c. Michael Gielen Hänssler Classics SACD 93.198 2 CD (Midem Classical Award)

BOOK: JENNIFER PAULL Cathy Berberian and Music’s Muses (publishedby www.LULU.com). Available online at tinyurl.com/ytr2wo

HARRISONBIRTWISTLEPunch & JudyThe London Sin-fonietta, c. DavidAtherton, Bryn-Julson, DeGae-tani, LangridgeNMC 2 CDs 5023363013826

LEOŠ JANÁČEK The Excursions of Mr. BroučekBBC Singers, BBC SO, c. Jiří

Bělohlávek

DeutscheGrammophonDG CD 4777387

EMIL NIKOLAUSVON REZNICEK Ouvertüre ausder Oper „Donna Diana“WDR SO Köln,c. Michael Jurowskicpo CD 777 047-2

DMITRISHOSTAKOVICHThe Golden AgeRoyal ScottishNational Orch.,c. José SerebrierNAXOS CD8.570217-18(GrammyNomination)

CRISTÓBAL HALFFTER (b. 1930) – Worklist (a selection)

MUSIC THEATREDon Quijote opera in 1 act original version 115’ 1997–1999

reduced version 115’ 1997–1999/2005

Lázaro opera in 1 act for soloists and orchestra 95'–100’ 2004–2006

VOCAL MUSICBrecht-Lieder for voice and orchestra (2 versions) 16’ 1967

Canciones de al Andalus for mezzo soprano and string quartet 15’ 1987/1988

De verborum et speculorum ludis 23–25’ 1999–2000

for choir, percussion, piano and organ

Dona nobis pacem for mixed choir and instruments 7’ 1984

Dos corales liturgicos for mixed choir and brass orchestra 20’ 1989/1990

Dos motetes for choir a cappella 20’ 1988

Gaudium et spes Beunza for 32 voices, a 4 track tape 30’ 1972/1973

or two 2 track tapes

Himno a Santa Teresa for voice, mixed choir, 6–7’ 1981

instrumental ensemble and organ

In exspectatione resurrectionis Domini cantata for baritone, 18’ 1965

mixed choir or male choir and orchestra

In memoriam Anaïck for speaker, choir and instruments 5’ 1967

Introducción y escena from the opera Lázaro 28’30” 2004–2006

for soloists and orchestra

Jarchas de dolor de ausencia for 12 voices a cappella, 23–25’ 1979

with tuned crotales

La del alba sería fragments from the opera Don Quijote 35–40' 1997

for soloists, mixed choir and orchestra and version without choir

Noche pasiva del sentido for voice, 2 percussionists and piano 18’ 1972/1973

Officium defunctorum for mixed choir, high boy’s voice 53’ 1978

and orchestra

Oracion a platero for children’s choir, speaker, mixed choir, 20’ 1974

5 percussion players, recorder and tape

Preludio para Madrid '92 for mixed choir and orchestra 11’ 1991

Siete cantos de España for soprano, baritone and orch. 48’ 1991-1992/1994

Symposion for baritone, mixed choir and orchestra 30’ 1968

Tres poemas de la lirica española for baritone and orch. 23–25’ 1986/1994

Veni creator spiritus for mixed choir, ensemble choir and 7’ 1992

instrumental ensemble

Yes Speak Out Yes UNO-cantata for soprano, baritone, 30’ 1968

6 speakers, 2 mixed choirs and orchestra (2 conductors)

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cristóbal halffterworklist

halffter worklist

45

ORCHESTRA Adagio in Form eines Rondos for orchestra 23–25’ 2002

Anillos for orchestra 16’ 1967/1968

Cuatro piezas para orquesta for orchestra 15–18’ 2004–2005

Dalíniana for chamber orchestra 16’ 1993–1994

Dortmunder Variationen I and II for orchestra 19’ 1986/1987/2006

Elegias a la muerte de tres poetas españoles for orchestra 30’ 1974/1975

Epitafio para el sepulcro de Juan del Enzina for orchestra 15–18’ 2008

Albéniz - Eritaña from Iberia (1905–1908) for orchestra 6’ 2003

Halfbéniz for orchestra Homenaje a Isaac Albéniz 14’ 2000

Memento a Dresden 4 episodes for orchestra 24’ 1994–1995

Mural sonante for orchestra Frescos by Antonio Tàpies 28’ 1993–1994

Odradek for orchestra Homage to Franz Kafka 22’ 1996

Parafrasis for orchestra 21’ 1984

Preludio a nemesis for large orchestra 17’ 1988/1989

Preludio para Madrid 2002 for orchestra 11’ 1991/2002

Requiem por la libertad imaginada for orchestra 17’ 1971

Le sommeil for chamber orchestra 7’ 1994

Tiento for large orchestra 29’ 1980/1981

Tiento del primer tono y batalla imperial for large orchestra 10’ 1986

Turbas collage for orchestra 19–21’ 1995

Versus for large orchestra 36’ 1983

SOLO INSTRUMENTS WITH ORCHESTRAConcierto for piano and orchestra 30’ 1987/1988

Concierto for clarinet and orchestra 27–28’ 2001

Concierto No. 1 for violin and orchestra 40’ 1979

Concierto No. 2 for violin and string orchestra 31’ 1990/1991

Concierto No. 1 for cello and orchestra 31’ 1974

Concierto No. 2 for cello and orchestra 37’ 1985

Concierto a cuatro for saxophone quartet and orchestra 24’ 1989/1990

Doppelkonzert for violin, viola and orchestra 24’ 1984

Fantasie über einen Klang von G.F. Händel 17’ 1981

foe cello groups and string orchestra (version A and version B)

