Matthias Hermann

Friday

23

May 2025

8:00 pm

Munich, Munich Residence, Herkulessaal

Introduction: 6:45 pm

Musica viva

$musica viva-Konzert Lachenmann © BR\Astrid Ackermann$

Programme

Claude Vivier

“Et je reverrai cette ville étrange” for trumpet, three strings, piano, celesta and percussion

Helmut Lachenmann

“Klangschatten-mein Saitenspiel” for 48 strings and three pianos

Rebecca Saunders

“To An Utterance” for piano and orchestra

Performers

Matthias Hermann conductor

Nicolas Hodges piano

Solist*nnen des Symphonieorchesters des Bayerischen Rundfunks

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

Audio on demand: Online until June 22, 2025

$musica viva-Konzert Lachenmann © BR\Astrid Ackermann$

Information about the programme

“It may well be that through the systematic use of monophony I have arrived at the purest form of melody,” said Claude Vivier about his 1981 work, which he described as a return to the melodies of his past. Helmut Lachenmann presents a broad spectrum ranging from stifled sounds of indeterminate pitch and different shades of noise all the way to distinct pitches. According to Lachenmann, it represents an “offer of expressive intensity that seeks to overcome the bourgeois longing for beauty.” In Rebecca Saunders’ Piano Concerto, glissandi audaciously hurtle across the keyboard, expanding the sonic space and letting it collapse once again. Saunders worked on these gestures together with pianist Nicolas Hodges, and states: “I like exploiting the instruments’ technical possibilities and discovering the very limits of their timbral palette.”

musica viva

This concert is part of the Bavarian Radios' musica viva series. Musica viva is one of the world’s most famous forums for future-oriented and contemporary music, where many experimental works and performances for orchestra and chamber music receive their premiere.