PROGRAMME
MORTON FELDMAN: Madame Press Died Last Week at Ninety
JOHANNES BRAHMS: Alto Rhapsody op. 53
JOHANNES BRAHMS: Ein deutsches Requiem op. 45
- Conductor Teodor Currentzis
- Choir MusicAeterna Choir
- Soprano Nadezhda Pavlova
- Alto Wiebke Lehmkuhl
- Baritone Dimitris Tiliakos
ABOUT THIS CONCERT
This programme features three works, each a meditation on loss, repose
for those who have passed, and the power of music to console in times of
deep personal anguish. Written in 1869, the Alt Rhapsodie of Johannes
Brahms (1833 – 1897) is a setting of excerpts from Goethe's poem, An Autumn Journey in the Harz Mountains, for alto, male chorus, and orchestra.
Madame Press died last week at ninety,
by American composer Morton Feldman (1926 – 1987), is a delicate
reflection by the composer on the death of his childhood piano teacher,
Vera Maurina-Press. Touching in its simplicity, the motive of a falling
third occurs 90 times, once for each year in the life of Madame Press.
This piece is scored for a 12-member ensemble of chimes, celeste, cello,
double bass, flute, horn, trumpet, trombone, and tuba, and was composed
in 1970.
The programme concludes with Ein deutsches Requiem
op. 45 of Johannes Brahms, composed between 1865 and 1868. With the
omission of violins in the first movement, the programme continues in
the beautiful, lower sonority of the two previous works. Differing from
the requiem texts of the catholic liturgy, which begins with prayers for
the deceased, Ein deutsches Requiem speaks to the living, those who are mourning: "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." (Selig sind, die da Leid tragen.)
Soprano
Nadezhda Pavlova, alto Wiebke Lehmkuhl and baritone Dimitris Tiliakos
join the Mahler Chamber Orchestra for this programme.
SHARE
ADD TO CALENDAR