Fibonaciana concert for flute and orchestra 14’ 1969

Palimsesto – 1956/2004 for timpani and orchestra 20–22’ 2004

Pinturas negras concert for orchestra with conert organ 17’ 1972

CHAMBER MUSICJohann Strauss (son) - Annen-Polka (1852) for chamber ensemble 4’ 1982

Antiphonismoi for 7 players 16–17’ 1967

continuation CHAMBER MUSICAttendite for 8 cellos 25–26’ 2003

Canción callada in memoriam Frederico Mompou for piano trio 7’ 1988

Canto del caballero for piano trio 5’ 2007

Gabrieli - Canzone from Symphoniae Sacrae for brass ensemble 12’ 1975

Con bravura y sentimiento string quartet no. 4 2’26’’ 1991

Concierto for flute and string sextet 26’ 1982

Endechas para una reina de España for string sextet 27–29’ 1994

Espacio de silencio string quartet no. 7 2007

Espacios no simultaneos for 2 pianos 22–23’ 1995/1997

Soler - Fandango for 8 cellos 17’ 1988/1999

Fractal for saxophone quartet (version of Concierto a cuatro) 22’ 1991

Leyendo a Jorge Guillen for speaker, viola and cello 7’ 1982

Lineas y puntos for 2o wind players and electronic sounds 15’ 1967

Mizar for 2 flutes, strings and percussion 20’ 1977

Mizar II for 2 flutes and electronic sound modulation 18’ 1980

Muerte, mudanza y locura for 2 flutes + electron. sound modulation 18’ 1979

Noche activa del espiritu for 2 pianos and ring modulators 30’ 1973

Obertura festiva for brass players and timpani 3’30’’ 2006

Oda para felicitar a un amigo for 6 instrumentalists 6’ 1969

Planto for chamber ensemble + electron. sound modulation 25’ 1970/1971

Slava da budjet mir s toboj for brass players 3’ 1986

String Quartet No. 2 (Mémoires 1970) 24’ 1970

String Quartet No. 3 20’ 1978

String Quartet No. 6 23–25’ 2001–2002

Tiempo para espacios for cembalo and strings 18’ 1974

Tinguely-Fanfare for brass player erensemble 3’ 1996

Tres piezas para cuarteto string quartet no. 1 18’ 1956

Triada (1+2=3) for violin, clarinet and piano 18’ 2004

Variaciones sobre la resonancia de un grito 26’ 1976/1977

for 11 instruments, tape and live-electronic sound modulation

Zeitgestalt string quartet no. 5 7’ 1996

SOLO INSTRUMENTSCadencia [Solo VIII] for piano 7’ 1983/1993

Debla [Solo VI] for flute 12’ 1980

Ecos de un antiguo órgano [Solo XII] for piano 10’ 2001

SOLO [Solo XI] „Klagelied eines verwundeten Vogels“ for cello 20’ 2000

Variationen über das Thema eSACHERe [Solo IV] for cello 6’ 1975

Complete worklist available on www.universaledition.com/halffter

halffter worklist

46

UNIVERSAL EDITION

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tel +43-1-337 23 - 0, fax +43-1-337 23 - 400

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tel +44-20-7437-6880, fax +44-20-7292-9173.

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254 West 31st Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10001-2813

tel +1-212-461-6940, fax +1-212-810-4565.

Web: www.universaledition.com

Chief Editors: Angelika Dworak and Eric Marinitsch

Contributors: Bálint András Varga, Wolfgang Schaufler,

Jonathan Irons, Eric Marinitsch, Angelika Dworak,

Rebecca Dawson, Marion Dürr, Kieran Morris and Anne Handley

Design: Egger & Lerch, Vienna/Austria

Photo Credits: Eric Marinitsch (5), Stockhausen Verlag, Marion

Kalter (4), Basilica de San Francesco, Sasha Waltz & Guests, Tom

Bedford, UE Archive (4), Deutsche Oper Berlin, Int. Music Institut

Darmstadt, Opéra National de Lyon / Murdo MacLeod, Bühnen

Köln / Klaus Lefebvre, Vrouwekerk Brussels, Opéra National de

Paris (2), Teatro de la Maestranza / Guillermo Mendo, Ohio State

University, Berlin Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony / Mathias

Bothor, Nationaltheater Prag, Vineyard Alois Lageder;

CDs: NMC, Codaex, Deutsche Grammophon, cpo.

DVR: 0836702